Bittercreek Wildlife Management Area is one of the few places on the plains where the horizon is uninterrupted. After the sun goes down, you are left under a blanket of stars, serenaded by the noises of the night, no hum of a car engine or piercing honk of a horn. The Bittercreek Wildlife Management Area is special and is one of the last stretches of wild, flat prairie land before it starts rolling, transforming into hills and then rugged mountains.

Stretching north of Glasgow to southern Saskatchawan. Bittercreek is remote, making up 59,000 acres in the glaciated plains of Northeast Montana. It is quintessential prairie land, the epitome of off the beaten path. Here, you could hike all day without seeing another soul or hearing the sound of an engine, though you certainly won’t be alone.

The Bittercreek Wilderness Area is home to many a splendid creature: the swift fox, making a comeback following restoration efforts in Saskatchewan, black-tailed prairie dogs, summering greater sage-grouse, and America’s largest populations of Baird’s sparrow, McCown’s longspur, and Sprague’s pipits, singing and flitting about amongst the wildflowers and porcupine grass. It’s likely that the residents of this serene place are what attracts visitors. Identified as a Watchable Wildlife area, as well as a featured stop on Montana’s Northeastern Plains Birding Trail, it is a popular destination for wildlife and scenic viewing, photography, backpacking, hiking, horseback riding, and hunting.

The skyline at Bittercreek Wilderness Area is one you won’t see many places, one that lacks power lines and structures taller than a fence, and one that isn’t easy to forget.