The National Bison Range is north of Missoula, Montana near the little town of Moiese. No, I am not sure how to properly pronounce that. Sorry. Of course, all the gritty details about the history and purpose of the facility can be found at the Wikipedia page or the US Fish & Wildlife Service home page. I'm here to tell you about my visit and give some personal opinions about it along with a lot of smartphone photos.
First, though, a note on nomenclature. The American bison is colloquially known as the "buffalo," and I may use the terms interchangeably in this post. Just deal with it if it crops up. I'll try my best for consistency, but I make no promises. Now, on with the tour!
A Drive Through the Park
The road from the park entrance has signs that direct drivers to the visitor center. There, the park has a small museum, local maps, and a desk where they ask $5.00 to drive through the park proper.
The road through the park is gravel, and it is fairly steep at times, but even a basic passenger car with standard clearance can handle the tour. A manual transmission will make some of the hill descents easier, but an automatic in low gear and driven with judicious braking can do the job.
The initial hill ascent is quite a climb, and the first scenic view is the Flathead River to the west of the park. A two-dimensional photo just doesn't properly portray the height even here.
After this, the road dips down into a draw before beginning a long ascent toward the top of the tallest hill (small mountain?) in this area. It was as I began this second ascent that I saw the first bison on this drive. Of course, a smartphone isn't the ideal tool for this task, but I was having more fun as spectator than photographer anyway.
There are many fences through which one must pass on this drive, each with a gate and cattle guard. I also saw this rather impressive wooden gate.
It was a good climb up the road after this that I saw the next bison of my tour, a lone individual casually grazing along the hillside.
Yes, that black speck is a buffalo. It was rather more impressive in person.
Further on, there was a small parking area and a hiking path. The wind was blowing steadily, and the hillside here was impressive. Again, a picture does not do it justice. This is the view looking roughly southward.
My next stop was the restroom at the crest of the road. There are restroom facilities here. Two outhouses. A nearby interpretive sign describes glacial lake Missoula, which once turned this summit into an island. A gated road leads to the peak itself, and I took a walk. Not everyone uses the outhouses, apparently.
Yes, that is a genuine authentic buffalo chip. Dried bison dung was used a fuel for fires by plains indians and pioneers. My inner pyromaniac wasn't being very assertive, so I performed no experiments to see how well this one would burn.
This is about 2,300 feet (700 meters) in elevation above the visitor center. There are picnic tables and, oddly enough, plenty of fresh bison poo. Apparently the shaggy quadrupeds enjoy the climb and the view, too. The mission mountains and valley are quite scenic despite the overcast skies and threat of rain. I also tried a panoramic shot sweeping from east to west.
The descent from this hilltop required careful attention, so my photo tour will have to pause until I reach the bottom again. I saw deer on this part of the drive, but they're hardly worth noting to those of us who live out in the country and see them far more often than we would like already. If they would all hang out in wildlife refuges instead of in gardens or on roads, Bambi would get a lot more sympathy from rural folk.
After the numerous winding switchbacks,I finally reached relatively level ground by mountain standards, and there was quite the impressive creek along part of the road.
After this creek, though, was the best bison photo opportunity of the whole trip. Unfortunately, another tourist parked in the best spot as this beast slowly wandered off from right beside the road. Still, I managed to get a decent shot here after I cropped out my rear view mirror.
I was both disappointed and amused by how these buffalo seem to take perverse pleasure in aiming their backsides at anyone attempting to photograph them. Next time STEEM spikes, maybe I'll buy a decent camera and lenses so I can hopefully get some candid shots of their front sides without being far too close to their pointy bits or within range of their stompy bits.
I saw no antelope or bighorn sheep on this drive, and although there were signs warning that black bears and grizzlies had been sighted, I saw none today. When I visited as a child, I remember seeing a black bear scamper up a hillside. Not this time! I did hear birds, including meadowlarks. I didn't see many, though. Had I started earlier in the day and brought along binoculars, I could have had more time and opportunity for that.
Wildflower photos
Along with the wildlife, the bison range is also home to a lot of prairie plants, many native and some naturalized.
Wild Rose
Aster
The purple petals and golden centers make these flowers quite striking.
Thistle
The size of these flower heads is astonishing.
Brown-Eyed Susan
The wind was blowing too harshly for a good photo here, but these where quite common.
If you go
Bring water, and perhaps snacks. It's a long drive. Maybe make it a picnic at the summit?
Bring hand sanitiser, wet wipes, or the like. The outhouses have no running water.
Bring a camera. The better your camera, the better your photos, even if you're no more competent than I am.
Bring binoculars. See the things better with magnification!
Set aside plenty of time. Don't plan to hurry. You'll only cheat yourself of opportunities.
Final Musings
The initial herd was funded primarily by voluntary donations. I would like to see this operation free of federal fingerprints. Still, despite my aversion to political projects, I am glad this exists. Maybe this land and herd could one day be managed by the local Salish. After all, the near-extinction of the bison was in large part the fault of federal government that systematically sought to exterminate the species as part of their pacification efforts against the natives. Unfortunately, the government has also done everything in its power to crush tribal independence, and modern tribal politics aren't really better than any other politics.