Plan your next trip to the Beartooth Mountains….or Win One!
The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area is one of America’s outdoor gems, with almost a million acres of high-altitude plateaus, soaring mountains, rushing rivers, and lush forests. Yet it is often overlooked by hikers and outdoor enthusiasts.
The federal “wilderness area” designation is America’s highest level of protection and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area rightly deserves it. The area lies mostly in Montana with a small portion in Wyoming and offers these spectacular features:
• Not one but two mountain ranges, the Absaroka Mountains and the Beartooth Mountains
• The 41 highest peaks in Montana (and 45 of the top 50), including the highest, Granite Peak, at 12,799 feet
• Ten named glaciers, which is a surprise to many who only think of them in Glacier National Park
• Hundreds of blue-green alpine lakes and rushing rivers
• Over 700 miles of hiking trails
• The Beartooth National Scenic Highway, one of a handful of very high alpine drives in the country
If the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area happened to be plopped down in any other location in the continental United States, it would very likely be a highly-visited national park. Yet the A-B Wilderness is mostly overlooked thanks to the deserved fame of adjacent Yellowstone and the hiking prowess (and glaciers) of nearby Glacier National Park. Most visitors drive right past, scarcely offering the wilderness area more than an admiring look from Interstate 90.
La Sportiva’s awareness of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area came about because of a relationship with Travel Montana, a tour company based in Red Lodge at the base of the Beartooth Mountains. Travel Montana and La Sportiva are both members of the Conservation Alliance, a grouping of outdoor industry companies that donate money to nonprofits engaged in protecting America’s wilderness. The Conservation Alliance has helped protect 73 million acres and 3,576 river miles, remove or halt 36 dams, purchase 18 climbing areas, and designate five marine reserves.
If you are interested to see one of America’s great wilderness areas. La Sportiva has teamed up with Travel Montana and three additional partners (Moosejaw, Dollar Flight Club, and World Nomads) to offer one lucky outdoors aficionado the chance to win a six-day Beartooth Mountains Hiking Adventure located in the cute mountain town of Red Lodge, Montana, from August 1 - 6. The prize package includes airfare, hotel lodging, most meals, local transportation, and professional guides. To register, visit: https://travelmontana.com/giveaway/
But whether you win the prize, or simply visit the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on a future vacation, be sure to put this amazing roadless wildlands region on your bucket list.
