Whitefish business helps visitors explore the valley

Based in a cozy house at 541 Spokane Ave., Whitefish Outfitters & Tours helps visitors get out into the spectacular natural areas in and around the Flathead Valley.

Owners Amanda and Kurt Schram started the business in 2018 to offer guided biking, hiking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing tours as well as scenic drives. They rent gear, as well.

The general manager, Anna Kraft, grew up in Kalispell, lived away from the area and returned to the valley a few years ago. She said the company has 10 guides in the winter, more in the summer, who provide an education to visitors along with recreation. 

“All of our tours are private, guided tours and all of our guides are local, professional and trained,” Kraft said. “We pride ourselves on hiring year-round residents.”

Whitefish Outfitters is mostly geared toward beginner outdoor enthusiasts. All tours offer private transportation, a professional guide, morning or afternoon start times and custom itineraries for all groups.

“It’s kind of a hard area to navigate from afar, so we take pride in answering phone calls and helping support other local businesses and planning trips for people whether it’s with us or other businesses,” Kraft said.

Kraft said they introduce visitors to different summer and winter sports and teach them how to recreate responsibly. The guides give an overview of the land, history and culture while emphasizing a respect for nature and following Leave No Trace Principles. Visitors can then take that knowledge with them to other wilderness experiences.

“We focus on people visiting the area and staying in Whitefish because we provide transportation for everything,” Kraft said. “We pick up at local hotels and Airbnbs for all of our tours.”

Whitefish Outfitters & Tours is a year-round operation that changes with the seasons. In the winter, they take snowshoe, scenic driving and cross-country skiing tours in Glacier National Park. 

“We’ve been going to Lake McDonald Lodge and then doing tours from Mcdonald Creek and then on the Camas Road right outside Apgar Village,” Kraft said. “The scenic driving tours, we explore Hungry Horse Dam and take all the back roads … then go into West Glacier. We get to show people sites they wouldn’t be able to do on their own drive.”

Snowshoe and cross-country skiing trips around trails closer to Whitefish are also available. Kraft called Glacier Park a “must-see” but added that there are many other beautiful areas, so   she aims to expand people’s recreation outside the park.

“We roll into spring with the hiker/biker shuttles on Going-to-the-Sun Road and scenic driving tours in East Glacier, West Glacier and to the Bison Range and around Flathead Lake,” she said. “We shuttle people from Whitefish with ebike rentals … to the park to enjoy the road while it's closed to vehicles.”

Hiking tours take place in the Flathead National Forest and they include private guide, transportation and lunch. Whitefish Outfitters designs each trip with the clients in mind, matching the difficulty, elevation gain, and duration of a hike to the experience, ability and expectations of the visitors.

In addition to hiking and biking tours in the Flathead National Forest, photography tours to the Going-to-the-Sun Road are offered when the road is open in the summer. 

People can rent cross country skis, snowshoes and sledding tubes from Whitefish Outfitters in the winter and ebikes, gravel and mountain bikes in the summer. Rental periods for summer gear range from a half day to multi-day or weekly.

Also in the summer, the business ramps up and rents paddle boards and kayaks from their location at Whitefish City Beach. Half-day and full-day rental options are available and all water rentals come with a PFD included in the price.

“We do local Whitefish tours, hiking trails or biking on the Whitefish trails. We hike around Smith Lake,” Kraft said. “We are centered in Whitefish and highlighting Whitefish, but also taking people to the surrounding areas.”

Kraft said they also carry all-season outdoor apparel and gear at their retail space on Spokane Avenue.

    Whitefish Outfitters' shuttle van and trailer loaded for a bike tour. (Photo provided)
  

    Riding an e-bike on Going to the Sun Road. (Photo provided)