A vast western Montana national forest of transitional ecology, tall western red cedars, and historic trails.
Lolo National Forest
Lolo National Forest is a large national forest in western Montana, with its western boundary running along the Idaho state line. Stretching across roughly 2 million acres of mountainous terrain west of the Continental Divide, the forest sits in a transitional zone where continental interior weather meets moist maritime air from the Pacific. This climatic blend gives Lolo an unusually diverse mix of plant and tree communities for a single national forest.
The forest is defined by its mix of four designated wilderness areas, its deeply forested valleys, and its historic travel corridors. It surrounds the city of Missoula, Montana, where its headquarters are located, and reaches from the Northern Rockies ridges along the Idaho border into the headwaters of rivers that drain westward. The presence of the Lolo National Historic Trail, the Ninemile area, and the old Savenac nursery gives the forest a strong cultural and historical identity in addition to its ecological one.
Lolo is particularly notable for the size of its western red cedar trees, which grow larger here than anywhere else in Montana. Together with larch, whitebark pine, and a variety of spruce and fir species, the forest hosts a wide range of wildlife, from grizzly bears and elk to bald and golden eagles. Its combination of scale, ecological diversity, and cultural heritage makes it one of the most significant national forests in the northern Rockies.
