The
Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex consists of three
wilderness areas, all within the
U.S. state of
Montana totalling over 1.5 million acres (6,100 km²). The largest wilderness area is the
Bob Marshall Wilderness Area consisting of 1 million acres (4000 km²). Adjoining the Bob Marshall to the north is the
Great Bear Wilderness of 286,700 acres (1,160 km²), and to the south of the Bob Marshall is the
Scapegoat Wilderness consisting of 239,936 acres (971 km²). An additional 1 million acres of roadless National Forest, private, and BLM land surrounds the designated wildernesses on all sides, for a total roadless area of 2.54 million acres. Located in the northern
Rocky Mountains along the
Continental Divide, the region is as primitive as any found in the
United States outside of
Alaska. Indeed, the Bob Marshall region is the most ecologically complete mountain wilderness in the country, according to Wolke. Although renowned for excellent
fishing and
backpacking opportunities, most of those that enter the wilderness complex do so on
horseback and there are outfitters that provide guided pack trips into the region. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is also well known for being prime
Grizzly bear habitat, and the population density of this
species is higher there than anywhere else in the lower 48 states. Grizzlies migrating from the Complex range well out onto the
Great Plains to the east, the only place this still occurs. Every species of
mammal indigenous to the Northern Rockies still lives in this area and adjacent
Glacier National Park (U.S.), except
bison and
woodland caribou. Huge herds of
elk,
bighorn sheep, and
mountain goat roam the region's rugged peaks, big river valleys, large meadows, and vast coniferous forests.