The Bridger Range, also known as the Bridger Mountains, is a subrange of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

in southwestern

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

in the

United States 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 range runs mostly in a north–south direction between

Bozeman Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

and Maudlow. It is separated from the

Gallatin Range The Gallatin Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains, located in the U.S. states of Montana and Wyoming. It includes more than 10 mountains over . The highest peak in the range is Electric Peak at . The Gallatin Range was named after ...

to the south by

Bozeman Pass Bozeman Pass el. is a mountain pass situated approximately east of Bozeman, Montana and approximately west of Livingston, Montana on Interstate 90. It separates the Bridger and Gallatin mountain ranges. It is named after pioneer John Bozeman ...

; from the Horseshoe Hills to the west by Dry Creek; from the

Crazy Mountains The Crazy Mountains, often called the Crazies, is a mountain range in the Central Montana Alkalic Province in the U.S. state of Montana. They are a part of the northern Rocky Mountains. Geography Spanning a distance of 40 miles (64 km) ...

to the east by the Shields River valley; and from the

Big Belt Mountains The Big Belt Mountains are a section of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Montana. Situated mainly in the Helena National Forest, the mountains are used for logging and recreation for the surrounding residents. Nearby are the cities of Hel ...

to the north by Sixteen Mile Creek. The highest point in the Bridger Range is Sacagawea Peak (), which is visible to the northeast from Bozeman. Although the range is mostly in Gallatin County, a small portion extends into Park County. Bozeman Pass, at an elevation of , is a narrow pass that lies between Bozeman and

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American customs ...

. The entire range is within Gallatin National Forest.

History

The range is named after

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...

, a

mountain man A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

of the 19th century who pioneered the Bridger Trail through mountains in southern

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

into the

Bighorn Basin The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bigho ...

in 1864. On January 10, 1938, Northwest Airlines Flight 2 crashed in the Bridger Mountains, killing all 10 aboard. This was the first fatal crash of a

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

aircraft.

Prominent peaks

The most prominent peaks in the Bridgers include: *

Sacagawea Peak Sacagawea Peak is the highest mountain in the Bridger Range in south-western Montana. The peak is named for Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone woman that accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Recreation The mountain is a popular hiking destin ...

, , *

Hardscrabble Peak Hardscrabble or Hard Scrabble is land that is rocky or of poor quality, as in the term ''hardscrabble farm''. It is often used as a euphemism for any sort of hard working or poverty, as in ''hardscrabble childhood''. A number of towns use this name ...

, , *

Naya Nuki Peak Naya may refer to: People Given name * Naya (singer), (born 1992), Lebanese singer * Naya Rivera (1987–2020), American actress and singer * Naya Tapper (born 1994), American rugby union player Surname * Beverly Naya (born 1989), British-Nig ...

, , * Saddle Peak, , *

Ross Peak Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

, , * Mount Baldy, , *

Bridger Peak Bridger may refer to: * Bridger (name) * Bridger Aerospace (company), headquartered in Montana, United States Places In the United States: * Bridger, Montana, town in Carbon County * Bridger, Gallatin County, Montana, census-designated place * ...

, ,

Recreation

Skiing

The Bridger Range is also home to the ski area

Bridger Bowl Bridger Bowl is a ski area in the western United States, near Bozeman, Montana. It serves the local population of Gallatin County, including Montana State University. The summit elevation is above sea level, with a vertical drop of on ea ...

. With the first

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-c ...

installed in 1951, Bridger Bowl quickly became a popular mountain with the locals. The area has a top elevation of 8700 feet and a base elevation of 6100 feet. On average the ski area receives of snow every year.

Backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste ( Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which ...

is also very popular in the Bridgers, with snow being available on peaks such as Sacagawea from early November until late May/early June. Beginning in the 2008–2009 ski season, Bridger Bowl started to allow backcountry travel from the ski area via access gates on the northern and southern boundaries.

Hiking

Though many hiking trails exist, Sacagawea Peak is a favorite hiking area in the Bridgers. The hike is a short but strenuous one-way trek through pine forest,

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

and

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...

fields to the top of Sacagawea Peak. The Bridger Ridge Run is a race which takes place in mid-August. The race follows the ridgeline from Fairy Lake to the southern end of the range. File:BridgerMountains2009.jpg, Bridger Range as seen from Bozeman, January 2009 File:RossPeakBridgerRange2010.jpg, Ross Peak, Bridger Range, April 2010 File:SacagaweaPeakBridgerRange2010.jpg, Sacagawea Peak (right) and Naya Nuki Peak (left), April 2010 File:Bridger_Ridgeline.jpg, View of the Bridger Range looking south from the summit of Sacagawea Peak

Notes

External links

Bridger Bowl Ski Area

Information about geological history

Bridger Community
{{Authority control Ranges of the Rocky Mountains Mountain ranges of Montana Landforms of Gallatin County, Montana Gallatin National Forest