Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest

Beaverhead-Deerlodge is Montana's largest national forest -- more than three million acres of Continental Divide high country in the state's southwest corner, where glacier-carved peaks rise out of wide sagebrush valleys and blue-ribbon trout rivers. It's old mining country, dotted with ghost towns, and the Big Hole River here holds one of the last river-dwelling Arctic grayling populations in the lower 48. Bonus: up in the Pioneer Mountains you can dig your own quartz crystals at Crystal Park and take home what you find.

The place

Beaverhead-Deerlodge is the biggest national forest in Montana -- more than three million acres scattered across a cluster of separate 'island' mountain ranges in the state's southwest corner, right up against the Continental Divide. It's wide-open, high country: glacier-carved peaks rising straight out of sagebrush valleys, blue-ribbon trout rivers, alpine lakes, and the weathered remains of old mining camps. If you like your mountains big and your crowds thin, this is the place.

History

The forest takes its name from two of Montana's most storied places. 'Beaverhead' comes from Beaverhead Rock, a landmark on the Beaverhead River that the Shoshone said looked like a swimming beaver's head; Sacagawea recognized it in 1805 while traveling with Lewis and Clark, a sign her homeland was near. 'Deerlodge' traces to the Deer Lodge Valley -- local tradition links the name to a warm-spring mound where deer once gathered, the 'lodge of the deer.' The two forests, Beaverhead and Deerlodge, were managed separately for most of the last century and were combined into a single forest in 1996. This is old Montana mining country, and gold- and silver-rush ghost towns like Coolidge, deep in the Pioneer Mountains, still stand within the forest.

Wildlife & plants

There's a lot of big game here: elk, moose, mule deer, mountain goats picking across the high rock, and bighorn sheep. Pronghorn range the open valleys and sage flats, where you might also flush a sage grouse. Black bears, mountain lions, and wolves all live in the forest, though you're far more likely to see their sign than the animals themselves. The rivers are the real draw for anglers -- native westslope cutthroat trout swim the headwaters, and the Big Hole River holds one of the last river-dwelling Arctic grayling populations in the lower 48, a delicate, sail-finned fish that's a relic of colder, ice-age times.

Notable features

The Continental Divide runs right through the forest, and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail crosses it on the long walk between Canada and Mexico. The Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway threads between that range's two halves, past alpine lakes and the ghost town of Coolidge. The forest includes much of the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness (shared with the neighboring Bitterroot National Forest) and part of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness. And the Big Hole River, a legendary blue-ribbon trout stream, drains its western valleys.

Cool to know

• At Crystal Park in the Pioneer Mountains you can dig for quartz crystals with hand tools and keep what you find -- it's day-use only, with a small per-person fee, and no heavy equipment allowed.
• The Big Hole River is one of the last places in the lower 48 where native Arctic grayling still live in a river instead of a lake -- an ice-age holdover with an oversized, sail-like fin.
• Beaverhead Rock -- the landmark on the Beaverhead River (now a state park) that gave the forest half its name -- is where Sacagawea, in 1805, recognized her Shoshone homeland while traveling with Lewis and Clark.
• It's the largest national forest in Montana, built from a scatter of separate 'island' mountain ranges rising out of the surrounding valleys.
• The silver-mining ghost town of Coolidge, deep in the Pioneer Mountains, still stands on the forest -- one of Montana's better-preserved mining ruins.
• The Continental Divide runs the length of the forest, and thru-hikers on the Continental Divide Trail walk right across it.