Moving to Montana from Colville, WA (Thompson Falls, Plains: fit in, cliquey, neighborhood)

[cman23]

Love the Heron area, does anyone have any input or thoughts on Sanders county? good, bad, ugly, great?

[NDak15]

What do you want to know? What do you want out of a move to the area? There is an active thread about Heron currently.

[cman23]

yes NDak, I am a part of that thread but for some reason I couldn't see any responses for about 2 weeks and then i finally saw them just after I started this new post. sorry.



Seeing im with you here, I'd like to ask a few questions. I hear winters are really long and cold in Heron with 5-7 ft of snow and a lot of cloudy days for about 8 months a year. would this be accurate? Do they get a lot of thunder storms in Heron? Love thunderstorms. Do you see property values rising there? Are more people moving to that area or is it still to far out for most?



What do I want out of it?

Just looking for a quiet place to live where I can't see my neighbors from my front porch, with lots of animals, good well water, a place where I can target practice with my guns, grow a garden, and where summers are short cuz I hate it hot and people are friendly.

Thanks



Chris

[OneDawg]

And Colville isn't?

[MTSilvertip]

Love Sanders County. I don't live there, But I'd planned on buying a place and retiring there, until i got the opportunity to buy a small ranch in Central Montana instead.

Sanders County is a funny place with both the places with the least rainfall, (Plains) and the most rainfall, (Thompson Falls) in the state.
You can find all the isolation you want, or you have access to several larger towns including CDL in Idaho.

They grow spectacular gardens and orchards.The people are very strong and independent, so very conservative. It may take some time to be accepted, but once you are, you'll never find better friends and neighbors anywhere.

Firearms are just part of everyday life here, so owning and shooting are no problem. Hunting and fishing is beyond belief for variety, quality and opportunity.

There aren't many jobs there, fewer with good pay since the logging and mines were shut down by lawsuits from the left. So bring your own job or have an income of some sort.

i haven't lived there in the winter so i can't give you any first hand observations.

Good Luck.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by cman23

yes NDak, I am a part of that thread but for some reason I couldn't see any responses for about 2 weeks and then i finally saw them just after I started this new post. sorry.



Seeing im with you here, I'd like to ask a few questions. I hear winters are really long and cold in Heron with 5-7 ft of snow and a lot of cloudy days for about 8 months a year. would this be accurate? Do they get a lot of thunder storms in Heron? Love thunderstorms. Do you see property values rising there? Are more people moving to that area or is it still to far out for most?



What do I want out of it?

Just looking for a quiet place to live where I can't see my neighbors from my front porch, with lots of animals, good well water, a place where I can target practice with my guns, grow a garden, and where summers are short cuz I hate it hot and people are friendly.

Thanks



Chris

I haven't lived in that area so can't give you really major details on it. Winters are cold just about everywhere in Montana but unless you're way up in the mountains you won't see that kind of snow. Montana gets thunderstorms but it seems like more on the plains in eastern Montana. I don't know about property values or other trends like that.

You'll find peace and quiet, most Montanans own guns, and there are plenty of animals in the state. Gardens are a challenge but they can be grown. Summers are short throughout the state and you won't generally get the oppressive heat that is sometimes present in the eastern part of the state. As far as people, this should be a primary concern. People in Montana are often suspicious of outsiders, especially from the West Coast. It is seen as liberal and western Montana is VERY conservative. Politics are brought up frequently in my experience (lived there 16 years and visit family every year) in the state. This does not mean that you won't fit in but also be aware that in any rural area you have people whose families go back generations and they all know each other. Food for thought.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

OP, as you know from the other thread, we have a place over in Idaho 6 miles from Heron. If you have specific questions, send me a DM.

[cominghome68]

Sanders County is great, I loved living there (Troy, Noxon). I will tell you that locally, folks from Heron are considered "different". On the whole they take "cliquey" to a whole new level, so if you've heard some folks are hesitant to accept newcomers, Heron seconds that emotion and then doubles down. If you don't mind the small town mentality taken to extremes, it's a beautiful place to live. To people that don't live in Heron, Heron residents are considered either "hippies" or "extremists" depending on who you ask and what their own leanings are. Heron gets more snow than anywhere else in Sanders County but not as much rain as some. A garden is a challenge because of the short growing season but more than that, the deer are a menace to any all foliage that people like to plant so be prepared to fence in everything and I do mean EVERYTHING. I personally prefer Noxon or Trout Creek area to Heron but to each their own. Everyone in Montana owns guns so that is a non issue for most. I don't know anyone who goes to any sort of 'range'... just set up a target in your yard as long as no one lives behind it, and sight in your rifle just in time for hunting season. Be prepared to drive to get anything at all if you live in Heron. I don't think there is even a mini market there anymore but it's only 10 miles or so to Noxon where there is a least a gas station. I haven't lived in the area for a good 25 years but I've been back to visit several years in a row as I prepare to move back myself. Went to Heron just to take a look last Fall. Nothing has changed in the last 25 years except there is a new bridge and the one place to buy groceries burned down as is an empty lot now.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I remember the first time we drove over to Heron from Clark Fork (which is a very different kind of community). That would be about 12 years ago. The old market (or was it really a bar?) was open, and we bought a couple of things, including a "Heron" mug. I still have it, and I'm sure it's a collector's item by now! There was a porch the entire length of the one-story building, and wooden chairs, and all the chairs were occupied by, shall we say, elderly gentlemen. They stared us down as we went in, and they stared as we walked out. We smiled and said Hi, but we didn't get as much as one smile in return. First live tourists this year! Or whatever they said to one another after we had left. Maybe "There goes the neighborhood!"

No more market, no more front porch...