Bitterroot Range

But there's nothing disparate about the natural beauty here: The forest blends typically stunning 11,000-foot Rockies peaks and Missouri River feeder streams that have cut deep valleys into the lush landscape.

The result is more than 3 million acres of playground that begin in the semi-arid grassland foothills, build up to coniferous forests of lodgepole pine and Douglas fir, and climb toward a culmination in the peaks of the Bitterroot and Centennial ranges. This richness of environment supports more than 180 species of animals; everything from the lonely moose to mountain goats and black bears call the forest home.

This natural beauty is intricately woven into the forest's history. Of all the areas traversed by Lewis and Clark on their journey west, perhaps none were so essential to their party's survival than this one. Tired, low on supplies, and pulling dying horses, it was here in 1805 that they met Sacajawea and the Shoshone near a huge rock, which the explorers' journals called"Beaver's Head." The Deer Lodge name also comes from a natural formation-this one geothermal-that resembled a medicine lodge and attracted many deer.

An extensive system of roads and trails makes it easy for visitors to make their own discoveries in this beautiful forest. So what are you waiting for?

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