Montana’s Island Mountains

After traveling through prairie for a few weeks, we were surprised to suddenly see mountains ahead. They appeared as small mountain ranges in a sea of prairie, and, in fact, they were formed by the rocky earth being pushed up and through the prairie. Lewis and Clark were also surprised by the mountains, because they were neither a continuation of the Black Hills of North Dakota nor the Rocky Mountains.

When Clark first saw the mountains on May 25, 1805, he reported:

“those mountains appeared to be detached, and not ranges as laid down by the Minetarres, I also think I saw a range of high mounts. At a great distance to the S S W. but am not certain as the horizon was not clear enough to view it with Certainty.”

The next day, Lewis spotted the mountains and thought he was seeing the Rocky Mountains for the first time. He was elated as he believed they were much nearer than they were to the source of the Missouri and that the Rockies were close to the source. However, he would learn that they were still very far off from the Rocky Mountains.

The Island Mountains are the Little Rocky Mountains and Bears Paw Mountains to the north, the Judith Mountain Range to the south, and the HighwoodMountains in the distance near Great Falls. The Judith Range was named by William Clark for his future wife, Julia Hancock.

One of the sights on our way up the mountain.

We found that we would be able to drive to Judith Peak, so we set out in our four-wheel drive pickup on the winding gravel road that led to the summit of the 6,247 foot mountain. We definitely needed the four-wheel drive on the steep grades. This, for us, was a great adventure since neither of us are comfortable on narrow mountain roads, and we were rewarded for this adventure with a 360⁰ view of the area. It was fascinating to see extensive prairie in one direction and mountains in another. 

We were the only ones there that day, which added to our enjoyment of the experience. It was just us and a lot of telecommunications equipment (which is the reason why the road to the top is so well maintained).