Unit 133

Big Salmon Lake and Upper Holland Lake anchor the western approach valleys and offer reliable water for staging camps. Silvertip Cabin provides a traditional waypoint along Trail 89 for navigating the mid-elevation terrain. Gunsight Pass and Youngs Pass serve as major saddles offering routes deeper into the high country and glassing vantage points.

Scarface Peak, Shamrock Point, and Fisher Peak are distinctive summits useful for orientation and identifying goat habitat zones. The Continental Divide itself becomes a navigation feature in the eastern half, marking both a physical landmark and the unit boundary. Kid Mountain and Shaw Mountain provide additional reference points for terrain reading.

Terrain starts in mixed conifer forests around 4,000 feet in the Holland Lake valley, transitions through dense spruce and fir between 6,000 and 7,500 feet, then opens into sparse alpine meadows and bare rock above 8,000 feet. The median elevation of 6,450 feet places most of the unit in the transition zone where goats move seasonally between lower winter range and high summer terrain. Expect steep, timbered slopes on exposures facing the valleys, with increasingly open country and scattered timberline parks as elevation increases.

Upper basin areas feature the sparse grasses, lichen-covered rocks, and escape terrain that goats favor.

Connected road networks and well-maintained USFS trails mean access is straightforward compared to true roadless terrain. Holland Lake Road and the Owl Creek Loop provide reliable entry; Trail 89 (Silvertip), Trail 83, and the Twin Creek system offer established routes into the core. This accessibility draws pressure, especially during early season on popular trails.

Smart hunters will focus on the steeper terrain above established trails and the eastern ridges toward the Continental Divide, where fewer hunters venture. Mid-week timing and off-season scouting pay dividends. Terrain steepness naturally filters casual foot traffic, concentrating pressure on major saddles and lake basins.

Unit 133 occupies the high country of the Mission Mountains between Missoula and Powell Counties. The unit's western boundary follows Route 83 at Holland Lake Road, then traces eastward through the Owl Creek drainage before ascending along established USFS trails into the alpine core. The eastern boundary follows the Continental Divide north to Glacier National Park at Marias Pass.

The unit encompasses roughly 40 linear miles of high ridge country, with major valleys—Holland Lake and Miner Creek drainages—serving as primary access corridors. Most terrain is publicly managed USFS land with established trail networks providing reliable entry points.

The Holland Lake drainage and Miner Creek system provide reliable water at lower and mid-elevations, accessible via established trails. Upper Holland Lake and Big Salmon Lake hold water year-round and anchor camp locations for extended hunts. Higher elevation water becomes limited; scattered tarns and springs appear near Gunsight Pass and in upper basins like Nannie Basin, but these require careful scouting and may be seasonal.

Otis Creek, Woodfir Creek, and Otter Creek flow through mid-elevation terrain but diminish significantly above timberline. Water scarcity in the true alpine zone demands pre-hunt reconnaissance and potentially longer days between reliable sources.

Unit 133 is exclusively mountain goat terrain. Focus on steep, cliffy country above 7,500 feet where goats escape to and bed in rocky cirques and ridge-bound escape terrain. Hunt the saddles and passes—Gunsight Pass, Youngs Pass, Hahn Creek Pass—as glassing points and travel corridors where goats move between basins.

Early season places goats in accessible cirques and basins; later in the season expect them higher and on steeper, more exposed ridges toward the divide. Bring quality optics for distant scanning of cliffsides and basins. Plan for limited water at elevation and expect to hunt high-angle terrain requiring careful stalking.

The steep terrain provides natural concealment but demands scrambling ability and careful route finding.