[6] Fed partly by melt from the Gray Wolf Glacier, the river descends through a short and steep canyon to Lindbergh Lake, at the base of the Mission Mountains.

On the west side, streams draining the Mission Mountains into the Swan River include Glacier, Elk, Cold, Jim, Piper, Woodward, Whitetail, and Porcupine Creeks.

Eastern tributaries, flowing off the Swan Range, include Holland, Smith, Alder, Lion, Goat, Soup, and Lost Creeks.

[9] The glacial Swan Valley is considered Montana's most water-rich watershed, with over 4,000 lakes, ponds and wetlands that encompass about 16 percent of the total area.

As a result, most of the timber ended up piled on the banks and along sandbars, forming log jams that persist to this day.

It was the result of a dispute over tribal hunting rights outside of reservation boundaries, which the Montana government reputedly did not honor at the time.

[13] The Bigfork Dam impounds the Swan River at the rapids about 1 mile (1.6 km) above its mouth, to generate about 4,000 kilowatts of hydroelectricity at peak load.

[16] The stretch of the river between Bigfork Dam and Flathead Lake, known as the "Wild Mile" for its drop of over 100 feet (30 m), is known for its extremely difficult Class V+ whitewater.