Bob Marshall Wilderness is located in Western Montana, a part of the Flathead National Forest. Named after the conservationist and writer Bob Marshall (1901–1939) the area covers 60 miles along the Continental Divide and consists of 1,009,356 acres. An avid hiker and climber, Marshall was one of the first to recognize that “Wilderness” was something worth preserving and that civilization and progress should not be allowed entrance anywhere in the “Wild West”. Until this day, the pristine beauty of the area has been preserved, thanks to the 1964 Wilderness Act which prohibited the construction of “roads or structures” and outlawed the use of “vehicles and other mechanical equipment”. “The Bob”, as it is called, ranks fifth in size among the wildernesses in the continental United States (after the Death Valley Wilderness, Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness).
Bob Marshall
Today, the 1856 miles of trails are open to hikers only and they range from well-used and maintained trails to primitive pathways that lead hikers deep into Montana’s largest Wilderness. The trails can be accessed from surrounding roads, such as U.S. 2 which is located to the north and separates the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex from Glacier National Park. Other roads running near are U.S. 89 and 287 which are to the east and Montana highways 200 and 83 to the south and west.
