Polebridge Mercantile & Bakery

Polebridge Mercantile & Bakery is a small historic general store and bakery in Polebridge, the North Fork community just outside Glacier's northwest entrance. Polebridge is the North Fork's only service community; the Merc is the place to refuel, restock, or grab something from the bakery. If you're heading to Bowman or Kintla Lake, buy food and supplies before you head farther along the remote roads.

Huckleberry bear claws are the signature order, with bakers making hundreds during summer days. Cinnamon rolls, macaroons, fresh bread, coffee, deli sandwiches and pizza are also on the bakery list; the mercantile stocks groceries, produce, ice and automotive supplies. The bear claws draw plenty of praise, though visitor opinions on texture and value are mixed. Try one if you're curious, but don't make a long drive for a guaranteed bakery favorite.

Polebridge is about 25 miles northwest of West Glacier, and there's no cell service in town. Download directions and plan your North Fork day before you leave coverage. For Bowman and Kintla, the farther lake roads are rough, single-lane gravel; the National Park Service recommends 4WD and the ability to change a tire. That advice is for those lake roads, not a specific requirement to reach the Merc.

Bill Adair settled a 160-acre homestead here in 1912 and completed the present store in 1914. It began as Adair's, then became the North Fork's social and business hub as the park and a bridge changed travel through the area. The five-building W.L. Adair General Mercantile Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1983.

The store's interior has hand-hewn log walls, and an old glass-cylinder gas pump remains at the complex. A large elm planted by Adair still shades the neighboring saloon, with old hop vines on its wall. A barn added in the early 1920s was lost in the 1988 Red Bench fire.

The Merc's bakery opened in 1994. The operator credits Dan Kaufman, a third-generation Idaho baker who owned the store for 15 years, with starting the bakery and creating many of its recipes.