Heaven’s Gate (1980), an American western epic, was filmed in and around Kalispell. There is a Salish language school and training center in nearby Arlee, Montana. The tribal schools nearby offer classes in the Kalispel–Spokane–Flathead language, a language nest, and intensive language training for adults. Buffalo Hill Golf Club, designed by Robert Muir Graves, serves golfers in the region. Flathead Lake, the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi river, is 7 miles (11 km) away. Skiers have access to Whitefish Mountain Resort on Big Mountain and Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, each 17 miles (27 km) away. Nestled in the Flathead valley, Kalispell is 31 miles (50 km) from Glacier National Park and 22 miles (35 km) from Hungry Horse Dam. The city is home to Logan Health Medical Center, which has a 150-bed hospital facility. The city is considered a secondary trade center with a trade area of approximately 130,000.

As the largest city in northwest Montana, Kalispell serves as the county seat and commercial center of Flathead County. Since that time, the city has continued to grow in population, reaching 19,927 in 2010.

Kalispell was officially incorporated as a city in 1892. Conrad built a large mansion in Kalispell in 1895. The townsite was quickly platted and lots began selling by the spring of 1891. Using his own capital, Charles Edward Conrad, a businessman and banker from Fort Benton, Montana, formed the Kalispell Townsite Company with three other men.

(The stem 'Kali' is a false cognate to the Hindi goddess by the same name, and is thus, unrelated). The name Kalispell is a Salish word meaning 'flat land above the lake'. In Montana's northwest region, it is the largest city and the commercial center of the Kalispell Micropolitan Statistical Area. The 2020 census put Kalispell's population at 24,558. Kalispell ( / ˈ k æ l ə ˌ s p ɛ l, ˌ k æ l ə ˈ s p ɛ l/, Montana Salish: Ql̓ispé, Kutenai language: kqayaqawakⱡuʔnam ) is a city in Montana and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States.

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