The Sweet Grass Hills.gif)
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| Sweet Grass
Hills Country |
The
Sweet Grass Hills are located in North Central Montana,
north of Highway 2, right near the Canadian border. The
Sweet Grass Hills consist of 3 distinct buttes with scattered
grassy hills connecting them. The three buttes are West
Butte (elevation of 6983 feet), Gold Butte (elevation of
6512 feet) and East Butte (elevation of 6958 feet). The
three buttes and the hills between them run for about 50
miles east to west and are about 10 miles in distance from
north to south. The two nearest main towns to the Sweet
Grass Hills are Shelby to the
southwest and Havre which is to
the southeast. As a side note, these are known as the "Sweet
Grass Hills" and not the "Sweetgrass Hills", so as to avoid
any possible confusion.
As the
elevation listed for these buttes shows, the Sweet Grass
Hills are hardly towering mountains. Yet, in some ways,
the Sweet Grass Hills are one of the most visible mountains
in Montana. On a clear day you can see these hills from
staggering distances away. This is possible for several
reasons.
First,
while the summit elevation of these buttes is not very
high, their vertical rise from the prairie
right below is significant - generally more than 2000
feet. Secondly, the flat prairie below allows these small
mountains to be seen
from very, very far away. In short, there is nothing
in
the way to block their view. And third, the peculiar "sloping"
nature of the prairie around the Sweet Grass Hills props
up these hills another 1500 feet (the elevation in Shelby
is around 34oo feet, and gradually gains elevation as
you approach the hills). And lastly, the areas ultra-clear
air really allows these
mountains
to "stick
out" -
especially if you see them from a small hill. As such,
although the
Sweet Grass Hills are far from the biggest mountains,
they seem very tall when viewed from a distance and can
also
take seemingly forever to reach when driving towards
them.
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| Gold
Butte in the Sweet Grass Hills |
First time visitors along the Hi-Line and to Montana in
general often times mistake the Sweet Grass Hills to be part
of the Rocky Mountains. The reason for this is because they
are so visible and because they are the first thing of any
size seen when traveling east to west on the Hi-Line.
The
Sweet Grass Hills are aptly named. By and large, the hills
and the three main buttes consist mainly of tall, wavy
grass. Trees are found here and there (particularly in
a few spots on the buttes themselves), but, by and large,
the whole area is just plain grass.
The
Sweet Grass Hills are notoriously windy. The combination
of lying on the east side of the Continental Divide and
their elevation can really make them a very windy place.
All the more so since there is absolutely nothing to block
the wind except for the occasional barbed wire fence. During
the winter, this area is also very cold - even without
the wind chill.
For
more photos, be sure to visit
the
Sweet Grass
Hills Photo Gallery, too.
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Page : Havre
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