Bob Marshall Wilderness

Together, the Great Bear Wilderness, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Scapegoat Wilderness form the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, an area of more than 1.5 million acres. The Flathead National Forest manages the largest portion of this Wilderness Complex. This is the third largest wilderness complex in the lower 48 states. They are managed by four national forests - Flathead, Helena, Lewis and Clark, and Lolo, and five ranger districts - Spotted Bear, Hungry Horse, Lincoln, Rocky Mountain, and Seeley Lake. The United States Congress designated the Bob Marshall Wilderness in 1964 and it now has a total of 1,009,352 acres. The entire wilderness is in Montana. It is managed by the Spotted Bear and Rocky Mountain Ranger Districts.The Bob Marshall Wilderness was named after early forester, wilderness preservation pioneer, and Wilderness Society cofounder Bob Marshall. This region was set aside as the South Fork, Pentagon, and Sun River Primitive Areas in 1941, and designated as wilderness in 1964. Here is one of the most completely preserved mountain ecosystems in the world, the kind of wilderness most people can only imagine: rugged peaks, alpine lakes, cascading waterfalls, grassy meadows embellished with shimmering streams, a towering coniferous forest, and big river valleys.