Anyone know anything/have any info on an airstrip in northern Montana called Wurtz (MT17)? I came across it on shortfield.com and it looked like a neat place:

-Sam

[airport]MT17[/airport]

According to Hanselmans Fly the big sky it's strewn with volley ball size rocks and is only partially usable... Ask a local up there but that's what it says in his book. I once entertained a trip up there but the volley ball size rocks changed my mind. Looks like a good fishing spot though....

Go to www.recreationalaviationfoundation.org/raf/about.htm it has a picture and a little information.

I landed there this summer in my Super Cub and also walked the whole area this month hunting deer. It is rough and narrow and not for most tricycle planes with minimum prop clearance. You need to be able to pick you landing spot and then hit it. With the bigger tires on the Cub it is not near so rough. Here's a picture of the Cub with 8.5's on and with these tires it is rough enough that you notice it.

It is a beautiful area. Both ends of the strip end at the North Fork of the Flathead River. The strip was built on a bow in the river. The other side of the river is Glacier National Park. The strip was originally private and was the bought by the Forest Service. The road leading to the strip is closed during the fall and winter months and the assumption is that the strip is then too although the FS is inconsistent in their treatment of the strip.





Here's another view from a few years ago, before the fire. You get a better view of the entire strip and the roughness. That is a tricycle gear plane out there in this picture. As I said, you need to be able to hit your spot.

Nice pictures.
I checked it out on the chart and it says it's private. Is that correct? Can you land there, or do you need to talk to the USFS first?

-Sam

If it is on USFS land it is not private. They just haven't changed the symbol on the chart yet. Ryan Field, a little SE of Wurtz has been donated for public use. The previous owners still live there. In order to land there you need to contact the MPA first, but it's no longer a private field.

Ok, thanks.

Now those pix of Wurtz above don't look all that bad to me and I don't see any Volleyball size rocks... Hell I've landed on roads down here that are worse than that....Maybe I'll reconsieder that fishing excursion up there next year...