Lake Mary Ronan
— — a small lake that keeps its own season.
Not only on a wall.
“Seven miles west of Dayton, a forested lake set in low hills between Flathead Lake and the Salish Mountains. About 1,500 acres of quiet water held by lodgepole and larch. Kokanee salmon, largemouth bass, and yellow perch. A state park sits on the south shore with a small campground. The larch turn gold in the third week of October.
Lake Mary Ronan, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Lake Mary Ronan sits at 3,775 feet in the Salish Mountains of northwest Montana, seven miles west of Dayton and the western shore of Flathead Lake. The lake covers roughly 1,500 surface acres and is held by low forested hills of lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, and western larch. It drains southeast through Mary Ronan Creek to the Flathead River. Lake Mary Ronan State Park, established in 1958, holds 84 acres along the south shore with a campground, day-use area, and boat launch.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks manages the lake for kokanee salmon, largemouth bass, yellow perch, and rainbow trout. Kokanee were stocked starting in the 1930s and remain the signature species; perch fishing through the ice is a winter draw. The water is generally clear and quiet, with only a small fraction of the boat traffic of Flathead Lake to the east. Summer surface temperatures climb into the high sixties; the lake freezes thick enough for ice fishing most Januarys in normal winters.
The state park campground runs from mid-May into late September, with the busiest weeks falling between Independence Day and Labor Day. Late September into the third week of October lights the larch on the surrounding ridges; the gold sweeps through the hills above the lake for roughly ten days each year. Ice usually forms by Christmas and holds into March in normal winters. Spring runoff colours the inlet creeks through May before the lake settles clear in June.