Bitterroot Mountains
Mountain range in Idaho and Montana, United States
title: "Bitterroot Mountains" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bitterroot-range", "mountain-ranges-of-montana", "ranges-of-the-rocky-mountains", "landforms-of-ravalli-county,-montana", "landforms-of-missoula-county,-montana", "landforms-of-mineral-county,-montana", "bitterroot-national-forest"] description: "Mountain range in Idaho and Montana, United States" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitterroot_Mountains" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mountain range in Idaho and Montana, United States ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Bitterroot Mountains |
| photo | TrapperPeakMT.jpg |
| photo_caption | Trapper Peak, in the Central Bitterroot Range |
| country | United States |
| subdivision1_type | States |
| subdivision1 | |
| parent | Bitterroot Range |
| area_mi2 | 4862 |
| highest | Trapper Peak |
| elevation_ft | 10157 |
| coordinates | |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] This article is about the Bitterroot Mountains, a subrange of the larger Bitterroot Range. ::
| name=Bitterroot Mountains | map= | photo=TrapperPeakMT.jpg | photo_caption=Trapper Peak, in the Central Bitterroot Range | country= United States | subdivision1_type= States | subdivision1= | parent= Bitterroot Range | range_coordinates= | area_mi2=4862 | highest=Trapper Peak | elevation_ft=10157 | coordinates= The Northern and Central Bitterroot Range, collectively the Bitterroot Mountains (Salish: čkʷlkʷqin{{Citation |last=Nkwusm |title=Intro to the Salish Language C, Series 1 Part 2 |access-date=2013-05-03 |date=2006 |url=http://salishworld.com/merchandise_CD-Books.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201184159/http://salishworld.com/merchandise_CD-Books.htm |archive-date=2013-02-01
The mountains are bordered on the north by Lolo Creek, to the northeast by the Clark Fork, on the south by the Salmon River, on the east by the Bitterroot River and Valley, and on the west by the Selway and Lochsa Rivers. Its highest summit is Trapper Peak, at 10157 ft. TOC
Northern Bitterroot Range
| name=Northern Bitterroot Range | map= | photo= | photo_caption= | country= United States | subdivision2_type= States/Provinces | subdivision2= | area_mi2=1869 | range_coordinates= | length_mi=66 | length_orientation=N/S | width_mi=88 | width_orientation=E/W | highest=Rhodes Peak | elevation_ft=7930 | coordinates= The Northern Bitterroot Range is the northernmost and shortest subrange of the Bitterroot Mountains. The Northern Bitterroots encompass 1,869 square miles (4,841 km2) and its two tallest peaks are the 7,930 foot (2,417 m) Rhodes Peak and the 7,770 foot (2,368 m) Quartz Benchmark.
The Northern Bitterroots also contain a smaller subrange, the Grave Creek Range. The Grave Creek Range is 262 square miles (679 km2) in area and its highest peak is the 7,270 foot (2,216 m) Petty Mountain.
Central Bitterroot Range
| name=Central Bitterroot Range | map= | photo=TrapperPeakMTfromRt93.jpg | photo_caption=Another view of Trapper Peak, from US 93 | country= United States | subdivision2_type= States/Provinces | subdivision2= | area_mi2=2993 | range_coordinates= | length_mi=103 | length_orientation=N/S | width_mi=48 | width_orientation=E/W | highest=Trapper Peak | elevation_ft=10157 | coordinates= The Central Bitterroot Range is the southernmost and tallest subrange of the Bitterroot Mountains. The Central Bitterroots encompass 2,993 square miles (7,752 km2) and its two tallest peaks are the 10,157 foot (3,096 m) Trapper Peak and the 9,983 foot (3,043 m) El Capitan.
The Central Bitterroots also contain a smaller subrange, the Como Peaks. The Como Peaks subrange is 79 square miles (205 km2) in area and its highest peak is the aforementioned El Capitan.
History
The Bitterroot Mountains presented an unexpected, formidable obstacle to Lewis and Clark during their expedition westward, and ended their expectation of finding a "Northwest Passage" giving an easy connection from the Atlantic watershed to that of the Pacific.
Forest management
Guy M. Brandborg of the U.S. Forest Service, was supervisor of the Bitterroot National Forest from 1935 to 1955. By insisting on selection cutting, he tried to protect the watersheds and wildlife habitats that are harmed by clear-cutting. After he retired in 1955 Brandborg denounced the Forest Service for deviating from his model. He launched a public attack and lobbied to secure passage of the National Forest Management Act of 1976, that codified his model.
References
References
- [http://www.bivouac.com/ArxPg.asp?ArxId=1739 "Bitterroot Mountains"]. ''Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia''. Bivouac.com. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
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- Swanson, Frederick H.. (2011). "The Bitterroot and Mr. Brandborg: Clearcutting and the Struggle for Sustainable Forestry in the Northern Rockies". University of Utah Press.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::