ABOUT

    
   

Melita Island is a 64-acre island with two and one half miles of shoreline on Flathead Lake, located about one-half mile off the west lakeshore. Melita is 80 feet above water level at its highest point. Melita makes use of 8 powerboats, 6 sailboats, 6 rowboats, and 8 canoes. Melita is accessible by boat from Walstad Landing (one and a half miles), a state-maintained landing off Highway 93, approximately 15 minutes north of Polson.

Uninhabited, undeveloped, and completely surrounded by water, Melita Island is just as it was in the late 1940’s when the Scouts first began participating in summer camps there. Its wooded acres are home to mule deer, a nesting pair of eagles, osprey, Canadian geese, pine squirrels, pine martins, robins, swallows, flickers, woodpeckers, ravens, juncos, grouse, chickadees, gulls, mergansers, mallards, and loons. Melita's terrain is mostly flat, and is forested with old growth Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, Juniper, cottonwoods and elders, hawthorn, arnica, Indian Pipe, Oregon Grape, arrow leaf, balsam root, and native grasses.

  
 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
 


Melita Island is a superb place for Scouts to hone their leadership skills, revel in the island’s natural environment, and participate in all kinds of water related activities. Melita Island offers a number of unique traits that make it an appealing place for Scouts from all over Montana, the nation, and indeed, the world to come and camp. Some of those key distinctions include:

  • Access to crystal clear water, majestic mountain views, and undeveloped natural surroundings.
  • The opportunity to engage in a large variety of boating and water-based activities. Wind, water, and land all come together in one memorable place.
  • Encouraging a strong respect for ecology teaches campers to decrease their impact on the environment and themselves. The island develops an appreciation for its shorelines, woodlands, plant life and animals.
  • A Unique chance to learn more about American Indian culture by utilizing available tribal resources. Located within the boundaries of the Salish and Kootenai Reservation, the tribe hosts cultural experts, museums and powwows during the camp season.