Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Bigfork, MT

Bigfork is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Flathead County, Montana, at the north end of Flathead Lake.

The community takes its setting from a fork of waters: both the Flathead River and the Swan River flow into Flathead Lake at Bigfork, with the Swan River entering the lake at the center of town.

The 2020 census counted 5,118 residents in Bigfork, up from 4,270 in 2010 and just 1,421 in 2000.

In the 2020 census Bigfork had 2,324 households and 3,413 housing units, nearly a third of them vacant, reflecting its many seasonal and second homes.

Bigfork's median age in the 2020 census was 55.2 years, a sign of its popularity with retirees and part-time residents.

Everit L. Sliter planted 500 apple, cherry, plum, and pear trees on the lake's east shore in 1892, became Bigfork's first postmaster in 1901, and platted the townsite at the mouth of the Swan River in 1902.

The east shore of Flathead Lake around Bigfork has since become one of Montana's major cherry-growing areas.

Flathead Lake, on whose shore Bigfork sits, covers about 197 square miles and reaches roughly 370 feet deep, making it one of the largest and cleanest natural lakes in the western United States.

Wayfarers State Park, a unit of Flathead Lake State Park known for its wildflower displays, lies just south of the community.

Bigfork is a noted arts village, home to the Bigfork Summer Playhouse, which stages Broadway-caliber productions each summer, as well as art galleries and the fall Bigfork Independent Film Festival.