Offering a unique riding experience

SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Adventures Operations Manager Heather Myre said she is looking forward to helping customers and staff explore the natural area in and around Seeley Lake with her new motorized recreational vehicle rental business venture. The service operates out of Kurt's Polaris on Highway 83 even though Myre considers it an entirely separate business.

Myre is the daughter of Curtis Friede, owner of Kurt's Polaris since 1989. Myre grew up recreating with motorized vehicles. After graduating from Seeley-Swan High School, she attended the University of Montana in Missoula as well as Montana State University in Great Falls where she respectively graduated with Associate of Applied Science degrees in medical assisting in 2011 and dental hygiene in 2014.

After graduation Myre lived in Great Falls for around eight years before she moved back to Seeley Lake with her new family. On top of managing Seeley Adventures' operations, she works as a dental hygienist for a couple of different offices in Missoula three days a week.

This is the first time Myre is formally working in the recreational vehicle rental industry. She said for years Kurt's Polaris customers had been asking to rent out vehicles but they have been unable to do so. They were recently approached by Polaris Adventures who offered to help organize the service.

"Polaris Adventures presented us with a unique opportunity to be able to create a really neat thing for people," Myre said adding Friede owns Seeley Adventures. "We had originally toyed with the idea last year and then it was during the COVID shutdown, and we thought, 'Oh my gosh, no, we'd just be crazy to get ourselves into that right now.' ... And then everything opened up and tourism in Montana exploded. ... The way that the company had it set up kind of made it hard to turn down the opportunity."

Myre began developing the service in January where much of the time was spent launching the website. They had their first vehicle rentals Memorial Day weekend.

Seeley Adventures offers daily rentals for two, four or eight hours for UTVs and electric mountain bikes from May to October. Snowmobiles will be available for rent for three to four months in the winter.

Riders must be 25 and older to rent and 21 and older to ride. Alcohol use is prohibited. Riders are also required to wear helmets and goggles at all times inside of the vehicles. These are available through the rental service.

Outside of a standard driver's license, certification to drive the vehicles is not required unless the rider intends to travel through reservation land in which case they will need a tribal recreation permit which can be acquired through Seeley Adventures. Patrons must also sign a waiver as they book.

Currently riders can ride anywhere within 100 miles of Kurt's Polaris. However, Myre said they are working on developing routes so that those unfamiliar with the area can explore the region on a designated path by following the vehicle's navigation system.

Myre said through mapping she has a new appreciation for the natural beauty of the region.

"Growing up here and spending a bunch of time in the mountains, we've kind of taken for granted the landscape and the area," she said. "And so when we first started mapping trails and getting out there off the beaten path and finding places that we thought people would enjoy to go, it was a really, really nice refresher of the area."

Seeley Adventures will also offer Huckleberry Rides from mid-July to August. Groups of up to four people have the choice of going on a guided ride to local huckleberry patches or customers can use a self-guided map. The exact destination will depend on the crop. 

Myre said customers will be able to get a full refund so long as they cancel their trip at least 48 hours in advance. She recommends that people book their trip at least 24 hours in advance.

"We just try to be as accommodating for people as we can based on the situations," she said.

She said that her goal for the business is for her customers, staff and herself to have fun while being active.

"We want this to be a fun thing for our employees ... and have it be a service in town that is something else for tourists ... to stop and see our area [and make] them want to come back and spend more time here," Myre said.

She also said she wants it to be successful enough for it to continue operating in the future.

"It just seems like something that has the potential to be really successful," she said. "It's always kind of disheartening when people start a business adventure that's not viable. So our goal is to create something that is successful enough to come back and offer it again next year."

To book visit https://seeleyadventures.com, call (406) 499-2415 or email seeleylakeadventures@gmail.com. Vehicles can then be picked up from Kurt's Polaris, 3181 Highway 83, between 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m seven days a week.