The John Long Mountains, el. , is a small

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 ...

northwest of

Philipsburg, Montana Philipsburg is a town in and the county seat of Granite County, Montana, United States. The population was 841 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the famous mining engineer Philip Deidesheimer, who designed and supervised the construct ...

Granite County, Montana Granite County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,309. Its county seat is Philipsburg. The county was founded in 1893, and was named for a mountain which contains the Granite Mountain ...

. The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and

Lolo National Forest __NOTOC__ Lolo National Forest is a national forest located in western Montana, United States with the western boundary being the state of Idaho. The forest spans 2 million acres (8,000 km2) and includes four wilderness areas; the Scapegoat a ...

manage these mountains. A sizable roadless area of about 65,000 acres existed, as of 1990, in the John Long Mountains, centered on Silver King Mountain in the southern part of the range. It's unknown whether and to what extent this area's size has been reduced by logging. Lightly used trails traverse

whitebark pine ''Pinus albicaulis'', known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine ...

forests on the higher ridges, and forests of

lodgepole pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...

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 ...

, and heavy downfall on the eastern slopes. The western slopes have groves of douglas-fir amidst extensive grassy parks. Silver King Mountain is 7,581'. The Babcock Mountain Bighorn Sheep Viewing Area, on the Rock Creek Road along the western edge of the John Longs, is an 8,000-acre area on the Lolo National Forest where

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

are commonly seen. Parking and hiking trails are provided. There is some dispute as to whether the Quigg Peak roadless area, described in the

Sapphire Mountains The Sapphire Mountains are a range of mountains located in southwestern Montana in the northwestern United States. From a point near the Clark Fork River and the city of Missoula, they run in a southerly direction for a distance of approximately ...

article, is really part of the John Long Mountains. If the Quigg Peak area is truly part of the John Long Mountains, then the highest point in the range would be Butte Cabin Ridge, el. 8,468'.

Notes

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

See also

Notes