Unit 303

The Crazy Mountains form the dominant eastern landmark, with prominent peaks like Wilsall Peak and Big Timber Peak providing navigation anchors and excellent vantage points. The Reefs and Rimrock Reefs offer distinctive ridge features for orientation. Major drainages including Hellroaring Creek, Bridge Creek, and Big Timber Canyon serve as travel corridors.

Grasshopper Glacier marks the high country. Key ridges—The Hogback, East Hogback, and The Rimrock—break terrain into recognizable sections. Several named lakes including Granite Lake, Forest Lake, and Oasis Lakes provide water reference points and potential camping areas.

Terrain ranges from roughly 4,000 feet along the Yellowstone River valley floor to over 11,000 feet in the high peaks. The lower elevations feature sagebrush-covered benches and scattered timber along creeks, while mid-elevation slopes transition into ponderosa and Douglas-fir forests. Higher elevations support spruce-fir timber interspersed with alpine meadows and rocky ridges.

The sparse forest badge reflects the dominance of open ridgelines, sagebrush benches, and treeless peaks that characterize much of the unit's upper terrain. Extensive glassing country exists throughout the ridge systems.

Road density is fair but heavily concentrated in lower elevations and valley bottoms. Highway 89 provides primary access along the western border, while secondary roads push into Six Mile Creek drainage and toward Springdale. Higher elevations quickly transition to primitive routes and hiking access.

This concentration means lower valley areas see more pressure, while the rough ridge country and upper drainages remain relatively lightly hunted. The steep terrain complexity discourages casual access—serious foot travel is required to reach the best high-country country.

Unit 303 occupies the northern portion of Park County, anchored by the Yellowstone River corridor where US Highway 89 exits Yellowstone National Park at Gardiner. The unit extends north from the park boundary through Six Mile Creek drainage, then eastward across increasingly rough terrain bounded by major ridge systems. The eastern boundary follows the Mill Creek and Hellroaring Creek divides toward the Crazy Mountains.

The western boundary runs north along Highway 89 and follows creek systems back to the park boundary. This creates a complex, elongated unit that transitions from valley floor to high mountain ridges.

The Yellowstone River forms the western boundary and primary water source in lower elevations. Major drainages including Six Mile Creek, Hellroaring Creek, Bridge Creek, and Big Timber Creek drain the unit and offer reliable water in their main channels. Numerous springs dot the higher country—Spruce Springs, Cinnamon Spring, Bear Spring—though seasonal reliability varies.

Several reservoirs exist in intermediate valleys including Fox Reservoir and Voldseth Reservoir. Despite limited badge status, the creek systems and high-country springs provide adequate water for hunters willing to work the terrain.

Unit 303 historically hosts moose, primarily in the willow-lined drainages and wet meadows of the mid to high country. Focus hunting effort on Six Mile Creek, Big Timber Canyon, and Hellroaring Creek drainages where willows concentrate and water is reliable. Early season offers access to bulls in timber and scattered parks at mid-elevations; later seasons push animals higher into alpine willows and small mountain meadows.

The terrain complexity favors hunters willing to glass extensively from ridges and work into remote basins. Success requires understanding creek-bottom habitat and ability to navigate steep, trackless terrain far from roads.