A Shopper's Guide to Sporting Goods Stores in Kalispell

During the winter, one of Kalispell’s main draws for out-of-town visitors is shopping and with good reason.  We have a wide variety of stores and specialty shops with better prices and wider varieties than some Canadian stores and smaller towns in Northwest Montana.  While I am not a shopaholic, when it comes to sporting goods and outdoors stores in Kalispell, I am experienced. 

The great thing about outdoors stores in Kalispell, is that they are almost always staffed by people who love the outdoors.  This is huge benefit to you, the shopper, because people who like the outdoors are more likely to use and know their products, enjoy educating customers about their products and be more friendly and helpful in general.  With that said, some stores are better at different aspects of customer service and as we all know prices and variety are also important when shopping for outdoor equipment and clothing.  What follows are the strengths of different Kalispell sporting goods stores as I have experienced them.

Sportsman’s Ski Haus

·         Best variety of winter gear (clothing, skis, etc.)

·         Best variety of camping and hiking equipment and clothing

·         Best archery center apart from the two specialty shops (Flaming Arrow and Spirit Quest)

·         Consistently have good sales, decent regular prices

Cabela’s

·         Biggest variety on hunting related items especially when you factor in local pickup option from cabelas.com

·         Cabela’s experience- no denying it, Cabela’s stores have the coolest mounts and a Cabela’s feel that other stores only try to replicate

Snappy’s Sports Center

·         Best fishing selection (ice, fly and spin) in the valley

·         Most knowledgeable fishing department staff (they even have a fishing report hotline you can call to find out about local fishing spots - 406-756-2248 – updated weekly)

·         Reasonable regular prices

Rocky Mountain Outfitters

·         Best climbing, hiking and camping knowledge available- these guys live and breathe the outdoors and love to share what they know

·         Highest quality camping, hiking, climbing and skiing equipment

Replay Sports

·         Great used equipment section ( I still have a great set of $40 snow shoes I bought from them used)

·         Most knowledgeable paddle sports staff

·         Good regular prices on paddle sports and camping gear

Army Navy

·         Best survival gear

I did not cover any specialty shops (guns, archery or fly fishing), but Kalispell has all of these too!  Hope this helps you on your next shopping trip!