The National Bison Range encompasses 18,500 acres and today has a herd of 350 to 500 bison. Until the mid-nineteenth century, the American bison, or buffalo (the names are used interchangeably), wandered the western plains in seemingly endless numbers. The arrival of the trains brought settlers who slaughtered the buffalo until the numbers dwindled to fewer than a thousand by the end of the 1800s. Today, buffalo are mostly seen on federal lands, such as the bison range and at nearby national parks.
Sightseeing at the National Bison Range is done from your car via a dirt-road loop. Buffalo are surprisingly agile – they can run up to 30 mph – so staying well protected in your vehicle is a must.
For the first part of the drive, we didn’t see much wildlife. We did enjoy pretty views of the grasslands and rolling hills, though.
The mountains of Glacier National Park were visible in the distance across the plain that was once the Glacial Lake Missoula.
Our first good look at wildlife was a group of bighorn rams that were very close to the road.
We thought the bird sitting on this sheep was cool.
The sheep were also enjoying the views.
The group was so photogenic that we couldn’t resist taking lots of photos.
No, they aren’t really charging us. We are in our car with a camera that has a good zoom.
The rams had some of the biggest horns that we’ve seen.
Eventually, we tore ourselves away from the sheep and continued our drive. Finally, we came across some buffalo.
This one has a baby.
We also saw a couple of pronghorns along the way.
Once we’d finished the big loop, we took a detour onto the shorter loop and saw a few more buffalo. These were closer than the others had been.
On the way out, we made a final stop to take a photo of all the antler sheds that were on display at the visitors center.
Next stop – Missoula for the 4th of July!
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