Description: The National Bison Range was established on May 23, 1908, and we will celebrate 97 years in 2005.To begin with, the Range will waive its daily fee, allowing visitors to enjoy the Refuge's scenic drives for FREE. Take time to travel Red Sleep Mountain Drive, a steep, 19 mile one way gravel road. This trip takes you from the grasslands (where the bison and pronghorn antelope live) up to small forests of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir (a good place to see mule deer and maybe a bighorn sheep) and down along Mission Creek (for elk and white-tail deer). No trailers of any kind are allowed on this drive - you may park your trailer at the Visitor Center during your visit. Or take the shorter West Loop/Prairie Drive, which is open to larger vehicles and those with trailers. For safety reasons, motorcycles and bicycles are not allowed off the paved sections of road. A display will contain scrapbooks of historical newspaper and magazine articles as well as some historical video of Big Medicine, the white bison born at the Bison Range in 1933. Throughout the day, there will be trivia contests, free posters and coloring pages.
Directions: The National Bison Range Birthday Celebration takes place at the National Bison Range Visitor Center. The entrance is located at Moiese on Highway 212. From the north (Polson, Kalispell) the junction for 212 is on Highway 93 about 3 miles south of Ronan; the entrance is about 12 miles from here. From the south, take Highway 93 to the junction of Highway 200 at Ravalli to the junction of Highway 212 at Dixon .From the east, take the St. Regis exit off I-90, take Highway 135 to Highway 200. Then Highway 200 east to Highway 212 at Dixon.
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