Three boaters were rescued Thursday morning from a small island on the North Fork Flathead River after the raft carrying them and two others overturned Wednesday evening.

According to Search and Rescue Coordinator Brian Heino with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, the group was between Coal Creek and Home Ranch Bottoms when the raft got hung up on a log and flipped.

Two of the boaters made it out of the water to the Flathead National Forest side of the river. The remaining three, a couple in their 50s and a woman in her 20s, ended up on the Glacier National Park shore on the east side.

“It sounded to me like it happened at maybe 7 or 8 p.m.,” Heino said. “The two who walked out [on the forest side] had seen the others make it out on the other side, and figured they would be able to walk out as well.”

But after driving around and waiting for roughly three hours, the pair finally drove to Polebridge and contacted the Sheriff’s Office at 12:11 a.m. Thursday.

Heino said the Sheriff’s Office responded, along with Flathead County Search and Rescue, North Valley Search and Rescue, ALERT and park personnel. The trio were eventually located at about 3:30 a.m. on the small island — which they reached while trying to find a way across the river — by searchers using a siren and making voice contact.

The three were cold but uninjured.

“They did a lot of things right,” Heino said. “They stayed in one place as a group, they huddled up to stay warm and they stayed calm. Staying put really helped us to find them as quick as we did.”

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at [email protected].