Montana/Idaho Public Lands

Gallatin National Forest

With its snow-covered mountain peaks and internationally known “blue ribbon” trout streams, the Gallatin National Forest is a popular recreation area in Montana. Established in 1899, the Gallatin is part of the Greater Yellowstone Area, the largest intact ecosystem in the continental U.S. This 1.8-million acre Forest spans six mountain ranges and includes two Congressionally-designated Wilderness areas, the Absaroka-Beartooth and Lee Metcalf Wildernesses. The Forest provides habitat for a full complement of native fauna, including four federally listed threatened species – the grizzly bear, gray wolf, bald eagle, and the Canada lynx. Come and explore this marvelous treasure and discover, for yourself, all that it has to offer.

BLM Dillon Field Office – The Centennial Mountains

The Centennials form both the Continental Divide and the Idaho/Montana border for 62 miles, from Monida Pass at I-15 to Red Rock Pass east of Yellowstone National Park. The range, 12 miles wide in places, begins as a series of high rolling ridges that gradually gain in elevation as one moves to the east. On its eastern end, the range climbs abruptly out of the forested Island Park Caldera to form a high rugged crest that reaches its highest elevation at 10,203 feet on Mount Jefferson.

Caribou-Targhee National Forest

The Caribou-Targhee National Forest, situated next to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, is home to a diverse number of wildlife and fish, including Threatened and Endangered species, wilderness, scenic panoramas and intensively managed forestlands. The Forest lays almost entirely within “the Greater Yellowstone Area” or “the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” an area of over 12 million acres and the largest remaining block of relatively undisturbed plant and animal habitat in the contiguous U.S.. The area continues to gain prominence for its ecological integrity. The United Nations has identified the area as a Biosphere Reserve.

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest

The 3.3-million-acre Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest stretches from near Missoula to near Yellowstone National Park, and from near Helena to the Idaho border. The Continental Divide snakes through the forest and along part of its boundary. The forest includes the Anaconda-Pintler and Lee Metcalf wilderness areas. Within the forest are open valleys bisected by isolated high mountain ranges. Even the valley bottoms are about 4,500 feet in elevation, while many of the peaks exceed 11,000 feet. Although this was one of the first areas settled by pioneers in Montana, it remains wild, remote and undiscovered by tourists.

Salmon-Challis National Forest

The Salmon-Challis National Forest covers over 4.3 million acres, and included within the boundaries of the Forest is 1.3 million acres of the Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness Area, the largest wilderness area in the Continental U.S. Rugged and remote, this country offers adventure, solitude and breathtaking scenery. The Forest also contains Borah Peak, Idaho’s tallest peak, the Wild & Scenic Salmon River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. The area is a highly desired destination for hunting, fishing, white-water rafting and many other popular recreational pursuits.

Bitterroot National Forest

The 1.6 million acre Bitterroot National Forest begins above the foothills of the Bitterroot River Valley in two mountain ranges—the Bitterroot Mountains on the west and the Sapphire Mountains on the east side of the valley. In the drier valley floor and lower foothills there is an arid-lands mix of grasslands, shrublands, and ponderosa pine that borders cottonwood forest along rivers and streams. On grassland ecosystems, wildlife and domestic livestock share forage. These rangelands provide benefits like wildlife habitats and recreation. Mid-elevations receive more moisture and are habitat for stands of Douglas fir, lodgepole pine and western larch. Higher elevations produce Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, subalpine larch and whitebark pine.

Anaconda Pintler Wilderness

United States Congress designated the 158,600 acre Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness in 1964. Straddling the Continental Divide in the Anaconda Range, it has it all in terms of mountain grandeur, whether that entails high and rugged peaks, cirques, U-shaped valleys, or glacier moraines. Sparkling lakes and tumbling streams fed by icy water running off snowfields above the timberline enhance the beauty and offer excellent fishing for species of trout, three of char, mountain whitefish, and artic grayling.

Black bears, moose, elk, deer, and mountain goats call this area home. Elevations range from about 5,100 feet to 10,793 feet on West Goat Peak, with sagebrush and willow flats in the lower elevations rising to forest of pine, fir, and spruce and eventually to aspen, pine, fir and larch. The highest slopes are often bare talus with vegetation limited to lichens.

Helena National Forest

The Helena National Forest surrounds Montana’s Capital City (Helena) and offers close to one million acres of distinctive landscapes. The Continental Divide parts the Helena National Forest in half. To the west, vast canyons and limestone peaks foster a collection of timber and sub-alpine fir, embracing meadows, and blue, blue skies. This is Montana’s untamed country. On the eastern side, sage and pine decorate the gentler Big Belt Mountains.

Lewis and Clark National Forest

The Lewis and Clark National Forest lies in central and north central Montana within the upper Missouri River system. Landscapes range from broad prairies to rugged ridges and mountain peaks. Forests of Douglas fir and lodgepole pine surround beautiful grassy parks and mountain meadows.

Flathead National Forest

The 2.4 million acre Flathead National Forest is 89% forestland and 11% non-forest or water and 46% is in a reserved designation such as Wilderness. All of the major landforms are structurally controlled with most of the mountain ranges being formed by block faults. Glaciations from the last ice age influenced the shape of the land as well as the composition of the soil.

Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex
Bob Marshall, Great Bear and Scapegoat Wildernesses

Congress designated the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area as part of the original Wilderness Act of 1964 and it now encompasses over 1.5 million acres. Within this complex are three wildernesses: Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and Great Bear. Here is one of the most completely preserved mountain ecosystems in the world, the kind of Wilderness most people can only imagine: rugged peaks, alpine lakes, cascading waterfalls, grassy meadows embellished with shimmering streams, a towering coniferous forest, and big river valleys.

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is the last holdout habitat south of Canada for the grizzly bear and provides critical habitat to the endangered gray wolves as well. Elk, whitetail and mule deer, Canadian lynx, bobcats, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, black bears, wolverines and cougars also make their home in the Bob, along with smaller animals such as beaver, river otters, snowshoe hares and marten.

Glacier National Park

Glacier preserves over 1,000,000 acres of forests, alpine meadows, and lakes. Its diverse habitats are home to over 70 species of mammals and over 260 species of birds. The spectacular glaciated landscape is a hikers paradise containing 700 miles of maintained trails that lead deep into one of the largest intact ecosystems in the lower 48 states. The park contains over 350 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and six National Historic Landmarks. And, in 1932 Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Park, in Canada, were designated Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. This designation celebrates the longstanding peace and friendship between our two nations. Glacier and Waterton Lakes have both been designated as Biosphere Reserves and together were recognized, in 1995, as a World Heritage Site. Glacier National Park is home to the CDT’s northern terminus along the picturesque shores of Waterton Lake.