Unit 214

Mount Haggin and Garrity Mountain serve as major navigation landmarks visible from lower approaches and useful for establishing position. The Twin Lakes and Barker Lakes complex provides focal points for early-season water-dependent hunting, while Fourmile Basin offers mid and late-season opportunity in alpine meadow country. Storm Lake and its drainage system form a natural corridor from the north, and Race Track Lake marks the unit's northeastern corner.

Clear Creek and Silver Creek drainages offer travel routes and water throughout mid-elevations.

Terrain spans from 5,000 feet at Georgetown Lake to above 10,500 feet on the high ridges, with most hunting occurring between 6,500 and 9,500 feet. Dense conifer forests dominate the lower and mid-elevation slopes—primarily lodgepole and Douglas fir with scattered whitebark pine at higher elevations. Open park-like basins and high meadows break the timber, particularly around Fourmile Basin and the Twin Lakes area, creating ideal elk habitat in the transition zones.

Rolling ridge systems are timbered but navigable, offering pockets of visibility where slopes open to grass and scattered shrubs.

Approximately 206 miles of road and trail crisscross the unit, creating a well-connected but not overly crowded access pattern. State Route 1 along the western edge and State Route 38 from the north offer straightforward approaches; Red Lion Road and East Fork Road provide secondary entry points with less initial traffic. The Interstate 90 corridor and Georgetown Lake area concentrate pressure during opening weeks, but the unit's rolling terrain and basin complexity allow hunters to disperse into quieter high country.

Trail density supports foot traffic deeper into prime areas.

Unit 214 occupies the high plateau country spanning Granite, Powell, and Deer Lodge Counties between Georgetown Lake on the west and the Continental Divide on the east. The boundary runs from Georgetown Lake northeast along Red Lion Road to Race Track Lake, then follows Race Track Creek to Interstate 90, which marks the northern edge. From there, State Routes 1 and 274 define the southern and eastern approaches before the Divide itself closes the loop to the north.

This positions the unit as a transition zone between lower valley terrain and true high country.

Despite a 'limited water' designation, the unit contains numerous high lakes and reliable creeks supporting extended hunting seasons. Fourmile Basin Lakes, Twin Lakes, and Barker Lakes provide concentrated elk attraction points in high country; Storm Lake and Race Track Lake serve northern sections. Storm Lake Creek, East Fork Twin Lakes Creek, and Clear Creek offer persistent water in lower drainages, though some seepage areas may be seasonal.

The East Fork drainage provides reliable water and trail access from Interstate 90, making it a logical staging corridor for northern entry.

Unit 214 holds elk as its primary quarry, using the mid-to-high elevation basins and timbered ridges as summer and early-fall range. Mule deer occupy the rolling forested slopes and park transitions; white-tails use lower creek drainages and willow thickets. Early season benefits from high-lake access and open basin country where elk use alpine meadows; rut hunting focuses on timbered corridors and ridge systems between basins.

Mountain lion presence reflects the healthy ungulate base, particularly in canyon drainages like Grays Gulch and Sheep Gulch. Late season pushes animals down into lower timbered zones and creek bottoms as snow drives them from high basins. Understanding the Divide-crossing patterns and basin-to-timber transitions is key to locating concentrations rather than scattered individuals.