80 years later, Flathead Lake Lodge is still a beloved destination

Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork has been a dream destination for those looking to get a taste of the old West since its inception in 1945. It’s why guests and employees alike keep coming back decade after decade. 

It’s business as usual on a calm, spring morning as general manager Chase Averill takes a seat at the table his grandfather built all those years ago. Not much has changed in that dining area — a large stone fireplace dominates the room and prizes from past hunting trips line the walls. Three generations have shaped operations at Flathead Lake Lodge, but the family has maintained the spirit of Les Averill’s dream dude ranch.  

Since taking over operations in 2017, Averill said his main goal has been to “not change the soul and essence of the place.” 

“The foundation that was established by Les and my parents is about treating people like they're staying in your home,” Averill said. “... Every year there are people that stop in who were here in the 60s or 70s, and what is special to them is that it is the exact same and they always comment, ‘Oh, the main lodge smells exactly like I remember it.’”  

These days, guests have options aside from rooms in the historic main lodge and south lodge — there are seven cabins, multiple suites for rent in a three and four plex and a 10-bedroom house called The Homestead, which is the newest addition. 

On its 2,000 acres, guests can take part in a variety of all-inclusive activities, including miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding, as well as water recreation on Flathead Lake and trips to Glacier National Park, the Swan Mountain range and Bigfork. 

“Once I tell them all this, they're kind of like, ‘Wow, I can't believe that you have all this to offer.’ They really enjoy listening to everything that is included, so they don't have to worry about any ancillary things,” said Jodi Peterson, the lodge’s assistant general manager. 

Peterson said the lodge stays booked far in advance, as returning guests get the chance to rebook at the end of their trip. However, there is a waiting list for those able to get in on cancellations.  

Some guests are third or fourth generation visitors, as their grandparents created strong friendships with Les Averill and his family.  

BEYOND THE picture-perfect dude ranch experience, hard work and hospitality is the real secret sauce for Flathead Lake Lodge.  

Les Averill had already lived a lifetime when he returned to the Flathead Valley in 1945 at the age of 24, coming out of a career as a pilot in World War II. He had grown up in Somers, where he was the valley’s first Eagle Scout. He loved and respected the wilderness from a young age, even putting himself to the test at 14 years old, when he convinced his parents to let him backpack from Spotted Bear Ranger Station to Swan Lake, according to “To Build A Dream” a telling of the lodge’s founding by Rick and Susie Graetz and Don Hedgpeth.  

Les was a ferrying bomber aircraft to bases all over the world in 1943. He saw Asia, Africa, Europe and South America — but by the time he returned home, he realized nowhere compared to his beautiful home in the Flathead Valley.  

Les sought to buy a boys camp that was no longer in operation, that he remembered from his teenage years near Bigfork. It was constructed in 1932 by residents Hebgen and Labonate, who built two lodges on the 100-acre property. The owners told Les they would sell him the property for $35,000 with a down payment of $10,000. Though he only had $5,000, Les would later convince a friend from his pilot years, Roy Whitford, to sign on as his partner.  

The men experienced a rocky first few years with the lodge. To get income rolling, the lodge advertised as a resort and dining hall, with music playing until 2 a.m. The grand opening was scheduled for May 1, 1946, and all summer, guests danced and dined at the lodge.  

As time went on, Les became a family man. He married Delores Dufour, his next-door neighbor growing up in Somers. And in 1949, Les bought Whitford out of the business for $7,000.  

With Delores, Les began turning the lodge into the dude ranch he always dreamed of, buying horses, building barns and leading hunting expeditions in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. While hunting trips preoccupied the fall, Delores spent her time mailing out advertisements to publications across the country for the lodge.  

Their first season, only one couple, a Chicago business executive and his wife, showed up. But, as the years went on, word spread of the dazzling time to be had on the shores of Flathead Lake, where city folk could dip their toes into feeling like a cowboy.  

During those early years, the couple worked overtime to make friends with potential guests during the winter. 

“They would leave for Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities to visit former guests who returned to the Averill’s hospitality and encouraged their friends to visit Montana ... at parties, Les would show slides and tell stories about bear hunting and horseback adventures,” writes Graetz in “To Build A Dream.”  

Slowly but surely, word got out, and the couple went on to host some serious clientele, like Bing Crosby, George H.W. Bush and gangster Bugsy Siegel and his girlfriend Virginia Hill, who Les unknowingly welcomed to the lodge in the 1940s.  

AS BUSINESS grew, so did the Averill family. Les and Delores had four sons: Dan, Doug, Darv and Dalvin. Delores died of breast cancer in 1968, leading to a period of transition for Les, where his sons gradually became more involved in operations. Les later remarried to Ginny Clark in 1970, according to “To Build A Dream.”  

Doug Averill took over operations in the early 1970s and worked to expand and improve the horseback riding and water activities at the lodge. He married Maureen West, who used her background in marketing to promote Flathead Lake Lodge to guests looking to take a bite out of a Rocky Mountain summer. The couple continued Les and Delores’ strategy of travelling to meet former guests in cities across the country, entertaining them and meeting potential new guests for the upcoming summer.  

Doug and Maureen brought the lodge into the modern era with internet advertisements, a website and the ability to book online, according to “To Build A Dream.”  

Peterson, the lodge’s current assistant general manager, began working there under Doug and Maureen in the mid-1980s. After getting close with a family her first few seasons who were guests, she moved from North Dakota to Bigfork to be their nanny, but it wasn’t long before Flathead Lake Lodge called her up again and asked her to return to run their kitchen. 

She’s kept coming back year after year, like so many of the lodge’s employees. Averill said they hire 115 workers during the summer, compared to the 25 they keep hired during the winter. Their seasonal workers will come back several years in a row, which he said can be unusual for college-aged hires.  

Peterson said it’s a thrill to watch seasonal workers develop friendships and have fun during their first summer on Flathead Lake.  

“We have that motto, ‘you work hard, you play hard.’ And that's true to this day, and it is fun to watch them come in and create lifelong friendships,” Peterson said. “You end up with some people who have created romances, who get engaged and become married, so it's fun to watch all that happen. And just creating that magical bond within your staff, that exudes to all the guests.”  

Averill took over operations around 2017 with his wife Kate. He said on average, the lodge gets 800 applicants for around 75 seasonal positions. They house around 90 of their 115 summer workers, which is a big perk, but it helps that they extend their signature hospitality to their hires, too. 

“We still really try to have that authentic experience where the guests feel like they're staying at our home. And I think a big part of that is the staff being treated well and feeling like this is their home for the summer too. If we can do that, and everyone buys into it, it becomes just a fun summer goofing-off with the guests on the lake,” Averill said.  

Averill is sort of an expert on how to have a fun summer on Flathead Lake, as were his siblings and his uncles before him. He said growing up, it was easy to make friendships with the families who came to visit the lodge. They had a whole week together to run around and soak up the sun, and those same guests would typically return at the same time next summer.  

It wasn’t all fun and games, though.  

“I got subjected to everything: dish pit, housekeeping, wrangling, boat driving, maintenance — I mean, that's part of the fun of it, is you get to do it all. So I was all over the place, I worked in the front office. The only place they never let me work was in the kitchen, except for doing the dishes,” Averill said.  

AVERILL SAID the lodge isn’t planning a big celebration for its 80th anniversary. However, a few years ago for its 75th anniversary a new tradition began. The “Week of Hope” hosts 15 families with children who have life threatening illnesses or conditions, in partnership with Minneapolis-based nonprofit HopeKids 

“For many of them, it might be the first vacation they've ever taken, if something happened to their kid when they were young. It's amazing and those families are unbelievable. I think we learn something more every year than what we can give them, like just how positive and resilient they are,” Averill said.  

His family has worked to make Flathead Lake Lodge a dream destination for so many, but Averill said the real magic of the place can be pretty simple.  

“Something as simple as kids to be able to ride bikes around the property without having a parent with them and just checking in at meals. It's just such a throwback experience. And for these younger families, the amount of freedom, exposure and adventure they have here, I think it’s important for kids these days,” Averill said.  

Now that he is raising kids of his own on the shores of Flathead Lake, he hopes to continue that tradition.  

“I totally took it for granted growing up here, and to be able to kind of carry that forward is really important. I think the impact we're fortunate enough to have on families is our good little deed we can do in the world,” Averill said.  

To learn more about Flathead Lake Lodge, visit flatheadlakelodge.com.

Reporter Taylor Inman may be reached at 758-4440 or tinman@dailyinterlake.com.

    A covered carriage inside the barn at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork on Thursday, June 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    The main lodge at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork on Thursday, June 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Inside the main lodge at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork on Thursday, June 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    The outdoor pool along Flathead Lake at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork on Thursday, June 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Guests depart the barn for a scenic trail ride at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork on Thursday, June 5. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Flathead Lake Lodge owners Doug and Maureen Averill with their son and daughter-in-law, Chase and Kate, and their grandchildren. (photo provided)
  

    Les, Dan, Doug, Darv, Dalvin and Delores posing at their dude ranch in the early 60s. (photo provided)
  

    Summer guests crowd around a busy dock at Flathead Lake Lodge in the 1950s. (photo provided)
  

    Maureen, Doug, Ginny and Les Averill taking a ride on Flathead Lake. (photo provided)
  

    Maureen Averill photographed at steak fry held at the Flathead Lake Lodge. (photo provided)