CSKT Bison Range — Attraction in Polson

The National Bison Range is a wildlife refuge on the Flathead Reservation, featuring a scenic drive with beautiful mountain views and opportunities for wildlife viewing.

Accessibility info and site description: The Visitor Center has two van accessible parking spaces and public restrooms inside the building. There is a moderately steep hill from the parking lot to the visitor center, where visitors check in to pay the day use fee. Outside, there are several interpretive signs and displays, and the .25 mile grassland trail. There are two scenic drives, and bison can be seen from both routes. Prairie Drive is a two way 60 minute route, open year-round, mostly flat, and open to all vehicles. Red Sleep Mountain Drive is a two hour scenic mountain drive, open in the summer to vehicles under 30 feet. It is a one way gravel road with no guard rails and has sections with steep grades and switchbacks. There are also hiking trails along the Red Sleep Mountain route. The first hiking trail is the Bitterroot Trail, a .25 mile graveled trail that starts by going uphill, then opens up to a beautiful valley view. Be aware that grizzly bears have been spotted in this area and carrying bear spray is recommended. The other hiking trail is the High Point Trail, about a mile up the road. This trail is also graveled and goes up a steep hill for a one mile round trip hike. At the High Point trailhead are two accessible restrooms and several interpretive signs on Glacial Lake Missoula with unbelievable views of the valley and the Mission Mountains. Additionally, there is a day use area outside of the bison range about .5 mile from the visitor center. This area includes large grassy fields with picnic tables and multiple restrooms, as well as a one mile partially paved nature trail. There is a wheelchair accessible fishing access at the creek, a pond, and wildlife viewing opportunities here as well.

This may just be my new favorite place! We were able to see plenty of bison, both next to the road and in the surrounding hills and prairie, as well as a few elk. Even if you don't see any wildlife during your visit, the views are so incredible that they alone are worth the drive and every penny of the $10 fee. The great thing about this site is that there is no walking required; you could stay in your vehicle the entire trip and not miss out! Between the views and the bison, the visitor center and the huge picnic area, this feels like a miniature national park and it is quite underrated in my opinion. If you are not a fan of heights or driving up the side of a mountain, you may want to consider doing the Prairie Drive, which will be much flatter and still have potential for seeing wildlife. However, if you can, I highly recommend doing the Red Sleep Mountain Drive loop, because the views are absolutely...

We were driving back from Glacier National Park and after striking out on seeing a wild bear at either Glacier or Yellowstone during our week-long vacation we decided to ask a local where to go so my nephew could see a bear in the wild. We were told to go to National Bison Range; and with that we were off.

When we got to the visitors center we heard someone who just finished their journey talking to an associate about seeing the bears recently, plus the associates told us exactly where we should see the elusive creatures. Jackpot!

Well... not exactly. We looked all over the place and couldn't find a single bear. We did see bison (including babies), some scattered deer-like animals, and maybe some elk from a distance.

Outside of not seeing any bears, I don't think we were fully prepared for what we were getting into with this range.

The location is HUGE and the drive (mostly single lane) winds up and down some pretty steep hills with not a guard rail to be seen. So if you're squeamish of heights or have poor brakes you should probably stay away.

The amount of animals we saw on our trip were pretty small compared to the vastness of the park and there were many times that we'd stop on the road and scan a huge hillside for a few minutes to not see anything at all.

After the slow meandering 2 hour drive through the park with barely anything seen I think we just started to mentally check out and try to make our way out of the park. The baby bison close to the beginning were cute and the large herd of bison at the end were neat, but they were only about 15 minutes of our long adventure.

It just wasn't our lucky day I guess and while the inexpensive entrance fee was generous; I don't think we could say that our visit was very entertaining to spend 2 hours on; even if we saw a bear.

FYI, Junior Ranger collectors. There are no badges here, but you can get a stamp...

The visitor center was very nice and informative, as were the folks working there. I would suggest talking with the folks at the visitor center about how much time you have and which route to take. The main, larger loop is a one-way road if you go counterclockwise from the visitor center, and it will take quite a while to complete. It offers great views of the beautiful area you’re driving through. As of September 2023 the admission price was $20 per vehicle. If you’re particular about your car, you should factor in the cost of a car wash as the road is extremely dusty. Seeing bison at a reasonable distance seems to be hit or miss. They said they have roughly 400 bison in the park, but the day we went there were only three or four that we saw from a reasonable distance of about 200 to 400 yards, and those were near the small road loop right by the visitor center, not on the main larger loop. Once we got on the large, main loop, heading counterclockwise, we didn’t see any other wildlife (other than a few chipmunks) for about an hour and a half. It was very disappointing. The scenery was very nice, but when you’re focused on trying to see bison and you don’t see any it takes away from the overall experience. Near the end of our route, we saw a group of about 20 animals about a mile or so away. They were so far away they could’ve been bison or they could’ve been cows for all we knew. The last 20 minutes of the loop was just a grueling push (still at 10 mph) to get out of there and be done with it as we felt we had just wasted a lot of precious vacation time. We will never be back, and I doubt I’d recommend this place to anyone, but if you choose to roll the dice and give it a try I hope your bison viewing experience is...