Taylor-Hilgard

Taylor-Hilgard Overview

Coming in at 141,000 acres the Taylor-Hilgard Unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness is nearly double the size of the Spanish Peak Unit and holds the Madison's most impressive collection of peaks. While the Taylor-Hilgard Unit extends all the way to Big Sky, the peaks that are locally referred to as the Taylor-Hilgard are the summits emanating directly from a 30-mile long spine of peaks running from Earthquake Lake to Indian Creek. This subset of the Madisons is brimming with awe-inspiring skiing terrain, but its remote nature has left it off the radar for most skiers and will likely protect much of the area from ever becoming 'high-traffic'. Travel into the range can be daunting due to the limited number of winter access points, and the lack of available local resources. Although some of the region is within GNFAC's forecast area, it has no close by SNOTEL sites and few winter visitors to offer observations, making meaningful data hard to come by. Further, this entire area is within Madison County, which does not have a Search and Rescue service that is capable of advanced winter rescues, should a skier become injured deep within the range. Visitors must come prepared with an extra dose of self-reliance and willingness to be mindful of their own limitations. Outside the traditional hurdles associated with skiing in Montana Wilderness, most of the tours in this area are just downright long. Although many skiers have found it worthwhile to trek back here for the intersection of wilderness, solitude and skiing, you should not kid yourself when rationalizing mileage and vert needed to reach the peaks covered in this sub-chapter. Consider any of the peaks covered as possible overnights, which can help whittle down the approach-to-skiing ratio into favorable territory. Skiing in this sub-chapter is within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Custer-Gallatin National Forest and the Taylor-Hilgard Unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness.

Zones Covered