Where to see wild horses in Montana
The Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range in southern Montana is home to one of the last remaining wild horse herds in the United States, which happens to be the second largest wild horse herd in the nation.
The Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range is a 38,000-acre (15,378-ha) designated wild horse and burro range, one of only four in the nation. It’s located in the desolate and beautiful Pryor Mountains of southern Montana, easily accessible by car from Billings, Montana, or Lovell, Wyoming.
The range is home to a herd of roughly 160 wild horses, which are managed year-round by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). While the herd grows substantially each year, the BLM manages an Adopt-a-Horse program to keep its population at sustainable levels.
The range is not fenced off, leaving the wild horses that call this place home free to roam as they please, though they generally stick to their home territory in the Pryor Mountains.
Table of contents:
- Where the wild horses are in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range
- Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range tours
- Where is the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range?
- How many wild horses are in the Pryor Mountains?
- The horses (color, size, demeanor, behavior, lifestyle)
- Geography of the Pryor Mountains
- How wild mustangs arrived in Montana
Where the wild horses are in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range (where to see them)
To give yourself the best chance at seeing wild horses when you visit the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, travel up Highway 37 to the range and turn onto Crooked Creek Road. At the intersection of Highway 37 and Crooked Creek Road, you’ll see a sign indicating that you have reached the Wild Horse Range.
About seven miles up the gravel Crooked Creek Road, turn onto Burnt Timber Ridge Road. This slow gravel road, best traveled in a 4×4, takes you through the center of the range, providing the best opportunity to see wild horses.
However, the Pryor Mountain Mustangs are relatively reclusive and often do not spend time in areas frequented by humans.
Feel free to get out of your car and take a stroll through the beautiful countryside. The Pryor Mountains are a desolate, colorful, and alluring landscape. In the summer, the mountainsides are scattered with beautiful, colorful, wildflowers, which are as much of a draw as the wild mustangs.
If you come across wild horses, enjoy this beautiful sight from at least 100 feet (30 m) away. While they are an incredible sight, they attack when they feel threatened. Don’t approach, touch, or feed them.
To increase your chances of seeing a wild horse on your visit to the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range, consider joining a professional tour.
Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range tours
To give yourself a better chance of seeing wild horses when visiting the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range, join a professional tour, hosted by Pryor Wild.
Tours start at 9 am from the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center, located just east of Lovell, Wyoming, off Highway 14.
With an experienced, professional guide, you’ll be driven to the top of the mountain via a dirt road in a Jeep Rubicon or Dodge Power Wagon viewing wild horses and taking in the beautiful sights of the surrounding landscape on the way.
Throughout the journey, your knowledgeable guide will impart fascinating information about the horses and the region. The trip includes a picnic on the mountain where you’ll likely be joined by wild mustangs.
Where is the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range?
The Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range is located in southern Montana, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Billings, Montana, or 14 miles (23 km) north of Lovell Wyoming. The range straddles the Montana-Wyoming border just west of the Bighorn Canyon Reservoir. Its northern region lies within the boundaries of the Crow Indian Reservation.
The journey to the top of the mountain from either Billings or Lovell takes 2.5 hours by car. While Lovell is much closer to the range than Billings, most of your driving time will be spent slowly climbing the unpaved roads to the top.
How many wild horses are in the Pryor Mountains?
The wild horse herd in Montana’s Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range is the state’s largest grouping of horses, consisting of roughly 120 – 160 horses. The wild mustangs here are joined by bighorn sheep, mule deer, bears, and other wildlife of the region.
The horses – Typical colors, sizes, and behaviors
Color
The colors, patterns, and sizes of the Pryor Mountain wild mustangs vary within a common range of colors and patterns, including bay, grulla, black, buckskin, dun, roam, and palomino.
Some horses have dorsal stripes down the back, stars on their face, or bi-colored manes and tails. They may also feature dark-colored stockings or striped legs, and because they are wild, it’s common for them to have visible scars across their body.
Size
These small, sturdy horses usually stand at only 13 to 14 hands, or about 4.5 ft (1.4 m). Today, they carry the coloring and primitive markings of their Spanish lineage, which dates back centuries. Such markings include wide-set eyes, slender muzzles, shorter backs, and low-set tails.
They have a higher knee-action, or step, than a standard-bred ranch horse, which helps them navigate the unforgiving terrain of the Pryor Mountains as they migrate from the desert to the highlands with the seasons.
Behavior
Pryor Mountain Mustangs are intelligent, strong, and distrustful of humans, with a calm temperament.
They live in bands, or “harems”, formed by about six females and one stallion, who leads the harem. About 10 single, or “bachelor”, stallions accompany the harem nearby with hopes of replacing the lead stallion or mating with the mares.
Geography and climate of the Pryor Mountains
The Pryor Mountains consist of dry, arid lowlands and sub-alpine forests and meadows. Water is scarce throughout the range year-round.
Vegetation at the lower levels includes sagebrush, wheatgrass, saltbush, and Indian ricegrass. Scattered among the meadows are forests of douglas-fir, subalpine fir, juniper, and limber pine, among other tree varieties.
Despite its dry climate, the Pryor Mountains are known for beautiful fields of wildflowers that blossom in the summer.
Weather can change in an instant here, and it is often extreme. Be sure to pack various clothing, such as sun hats, t-shirts, windbreakers, rain jackets, and warm layers, to accommodate the worst of thunderstorms and snow or the warmest of afternoons.
How wild mustangs arrived in Montana
Wild mustangs are no renegade ranch horses. Although they have lived in the Pryor Mountains of southern Montana and northern Wyoming for centuries, they are of Spanish lineage.
Researchers estimate that wild horses have lived in the Pryor Mountains since as far back as the 1700s, but their lineage reaches back to the 16th century. Genetic tests have revealed a genetic diversity (meaning low levels of inbreeding) and a genetic sample of Old World Spanish horses.
Researchers believe these horses are descendants of Spanish horses introduced to Montana by local Native American Tribes centuries ago, particularly the Crow.
Learn more in our article on the history of Pryor Mountain Mustangs.
Wild Horse Island – another place to see wild horses in Montana
It’s worth mentioning the second place in Montana where you can see a few wild horses. About five wild horses live on Wild Horse Island, a mysterious and beautiful island on Flathead Lake that is home to a unique variety of flora and fauna.
Learn all about Wild Horse Island in our article, Wild Horse Island.
header image: Bureau of Land Management, CC BY 2.0 DEED
