Sweet September in the Sun

Hiking in Montana during September is one of the best kept secrets under the Big Sky. It is the golden hour of our annual backcountry season with temperate days, crisp nights, and the changing fall colors. This seven-day hiking loop explores the North Fork of the Sun River Valley – with a twist.  While the middle part of the trip includes Sun River classics, both the ingress and egress are over less-traveled passes and drainages, giving the whole trip an especially wild and remote feel. This trip is one of the first trips we ever ran, and we are excited to be able to offer it again.

The beginning of the route takes us over Cabin Creek Pass, a high mountain pass where the expanse of the North Fork of the Sun unfolds before our eyes. Once we drop down to the valley floor, we spend several days exploring along the river, fishing, and taking in the area’s flora and fauna. The final few days include hiking over another pass and into a spectacular drainage that was added to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in the 2014 Heritage Act.

This backcountry experience has a little bit of everything – excellent wildlife sighting potential, off-the-beaten-path exploration, and fishing opportunities to name a few. It has a couple of longer days with several more relaxing days intermixed.  As September is one of our favorite times of the year to be back in the mountains, we think this is one of the best routes to showcase the beauty of the Bob Marshall Wilderness at the cusp of seasonal change.