Absaroka–Beartooth Wilderness

The Absaroka–Beartooth Wilderness is a vast protected mountain landscape on the Montana–Wyoming border, established in 1978 from national forest lands and forming a major part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem beside Yellowstone National Park. Its distinct character comes from the contrast between the dark, rugged volcanic and metamorphic Absarokas and the granite Beartooths with their broad alpine plateaus and tundra. Covering about 944,000 acres, it includes Montana’s highest point, Granite Peak, more than 120 peaks above 10,000 feet, extensive trails, lakes, streams, and small glaciers. Protected under the 1964 Wilderness Act, it preserves major wildlife habitat and one of the Rocky Mountains’ largest intact high-mountain environments.

Cooke City, Montana · United States