On our seventh day of the trip, we left Glacier National Park and headed south. We ate breakfast at Little Montana on Highway 93 in Ronan. The portions were huge and tasty. Just be prepared to wait – everything is homemade and just the owners were working.
Bison Range
Our goal for the day was the National Bison Range, a nature reserve on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Bison Range
2019 Price: Free due to my Annual Pass (Fee would have been $5)
Note: In 2022, management of the site was transferred back to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) and it was renamed the Bison Range.
Bison are the largest mammal in North America. There is often confusion on what to call them, and songs like Home on the Range don’t help. In North America, we have bison. Buffalo are located in Africa (cape buffalo) and South Asia (water buffalo). Bison have a hump on their shoulders and sport beards. Buffalo lack this hump and have smooth faces.
You have two options for viewing the range:
- Red Sleep Mountain Drive is a 19-mile, one-way gravel loop road that takes about two hours to complete.
- Prairie Drive is a shorter, two-way paved lane near the entrance.
Red Sleep Mountain Drive ends with Prairie Drive so you will be able to see both areas if you take the longer route.
You are required to stay in your car while in the range except for two specified hiking areas along the lane.
It helps to have a car in front of you on the drive. When they stop or slow down, it signals that you should too. We were both follow and lead car at different points. As lead, you have to strain and go slower to spot animals. It’s also very hard if you’re the only one in the car – very distracting to drive and search.
Red Sleep Mountain Drive
The first thing we saw was a mule deer lounging below a tree around the first curve.
After a while we saw a single bison on a ridge, rolling around. Then another single bison closer to the car along the lane. We pulled over to take photos but knowing it was rutting/mating season we moved on when he started to move toward the car.
There was a long pause with no animals in sight. Then on the backside of the mountain we found two more mule deer resting in the shade.
Prairie Drive
There was another long lull with no animals as we finished the one-way road. We were happy with what we had seen (since we’d never seen bison before). Then as we joined the two-lane Prairie Drive, a lone bull bison wandered past, and we sat for a long time to take photos from the car.
As we drove up the hill, suddenly an entire herd of bison was in front of us! It was incredible. There were bulls fighting, bison wallowing in dirt, and cows with their calves.
The scariest (and most amusing) part was bison stopping in the middle of the road to stare down cars. They refused to move until they were good and ready.
As we went to exit the range, we spied two female elk relaxing and eating in the water. They were alone and seemed unconcerned while we took dozens of photos.
I even captured a couple of candid shots with one sticking its tongue out at me.
Dinner that night was at Jackers Bar & Grill. Jackers has a fun vibe with good food.