Mountains
Southwest Montana is home to a massive collection of mountain peaks and ranges, sometimes rising over 12,000 feet. The ranges that make up southwest Montana do more than name the state – they define it.
Naming Mount Blackmore. At 10,154 feet, Mount Blackmore looms high above Bozeman on the southern horizon. Anyone who has lived in town for more than a few weeks can point to the peak, but few know how the mountain got its name. Read more >>
Tobacco Roots
The full moon arched above us in the cold night sky, brightening the surrounding hillsides. As we peered into the shelter, shadows danced through the windows and lively chatter leaked out into the frozen landscape beyond the fabric walls of the yurt. Read more >>
For the past several years, my mother and I have been seeking out new places and spectacular Montana views that even an 89-year-old with limited mobility can enjoy, thanks to my trusty Subaru. Recently, our friend Chuck organized a “codger tour” for us to a corner of Madison County. Read more >>Crazies
With soaring peaks that remain snow-capped much of the year, the Crazy Mountains have drawn me like a moth to flame since I arrived in southwest Montana six years ago. So when my friend Bob said he’d like to do a ski trip in the Crazies, I jumped on board. Read more >>
The Crazy Mountains run north to south through Montana in a seemingly perfect angular form, like the bottom of a carnivore’s jaw. And though highways run parallel to the range on two sides, no road traverses them. Read more >>
It was a bright, warm day in the summer of 1846 when the Morgan family decided to take a break from their wagon travels. Crossing the vast eastern plains of Montana on their way to resettle in Oregon, the hardy family of five came under the shadow of the vast Crazy Mountain range. Read more >>Gallatin Range
The Gallatin Range is home to large numbers of endangered species and ancient petrified forests. Read more >>Bridgers
The forest, once too thick to ski through, had thinned and opened itself up, granting us the opportunity to explore its altered terrain. Standing on top of the ridgeline, we look down at the burn, toward the ruins and all of the subsequent hillsides that fell victim to the fire. Read more >>
Every so often, a blue light flashes on top of the Baxter Hotel, alerting anyone within view of the tallest building in Bozeman that snow is falling at Bridger Bowl. Read more >>Beartooths
Located just northeast of the Yellowstone National Park in south central Montana and parts of northwest Wyoming, the massive Beartooth Range is home to Granite Peak, Montana's highest point, and sits upon the highest true elevation plateau in the US. Read more >>Absarokas
The Absaroka Range makes up the eastern boundary of the Yellowstone National Park, and was named after the Indian tribe of the same name. Read more >>
As you cruise through Paradise Valley in winter, the ragged summits of the Absaroka Range hang high in the frosty air. Venture off the highway up the backroads and witness winter ice transforming burbling creeks into hushed, magical channels of ever-changing texture and form. Read more >>
Wilderness is big and wild—untamed earth spanning space between populations and providing a place for us to reconnect with our lost landscapes. When the time comes to retreat into to the wild and live with the twigs, berries, and bears, which area has the goods? Read more >>Bangtails
Ask about twelve-hour workdays stacked up, sometimes in blistering hot or numbingly frigid weather, continuous fatigue, or aches in the body, and Terry Johnson will still insist he has the best job in the world. Read more >>Madison Range
Winter’s just around the corner, and it’s a given that dedicated skiers in southwest Montana will hunt down a few turns before the season gets started. Read more >>
With its blocky shape, truncated summit, and unique color, Sphinx Mountain has drawn more people climbers to its summit than any other major peak in the Madison Range. Read more >>
Twenty-eight road miles (22 miles as a GPS-equipped crow would fly) southwest of the Bozeman city limits, one arrives at the Spanish Creek Guard Station, a major trailhead for the Spanish Peaks Unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area. Read more >>
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