Packer Meadows, June 2007

If you thought you missed the camas bloom at Packer Meadows near Lolo Pass, you’re in luck.

The blue flowers, which normally bloom in June, should peak within the next week, said Dan Shook, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ representative at the Lolo Pass Visitor Center.

“Probably about three days to five days is about perfect to look at the camas,” he said.

Shook said the flowers are about a month behind their normal peak bloom as a result of deep and lingering snow. This year, the snow depth topped out at 170 inches on March 4. Usually, he said, it’s in the 40- to 60-inch range. The record is 205 inches.
Snow kept Elk Meadows Road from the visitor center on U.S. Highway 12 at the Montana-Idaho border about a mile east to the meadows closed until the weekend of June 25-26.

For updates on the camas bloom, call the visitor center at (208) 942-1234 or the Powell Ranger Station at (208) 942-3113.

To get to Packer Meadows, drive eight miles south of Missoula on U.S. Highway 93 to Lolo, then 32 miles west on Highway 12 to the Lolo Pass Visitor Center. The meadows are about one mile east on Elk Meadows Road.

“It looks like a sea of blue,” Shook said.