Public land: who holds it, and how it is scattered
Montana’s 27.2 million federal acres are split among five agencies: the Forest Service with 17,254,317 acres, the BLM with 8,053,643, the National Park Service with 1,214,871, the Fish and Wildlife Service with 639,655 and the Department of Defense with 5,931. The BLM works from a state office in Billings and three districts: Eastern Montana and Dakotas at Miles City, North Central Montana at Lewistown and Western Montana at Butte. Across Montana and the two Dakotas together the bureau manages about 8.3 million acres by its own count.
Two single units dominate the map in the middle of the state. The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, set aside by proclamation on January 17, 2001, spans 149 miles of the Missouri and 377,000 acres of the country above it. Next to it the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge covers about 1.1 million acres, which the Fish and Wildlife Service calls the second largest refuge in the lower 48 states. Neither is one solid block: the BLM says its monument land is intermingled with State of Montana land and private property, and that the designation applies only to the BLM-managed ground.
In the mountains the Forest Service is the landlord, through the seven national forests listed below. Glacier National Park adds 1,012,837 acres in the northwest, with 745.9 miles of trail, 13 campgrounds and no gasoline for sale inside it. State trust land is the trap. The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation allows motorized vehicles on public roads only, federal, state and dedicated county, and says every other road is closed unless DNRC designates it open.
- 01Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest: more than 3.4 million acres, the largest in Montana, straddling the Continental Divide
- 02Custer Gallatin National Forest: more than 3 million acres, from the Greater Yellowstone to the South Dakota buttes
- 03Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest: 2.8 million acres through central and north-central Montana
- 04Flathead National Forest: 2.4 million acres, with over 2,000 miles of trail
- 05Lolo National Forest: 2.3 million acres around Missoula
- 06Kootenai National Forest: over 2.2 million acres, of which 50,384 lie in Idaho
- 07Bitterroot National Forest: 1.6 million acres, with the Magruder Road Corridor on its southern edge
Source 1
Seasons: what closes, and when
Montana closes four state highways outright for the winter, and once the gates shut there is no winter maintenance and travel on them is prohibited. They are US 212, the Beartooth Highway, at mileposts 45 to 56 in Carbon County; Montana 38 over Skalkaho Pass, mileposts 14 to 38 in Ravalli and Granite counties; Montana 49, the Looking Glass Highway, mileposts 4 to 11 in Glacier County; and Secondary 471 over Thompson Pass in Sanders County. The Department of Transportation publishes no dates and sends drivers to its 511 service.
The Custer Gallatin says the Beartooth Highway is open from Memorial Day to October 15, weather dependent. Going-to-the-Sun Road keeps its lower sections open all year but has no set date for opening over Logan Pass, which is usually early July, and normally closes on the third Monday of October. On the Magruder Road Corridor the Bitterroot says snow, downed trees and wet ground often delay opening until mid to late summer, and the joint Forest Service guide adds that snow begins to fall in early October and persists into July. The Gravelly Range Road opens to travel on July 1.
Snow sets all of that. NOAA’s climate summary says annual snowfall runs to 300 inches in parts of the western mountains and to about 20 inches at some stations east of the Divide in the northern divisions, that most of it falls from November through March, and that heavy storms can come as early as mid-September or as late as May 1 at higher elevations. Mountain snowpacks in the wetter areas often exceed 100 inches as the season ends around April 1 to 15.
East of the mountains the limit is mud rather than snow. The BLM discourages driving the Missouri Breaks byway after heavy rains, in winter, or during heavy spring run-off. On the Charles M. Russell refuge most primitive roads are impassable in wet weather, and the seasonally closed ones are shut to all motorized travel from August 28 to March 1. The monument’s campgrounds run to a calendar of their own: James Kipp is open from April 1 to December 1.
Source 45
What Montana asks of a vehicle
Fuel range comes first. The Forest Service guide to the Magruder Road Corridor tells drivers they are crossing an undeveloped area with no services for 117 miles and to start with a full tank and a spare tire; the Bitterroot adds that there are no fuel stations and that cell coverage is spotty to nonexistent. The BLM says the same of the Missouri Breaks byway, where coverage is limited and you should carry enough fuel, food and water. On Big Sheep Creek the bureau writes that no services are available and there is no potable water, then says on the same page that gasoline is available along the route, so plan for the first.
Then the surface. Very little of Montana’s documented driving is rock crawling. What stops vehicles is wet clay: the BLM says many roads in the monument cross soils that become absolutely impassable when wet, and the Fish and Wildlife Service says most refuge trails are impassable in wet weather and tells drivers to carry shovels, tire chains, a first aid kit and emergency food and water. In 2026 the Beaverhead-Deerlodge sent traffic around the southern eight miles of the Gravelly Range Road after rain left it nearly impassable and riders got stuck.
Size matters in two places. Vehicles and combinations longer than 21 feet including bumpers, or wider than 8 feet including mirrors, are prohibited on Going-to-the-Sun Road between Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun, and anything over 10 feet high can struggle with the rock overhangs west of Logan Pass. On the Magruder the Forest Service does not recommend towing trailers because of the hairpin turns, and says motor homes with low clearance should not travel the road at all.
In the west and the southwest the vehicle is also the food locker. The Custer Gallatin’s order covers the whole west side of the forest and accepts food stored in a hard-sided vehicle or trailer with all the windows closed, in a container certified by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, or hung at least 10 feet up and 4 feet out. The Bitterroot’s order runs from March 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027 across all national forest land in the Montana part of that forest.
Source 32
Passes and routes
-
Missouri Breaks National Back Country Byway
Winifred to the James Kipp Recreation Area on US 191
The BLM’s byway crosses the eastern part of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, 377,000 acres set aside in 2001 along 149 miles of river. The byway roads are unpaved and many sections are recommended only for high-clearance vehicles with four-wheel drive. The 19-mile Middle Two Calf Road makes a shorter loop inside the monument. All routes pass through wooded enclaves with views of the Judith, Bears Paw and Little Rocky Mountains. Cell coverage is limited, off-road driving is not allowed, and the BLM publishes no total length for the byway. 15
- Vehicle
- High clearance, with four-wheel drive on many sections
- Season
- Not after heavy rains, in winter, or during heavy spring run-off
-
Beartooth Highway (US 212)Paved
10,947 ft
Red Lodge to Cooke City, by way of the northwest corner of Wyoming
The Custer Gallatin says the drive takes a minimum of two to three hours and tops out at Beartooth Pass at 10,947 feet, and that the Montana Department of Transportation closes the highway every winter. The state lists mileposts 45 to 56 in Carbon County among its four seasonally closed highways, where travel is prohibited once the road shuts. This is grizzly country: the forest tells hikers leaving the pass to carry bear spray and know how to use it. 27
- Season
- Memorial Day to October 15, weather dependent
-
Going-to-the-Sun RoadPaved
6,646 ft 50 miles
The west entrance of Glacier National Park to the east entrance, over Logan Pass
The Park Service allows about two hours for the full 50 miles and puts Logan Pass, the high point, at 6,646 feet, 32 miles from the west entrance and 18 from the east. Vehicles and combinations longer than 21 feet including bumpers, or wider than 8 feet including mirrors, are prohibited on the middle section, and anything over 10 feet high may have trouble with the rock overhangs between Logan Pass and the Loop. The speed limit is 40 miles per hour lower down and 25 on the alpine section, and no gasoline is sold in the park. 25
- Vehicle
- Under 21 feet long and 8 feet wide including mirrors between Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun
- Season
- Lower sections all year. Over Logan Pass it usually opens in early July and closes the third Monday of October
-
Magruder Road Corridor
6,598 ft 95 miles
Darby, Montana, to Red River, Idaho, between the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church wildernesses
A one-lane dirt road that has changed little since the Civilian Conservation Corps built it. The Bitterroot calls it 95 miles and the joint Forest Service guide warns of no services for 117 miles, eight to ten hours from end to end without stops, and an average speed of 12 to 15 miles per hour. Four-wheel drive is recommended when the road is snow covered or muddy. There are no fuel stations, cell coverage is spotty to nonexistent, and both black and grizzly bears are present. 31
- Vehicle
- High clearance strongly recommended. Trailers are not advised and low-clearance motor homes should not drive it
- Season
- Snow falls from early October and persists into July. Opening is often delayed until mid to late summer
-
Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway
7,800 ft 49 miles
Montana Highway 484 at Wise River south to County Highway 278
Forest Service Highway 73 runs the length of the Pioneer Mountains through the Beaverhead-Deerlodge. From Wise River it climbs 26 miles up the Wise River valley to Crystal Park at about 7,800 feet, where the pavement ends at Price Creek and the road becomes a lane and a half of gravel and dirt. Granite peaks above 10,000 feet stand to the east. The ghost town of Coolidge and the abandoned Elkhorn silver mine are on the route. The Forest Service publishes no season for it. 39
-
Big Sheep Creek Back Country Byway
More than 50 miles
The Dell interchange on I-15 to Highway 324 near Clark Canyon Reservoir
Designated in 1989 and classed by the BLM as a Type I byway, the kind a normal touring car can manage. The bureau allows about three hours for the drive, or two or three days with fishing and hiking, and says there are no services and no potable water along it, although the same page states that gasoline is available on the route. Deadwood Campground sits about 14 miles southwest of Dell with picnic tables, fire rings and a vault toilet. The Dillon Field Office describes the same road as 50 miles. 18
- Vehicle
- Two-lane gravel. Rain makes the gravel and dirt harder going
- Season
- Summer, when the BLM says it is usually passable for all types of vehicles
-
Garnet Back Country Byway
12 miles
Montana 200 about 30 miles east of Missoula, south to Garnet Ghost Town
The BLM’s shortest Montana byway climbs 2,000 feet through the Garnet Range to Garnet Ghost Town, where preservation work has kept 30 buildings looking much as they did in 1895. The road leaves Highway 200 between mile markers 22 and 23, and can also be reached from I-90 by the Drummond or Bearmouth exits and old US 10 to the Bear Gulch Road. The visitor centre is open daily from late May through September, weather permitting. The Missoula Field Office manages it. 17
-
Big Sky Back Country BywayPaved
105 miles
Terry to Wolf Point by Highway 253, Highway 200 and Highway 13
The longest of Montana’s BLM byways and the easiest, an all-weather road that is now a paved highway across the badlands and prairie of the northeast. It runs north from Terry on Highway 253, east on Highway 200 to Circle, then north on Highway 13 to Wolf Point on the Missouri. The BLM allows two hours one way, keeps information kiosks in Terry, Circle and Wolf Point, and lists dispersed camping on undeveloped BLM land among the things to do along it. The Miles City Field Office manages it. 19
- Season
- Year round
-
Skalkaho Highway (Montana 38)
7,261 ft
Ravalli and Granite counties, across Skalkaho Pass
One of the four state highways Montana closes for the season. The Department of Transportation lists mileposts 14 to 38 as seasonally closed and says no winter maintenance is provided and travel is prohibited once the road shuts. The Bitterroot National Forest runs the Skalkaho Snowpark at the foot of the closure, a plowed lot that gives snowmobilers and skiers access to the pass in winter. No agency publishes a length or a pass elevation for the highway, so the figure shown is the USGS measurement. 45
- Season
- Closed over the pass every winter
-
Gravelly Range Road (Forest Road 290)
Reached from Ennis by Montana 287, the Varney road and the Call road
A high drive along the crest of a southwest Montana range, between 7,400 and 9,500 feet, on gravel through open subalpine grassland and mixed conifer. The Forest Service counts well over 250 species of wildflowers, grasses, shrubs and trees along it, says there are no services once you leave the highway, and tells drivers to start with a full tank. In 2026 the Beaverhead-Deerlodge warned that the southern eight miles had turned nearly impassable after rain, with riders getting stuck, and pointed traffic to the North Valley Road, Ruby Divide Road 100 and Eureka Basin Road 347 instead. 37
- Vehicle
- High clearance. The southern eight miles turn nearly impassable when wet
- Season
- Opens to travel on July 1 and stays navigable until snow accumulates in the fall
-
Lake Koocanusa Scenic BywayPaved
67 miles
Libby to Eureka on Highway 37
Created in 1992 as the Northern Region’s fifth scenic byway, the route follows the reservoir behind Libby Dam, which reaches 90 miles north into British Columbia. The main road is paved Highway 37 on the east shore; Forest Development Road 228 makes a slower two-lane paved loop around the west side and shuts for the winter. Camping on the lake runs from primitive sites to four developed campgrounds, with paved boat ramps along the way. 44
- Season
- Open year round. The west-side loop, Forest Development Road 228, is closed in winter
-
Pipestone Off-Highway Vehicle Area
Exit 241 off I-90, about 15 miles east of Butte
A 30,000-acre BLM travel management area just north of the interstate with about 75 miles of developed riding trails, open to motorcycles and ATVs and free to use. Camping, mountain biking, hiking and hunting are allowed as well. Montana requires every off-highway vehicle used off-road to be registered and to carry its decal, and a visitor’s machine needs the nonresident temporary use permit, which is good on trails only. 20
- Vehicle
- Registered off-highway vehicles. Nonresidents need the state temporary use permit
Rules worth knowing
- In Montana forests, sixteen days and a half-mile radius
- Northern Region order R1-2025-01 prohibits camping or otherwise occupying a single site for over 16 consecutive days within a calendar year, and over 32 cumulative days in the same year. Site means the campsite plus all National Forest System land within a half-mile radius of it. The Idaho forests and the Dakota Prairie grasslands in the same region run 14 and 28 instead. The order is in effect from 1 August 2025 through 31 July 2030. 30
- Bear country food storage is an order, not advice
- The Bitterroot’s food storage order runs from 1 March 2025 through 31 December 2027 and applies to National Forest System land across the forest. Orders like it cover most of western Montana, and they are written as prohibitions with penalties rather than as recommendations. Carry the means to comply before you arrive, because a vehicle is only a food store if it is hard sided and closed. 33
- Skalkaho Pass is closed to traffic through the winter
- The Bitterroot runs a snowpark at Skalkaho with a plowed parking lot giving snowmobilers and skiers access to a pass that is closed to traffic through the winter months. It is the pattern for most of the low passes on this side of the state: the road is a winter trail, and the parking is the only part that is cleared. 35
- The Bitterroot is the forest either side of a state line
- The Bitterroot National Forest straddles the Montana and Idaho border along the Bitterroot Range, which is why the Magruder Corridor, a 95-mile primitive road, travels between it and the Nez Perce-Clearwater. The forest publishes Nez Perce Pass at 6,598 feet, and warns that water found along the way should not be drunk without treatment because giardia may be present. 34
- The largest national forest in the lower 48 is the Beaverhead-Deerlodge
- The Beaverhead-Deerlodge calls itself the largest national forest in the lower 48 states, covering the southwest corner of Montana. It is the forest behind most of the state’s high, dry, open ridge driving, and it carries the Gravelly Range country that the backcountry discovery route uses. 36
- An alternative was published for the Gravelly Range in 2026
- The forest issued an alert on 6 July 2026 describing an alternative route for the Montana backcountry discovery route, because the southern eight miles or so of National Forest System Road 290, the Gravelly Range Road, had become nearly impassable. The alternative leaves Ennis south on Montana Highway 287 for about two miles to the Varney road. A published route is a plan, not a guarantee, and the forest alert is the correction. 38
- The five western forests, by size
- Montana’s big western forests publish their own areas: the Flathead at 2.4 million acres, the Lolo at 2.3 million, the Custer Gallatin at over 3 million reaching into South Dakota, the Kootenai in the extreme northwest corner, and the Helena-Lewis and Clark across the middle. Between them they are most of the public land this guide covers, and each publishes its own orders and motor vehicle use maps. 41
- The Lolo is the forest around Missoula
- The 2.3-million-acre Lolo National Forest wraps the western valleys and the passes into Idaho. It is the forest most travellers cross first coming from the west, and its road network is the reason Missoula works as a resupply town for trips in three directions. 42
- The Kootenai is the wettest corner of the state
- The Kootenai National Forest sits in the extreme northwest of Montana, a different climate from the rest of the state, with the reservoir behind Libby Dam extending 90 miles north into British Columbia. The west-side loop, Forest Development Road 228, is a two-lane paved route and is closed in winter. 43
- The Helena-Lewis and Clark spans the divide
- The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest covers the middle of the state on both sides of the Continental Divide, which means its two halves have different weather, different seasons and often different road conditions on the same day. Check the district rather than the forest. 40
- The Custer Gallatin runs from Yellowstone to the Black Hills
- The forest covers over three million acres vital to the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and reaches southeast into Montana and South Dakota. It publishes the Beartooth Highway season, Memorial Day to 15 October weather depending, and it asks visitors on the whole west side to carry bear spray and know how to use it. 29
- The BLM manages 8.3 million acres from one state office
- The Bureau of Land Management’s Montana/Dakotas office manages about 8.3 million acres of federal land across three states. In Montana that is scattered blocks rather than a continuous estate, which is why the field office, not the state, is the unit that matters when you are asking about a road. 9
- Camping in the Breaks is allowed where nothing has been developed
- In the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, camping is permitted on BLM land that has not been developed as a campsite, provided you have legal access. That is a real dispersed permission over a very large area, and the catch is in the second half of the sentence: access across the checkerboard of private ground has to be legal, and it is not always obvious from a map. 12
- The monument is managed as a river corridor
- The Upper Missouri River Breaks is managed around the river that made it: 149 miles from Fort Benton to where the Robinson Bridge crosses, designated in 1976, with landings at Fort Benton, Loma, Coal Banks and Judith. Campground fees are 20 dollars a site at Coal Banks, Judith Landing and James Kipp, with no advance reservations, river use is five dollars a person a day, and groups over 30 need a special recreation permit. 13
- Do not drive the byway after heavy rain
- The BLM is explicit about the monument’s byway roads: they are unpaved, many sections are recommended only for high-clearance four-wheel drive, and driving after heavy rain, in winter or during heavy spring runoff is strongly discouraged, because the dirt turns slick and seasonal creeks can become impassable. The 19-mile Middle Two Calf Road between Winifred and James Kipp offers a shorter loop within the monument. 14
- James Kipp takes a 40-foot rig, April to December
- James Kipp Campground is open from 1 April to 1 December with 34 sites that take trailers or recreational vehicles up to 40 feet, at 20 dollars a night with a 14-day stay limit. The entrance is south of the Missouri off US 191. It is the one place in the Breaks where a big rig is straightforward. 16
- The Dillon office holds 900,000 acres and a byway
- The Dillon Field Office manages over 900,000 acres of public land and approximately 1.3 million acres of mineral estate in Beaverhead County and around it, and publishes the Big Sheep Back Country Byway south of Dillon as a 50-mile drive, while the byway page calls it more than 50 miles. Both are the agency’s. This is the corner of Montana where BLM ground, not forest, carries the driving. 21
- The second largest refuge in the lower 48 is in Montana
- Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge encompasses approximately 1.1 million acres along the Missouri, which the Fish and Wildlife Service calls the second largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. It wraps the reservoir and the breaks below it, and it is the emptiest large piece of public land in this guide. 22
- On the refuge, most vehicle trails are primitive
- The refuge states that while it has many miles of vehicle trails open for travel, many are primitive and require high clearance, four-wheel drive, or both, and that during wet weather most trails are impassable. Temperatures range from 100 degrees in summer to minus 20 in winter. Carry water, because it is extremely limited and drinking water is generally unavailable. 23
- The refuge names the roads that are gravelled
- The refuge lists the graveled roads open to travel by number: 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 213, 321 and 531, with road 201 graveled only part of its length. That list is the practical difference between a route you can plan and one you should not, and it is published rather than signed. 24
- A non-resident OHV permit is 35 dollars and covers trails only
- Non-residents who want to ride an off-highway vehicle in Montana must buy a temporary use permit at 35 dollars, valid for one season to 31 December, and the state says plainly that no one is exempt from purchasing it. The permit allows off-highway vehicle use on trails only. A plated highway vehicle on a forest road is a different thing and is not what the permit covers. 48
- State land needs a licence from age twelve
- Everyone aged 12 and over needs a Montana Conservation License to access most state land, and a special recreation use licence is still required for trapping, commercial or concentrated recreation, outfitting and special events. State trust land is open to the public in Montana in a way it is not in some western states, but the licence is the condition. 49
- On trust land, roads are closed unless they are public
- The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation states the rule in one sentence: motorised vehicles are allowed on public roads, meaning federal, state and dedicated county roads, only, and all other roads are closed unless the department designates them open. Every two-track across trust land is therefore closed by default. 51
- A million people in the fourth largest state
- The 2020 census counted 1,084,225 residents in Montana. Spread across the fourth largest state, that is the arithmetic behind the distances between fuel stops, the size of the forests and the fact that a breakdown on a forest road is a self-rescue problem rather than a phone call. 6
- Sixteen days is the limit, on BLM land and in the forests
- BLM Montana/Dakotas says there are no designated long-term camping areas in Montana, North Dakota or South Dakota and that the maximum stay is 16 days. Dispersed camping is allowed on BLM land that has not been developed as a campsite, provided you have legal access and travel on existing roads and trails. The Forest Service order covering the Northern Region sets the same 16 consecutive days on national forests in Montana, plus a cap of 32 cumulative days in a calendar year, and defines a site as the place you occupy and all national forest land within half a mile of it. That order runs from August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2030. The Charles M. Russell refuge is stricter at 14 days in any 30, and the monument’s fee campgrounds carry a 14-day limit of their own. 10
- State trust land: a licence, two nights, and no driving to your camp
- Montana’s trust land is open to recreation, but on the state’s terms. The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation allows motorized vehicles on public roads only, federal, state and dedicated county, and closes every other road unless DNRC designates it open. Dispersed camping needs a Conservation License, which Fish, Wildlife and Parks now requires of everyone aged 12 and over to access most state lands. The stay is two days on leased or licensed land and up to 16 days in a 30-day period on unleased land. Tents must be within 200 feet of a customary access point and trailers and RVs within 50 feet, and vehicles must be parked within 50 feet: you may not drive further in to set up. Campfires are not allowed on leased land, and group camping needs a special recreational use licence. 50
- Off-highway vehicles: register it, or buy the nonresident permit
- Montana treats an OHV as a self-propelled vehicle used for recreation on public roads, trails, easements, lakes, rivers or streams, which covers motorcycles, ATVs, side-by-sides, dune buggies and amphibious and air cushion vehicles, and excludes snowmobiles, boats and ordinary licensed trucks and SUVs. To ride off-road a Montana machine must be registered and carry a permanent decal in a conspicuous place. Residents also buy a $20 trail pass, good for up to two calendar years, which is required on every Forest Service trail designated for 50-inch OHVs and on listed BLM areas. Visitors buy the nonresident temporary use permit instead: $35, valid to December 31 of the year of purchase, no exemptions, and good on trails only. Machines used entirely on private property need none of it. 47
- Food storage orders in grizzly country
- On the Custer Gallatin the food storage order covers the entire west side of the forest, meaning all of the Beartooth, Bozeman, Gardiner, Hebgen Lake and Yellowstone ranger districts. Food and attractants must be kept in a hard-sided vehicle or trailer with all the windows closed, in a product certified bear resistant by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee or provided at a developed site, or hung at least 10 feet above the ground and at least 4 feet from the nearest tree or pole. The Bitterroot’s own order runs from March 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027 on all national forest land in the Montana part of that forest, and adds a fourth option: attended by someone awake, alert and within 100 feet and line of sight. Other Montana forests publish their own orders, so read the one for the forest you are entering. 28
- Chains, studs and the four highways that close
- Montana has no graded chain law, but the Department of Transportation may decide at any time of year that conditions on a stretch of highway require tire chains in designated areas. When it does, every vehicle towing a trailer must chain the driver wheels of one axle. From October 1 to April 30 a towing unit of 26,001 pounds gross vehicle weight or more has to carry chains or an approved traction device when travelling where chains may be required, though that does not apply to a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Studded winter tires are legal from October 1 to May 31, with one allowed as a spare outside those dates. Separately, four state highways close for the season: US 212 over the Beartooths, Montana 38 over Skalkaho Pass, Montana 49 and Secondary 471 over Thompson Pass. No winter maintenance is provided on them and travel is prohibited once they are closed. 46
- Fire restrictions are posted, not published in advance
- The BLM says it puts fire restrictions in place to prevent losses from human-caused wildfires brought on by extreme drought, high fire danger and heavy use of public lands, and points visitors to three places to check before lighting anything: the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s fire restrictions guide map, the Montana interagency fire information site, and InciWeb. Restrictions are issued agency by agency and county by county, so the rule where you are camping may differ from the one 20 miles away. One prohibition holds across the Northern Region whatever the fire stage: you may not possess material containing nails, screws or other metal hardware, including wood pallets and construction debris, that could be used as firewood. 11
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment
Road
Primitive Road
Road
Primitive Road
Trail
Roads open to all Vehicles, Yearlong
Roads open to all Vehicles, Seasonal
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Yearlong
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Seasonal
Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails open to all vehicles, Yearlong
Trails open to all vehicles, Seasonal
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Yearlong
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Seasonal
Trails open to motorcycles, Yearlong
Trails open to motorcycles, Seasonal
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" in Width, Yearlong
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" or Less in Width, Seasonal
Wilderness Area
Wilderness Study Area
