Placid Lake State Park is a small public day use recreation site on Placid Lake, featuring picnic tables and a fishing dock.

Accessibility info and site description: To find Placid Lake State Park, travel on Hwy 83 north of Missoula or south of Seeley Lake, and turn west at the signs. Go straight past the Placid Lake State Park campground and follow the small picnic table sign ahead. Drive 1.6 miles through a residential area, and on the left you'll find the small day use area. The main parking lot can hold around 5 cars, and there is a narrow van accessible spot with a paved path that connects to the accessible restroom. There's a small wooded area with a few picnic tables scattered around, and a short paved path that goes down to the fishing dock.

I want to point out that all the information listed online for this state park (including FWP, Visit MT, and stateparks.com) is actually information about the campground. The campground does not have a day use area. The actual state park day use area is almost two miles from the campground and is very small. But the good thing about a small state park is that it requires much less walking! It's a beautiful lake with mountain views, and this spot is tucked away from busy roads and crowds. It's also the only public day use site on Placid Lake. As long as you adjust your expectations before visiting and know this is not a large or fancy location, I think it can be a very enjoyable spot!