Crazy Mountain Retreat

Details & Features

The 223+- acres comprising this retreat were cleaved from a much larger neighboring ranch. Carefully configured to incorporate a fine stretch of trout stream, ease of access, breathtaking views, and a variety of potential home sites, the property combines that rare mix of user-friendliness with just the right amount of privacy and seclusion.

Most of the neighborhood consists of large, stable ranches that necklace the foothills of the Crazy Mountains, a distinct “island mountain range” whose glacier-sculpted igneous peaks rise spectacularly from the surrounding prairies. Though the Crazies completely fill the western views from the property, hiking to the ridge that forms its southern boundary opens a vast panorama of eye-dazzling landscapes—of the Absaroka and Beartooth mountain ranges to the south with the Yellowstone River Valley between, oceans of prairies and buttes to the east, and the shimmering Big Snowy Mountains some 80 miles to the north.

As yet there are no structures (except perimeter fences and gates) on the land. There is excellent access to the property from the adjacent year-around well-maintained Big Timber Canyon Road.

Big Timber Creek is a small mountain stream that is an excellent trout fishery. Rainbows and Browns up to about 14 inches can be caught in the pools and riffles on the property. It is a great size for the avid fly fisherman or the occasional angler, offering easy wading or fishing from the bank.

Over 600 miles long, the Yellowstone is the longest free-flowing undammed river in the lower 48 states. Almost 200 of these miles are home to trout. This is one of the largest rivers in a state that is known for BIG rivers. The Yellowstone offers great opportunities for floaters and wade fishermen alike. Brown, Rainbow and Cutthroat trout are all common on this river with cuts being the dominant fish on the upper sections and browns most dominant further downstream. The dry fly season on the Yellowstone starts before runoff with the Mothers Day caddis hatch. Then, toward the end of peak runoff, fish and fishermen get crazy over the annual salmon fly hatch, followed by a mix of caddis, Blue Winged olives, small stone flies in early summer to late fall, with potential for Hopper fishing all summer. Nymphing and streamer fishing opportunities abound all spring, summer and fall. Many anglers wait all year for fall streamer season, which is when many of the year’s best trophies are caught.

Driving almost any direction from the property, upland bird hunters will find opportunities to chase pheasants, Hungarian partridge, Sharptail and Sage grouse, as well as Blue and Rough grouse in the surrounding mountains. An incoming owner can hunt for mountain grouse, deer, elk and black bear on the property and in the national forest just minutes away.

Moose, Bighorn Sheep and Rocky Mountain goat are also residents of the area. These animals require a specific tag from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department to harvest, so a new landowner of the Crazy Mountain Retreat could apply for and progressively build up preference points for these species-special tags.