The Rattlesnake Mountains are a prominent

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

located just 4 miles north of Missoula, Montana,

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The highest point in the range is McLeod Peak, (). Much of the range is protected in the

Rattlesnake Wilderness The Rattlesnake Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1980, the wilderness is within Lolo National Forest and is located only 4 miles (6.5 km) north of Missoula, Montana. The wilderness area is a ...

and

Rattlesnake National Recreation Area Rattlesnake National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area located 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) north of Missoula, Montana in the Rattlesnake Creek (Montana), Rattlesnake Creek drainage area. It is administered by the Lolo Nationa ...

on the Lolo National Forest. An additional of the range are protected on the

Flathead Indian Reservation The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes – also known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The ...

as the South Fork Tribal Primitive Area; this area is off-limits to non-tribal members. Including the Tribal Primitive Area, then, about of the Rattlesnakes are roadless. Over 30 high mountain lakes grace the range, and subalpine spruce-fir forests give way at lower elevations to groves of ponderosa pine and

douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

. Lodgepole pine and western larch are abundant. Wildlife includes black bear,

mountain lions The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

, and some mountain goats.

Grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

and

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

are sporadic visitors. Only a single dirt road separates the Rattlesnake Mountains from the

Mission Mountains The Mission Mountains or Mission Range are a range of the Rocky Mountains located in northwestern Montana in the United States. They lie chiefly in Lake County and Missoula County and are south and east of Flathead Lake and west of the Swan Ran ...

to the north. The Rattlesnake Wilderness includes some lands that were logged extensively in the past, which are slowly regaining their wilderness attributes. The Montana Snowbowl ski area is located in the southwestern portion of the range. The Rattlesnake is treated by many Missoula residents as their backyard playground due to its close proximity to town. A large (450 strong)

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

herd summers in the Rattlesnake and winters in the foothills near the Grant Creek area of Missoula; this herd has overpopulated its range and the State of Montana offers an extended hunting season and special permits in an attempt to reduce their numbers.

References

{{Montana Mountain ranges of Montana Landforms of Missoula County, Montana

See also

References