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Home
Welcome to the Bitterroot National Forest
Leave your stress behind! You will find this spectacular 1.6 million acre forest in southwest Montana and Idaho to be a priceless national heritage. Come enjoy the magnificent mountains, the serenity of wilderness, the miracle of spring flowers, majestic big game, and the sounds of birds here in our land of multiple uses.
Bitterroot Front Project
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Rent a Cabin or Lookout
Enjoy a unique recreational experience at one of many rental lookouts and cabins on the Bitterroot National Forest. There are three rental lookouts that provide stunning views of the surrounding Sapphire, Bitterroot, and Anaconda Pintler mountain ranges. Four rustic cabins offer a serene and relaxing getaway from the busy daily life.
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Don't Leave Home Without a Map
Planning your next adventure or your next visit. The Bitterroot National Forest offers a variety of map products to guide you along the way.
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Passes & Permits
The Bitterroot National Forest offers many activities such as hiking, biking, skiing, camping, birding, cabin rentals, firewood gathering, berry picking, mushroom harvesting, and river rafting to name a few. Many of the facilities and services associated with these opportunities are free. Some do require fees or permits to help maintain, manage and improve the amenities that you enjoy.
Features
USDA’s Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership Award
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Fire Adapted Bitterroot
The Bitterroot National Forest and Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Hamilton field office have received the USDA’s Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership Award. The Forest Service and NRCS will work together to protect communities from wildfires, improve water quality, and restore forest ecosystems on public and private lands.
Great American Outdoors Act
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Bitterroot National Forest GAOA Projects
The Bitterroot National Forest continues to implement the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which enables federal land managers to take aggressive steps to address deferred maintenance and other infrastructure projects on national forests and grasslands through 2025.
Spotlights
Got Your Bitterroot National Forest Travel Map?
The forest travel plan, approved May 11, 2016, designates 2,246 miles of forest roads and trails open to motorized use, nearly the driving distance between Hamilton and New York City.
Discover the Bitterroot - Facebook
Stay in touch with the Bitterroot National Forest on Facebook! Our Discover the Bitterroot page offers photos, videos, weather and road reports, recreation information, and much more.
Bitterroot National Forest to Expand Food Storage Requirements in 2025
Effective March 1, 2025, the BNF will be expanding its current food storage requirements, with the aim of reducing potential adverse human wildlife interactions.
Selway River (Four Rivers Lottery)
The Main Salmon, Middle Fork of the Salmon, Selway, and Snake-Hells Canyon Rivers, located in central Idaho and eastern Oregon, offer a broad range of floating and recreation opportunities.
