Anaconda, Montana · Year-round access
Visit Elev8150Back Country
Deep wilderness, earned on your own terms. Skiing, snowmobiling, and true mountain immersion at 8,150 feet.
The Flint Creek Range, Montana
Elev8150 sits inside the Flint Creek Range — a compact, dramatic mountain range rising between the Deer Lodge Valley and the Philipsburg Valley in southwest Montana. The high point, Mount Powell, tops out at 10,168 feet. Nearly 60,000 acres of these mountains are roadless. The range formed more than 100 million years ago when tectonic forces stacked flat slices of sedimentary rock along great thrust faults, building peaks comparable to the Andes of their era.
This is not a groomed resort. There are no ski patrols, no gondolas, no gift shops. There is only the mountain — and whatever you're made of.
Every Season
Has Its Character
The mountain doesn't shut down. It transforms. Each season offers something the others can't.
Peak snow depth, full backcountry skiing, snowmobile access, and a silence that comes only when the world is buried in white. Expect 6–10 feet of snowpack. Expect cold you can feel in your lungs.
Snowpack lingers while temperatures climb. Corn snow at dawn, slush by noon. The creeks open up and the trout start moving. Spring turkey season kicks off and the elk begin their upward migration — setting the stage for fall.
The mountain reveals itself — and it's relentless. Alpine singletrack through old-growth timber, high ridgeline loops, and technical descents that reward commitment. High-performance UTVs rip the FS roads and two-tracks connecting the range. Georgetown Lake and the alpine lakes of the Flints come alive with fishing for rainbow, brown, brook, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The lodge build is in full swing — come watch it happen in real time.
The aspens turn gold, the elk bugle across the ridges, and the Flint Creek Range earns its reputation as one of Montana's top big-game destinations. Deer, elk, and blue grouse fill the roadless country. Mule deer move into the open parks. The first snow comes earlier than you'd think — and it's welcome.
Real Vertical.
Real Consequence.
The skiing and snowmobile terrain around Elev8150 is untracked, unmarked, and unmanaged. It is some of the most accessible true backcountry terrain in southwest Montana — accessible meaning you can actually get there, not that it's easy once you do.
Rolling sub-alpine bowls transition into steep chutes and old-growth timber shots. The Karelian Bear Dogs know every inch of it.
200 Million Years
of Story
The Range is Born
The Flint Creek Range formed when tectonic forces compressed the earth's crust, stacking flat slices of sedimentary rock along massive thrust faults — building peaks rivaling the Andes in their day. The Boulder Batholith, a vast mass of granite that cooled underground around 70 million years ago, now forms the range's eastern spine. Standing on these ridges, you're standing on geology that was already ancient before the first humans crossed into North America.
Francois Finlay & Gold Creek
In 1852, Francois Finlay discovered gold on Gold Creek at the northern end of the Flint Creek Range — the first gold ever found in Montana. It touched off a stampede to the area in 1858. By 1863 the placer mines had played out and the miners moved on. But the knowledge that this range held riches never faded.
Montana's Silver Boomtown
Named for mining engineer Philip Deidesheimer, Philipsburg was "scarcely thirty days old" when the Montana Post reported it was growing at a rate of one house a day. By the 1880s it had an opera house, grand hotel, brewery, two banks, and a railroad spur. Four miles above town, the Granite Mountain Mine became the greatest silver producer in the United States between 1882 and 1893 — its ore assaying at 2,000 ounces of silver per ton. At its peak, the town of Granite held 3,200 residents running 24 hours a day across three shifts. In 1893 the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act collapsed silver prices overnight and the town fell from 3,200 to 140 residents within a year. Granite Ghost Town State Park preserves what remains.
Marcus Daly & the Copper Kings
Irish immigrant Marcus Daly — one of Montana's legendary "Copper Kings" — built the town of Anaconda in 1883 to process copper ore hauled by rail from his mines in Butte. The Washoe Smelter became the world's largest metallurgical plant, processing 15,000 tons of ore a day at its peak. The 585-foot smokestack completed in 1918 remains the tallest free-standing masonry structure in the world and is still visible from the summit of Mount Powell. The smelter closed in 1980, but Anaconda's spirit — built by miners, immigrants, and hardworking families — never did.
The Water
Here Runs Deep
The Flint Creek Range is the headwater of some of southwest Montana's finest trout water. Georgetown Lake — perched above 6,000 feet just south of the range — is one of Montana's most productive still waters, known for fat, heavy rainbow trout. Flint Creek itself runs 48 miles from the lake through the Philipsburg Valley, holding brook, brown, rainbow, and indigenous westslope cutthroat trout. FWP surveys have documented brown trout exceeding 20 inches in the lower reaches. Deeper in the range, dozens of remote alpine lakes hold Yellowstone cutthroat, cuttbow, and rainbow. Most can only be reached on foot, horseback, or ATV — which means they fish like they're in 1920.
Big Game
Country
Nearly 60,000 acres of the Flint Creek Range are roadless — which means the game that lives here doesn't see many hunters. Elk move through in serious numbers. Mule deer roam the open parks and ridge lines. Blue grouse flush out of the timber. Black bear and mountain lion share the country quietly. The fall hunting season in these mountains is what Montana hunters dream about — uncrowded, hard-earned, and deeply real.
Two Wheels.
Four Wheels.
Zero Limits.
When the snow melts, the mountain doesn't rest. It shifts gears.
The Flint Creek Range has become one of southwest Montana's most exciting destinations for mountain biking. Singletrack through dense lodgepole pine, technical ridge-line traverses with views stretching to the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness, and long sustained climbs that reward with descents through open alpine terrain. The FS road network connects to unmaintained two-tracks that almost no one rides — because almost no one gets this far in. Elev8150 sits at the center of it. Bring your enduro rig. Bring your legs.
The Flint Creek Range road network is purpose-built for high-performance side-by-sides. Two-track forest roads climb through the timber to sub-alpine terrain that opens into sweeping views of the Deer Lodge Valley and the Philipsburg Basin. Run the ridgelines. Cross the creek drainages. The same terrain that requires a snowmobile in January welcomes a Can-Am or Polaris in July. UTVs are also one of the best ways to access the remote alpine lakes and hunting country in the roadless zones — get as far as the machine takes you, then go on foot.
The Sled
Is the Road
In winter, the snowmobile isn't a toy — it's the only way in. Every supply run, every medical emergency, every guest arrival happens on a sled. The family runs it daily. When you stay here, you ride it too.
Claim Your $1 ReservationAccess & Logistics
Getting to Elev8150 is part of the experience. Here's what to expect when you arrive at the base of the mountain.
Fly or Drive to Anaconda
The nearest major airport is Missoula (MSO), about 2 hours away. Butte (BTM) is closer at roughly 25 miles. Elev8150 is located along Greater New York Mine Road outside Anaconda, MT.
Snowmobile in from the Trailhead
In winter, the final stretch is sled-only. Snowmobile rentals are available locally. The family can assist with logistics for guests who are unfamiliar with sled travel at altitude.
Summer & Fall Vehicle Access
When snow is out, high-clearance 4WD vehicles can access the property. The road is rough, remote, and exactly what you'd expect from a place called Elev8150. Come prepared.
The Mountain
Decides
Avalanche terrain is real here. The family has navigated it through multiple winters and takes it seriously. Guests who come for backcountry travel should be prepared and educated before they arrive.
What's Up
There Right Now
Backcountry access at Elev8150 changes by the week. Snowpack, road conditions, wildlife activity, and sled access are all factors. The Bellrose family lives this terrain year-round — follow the journal for real-time field reports from 8,150 feet in the Flint Creek Range, Montana.
Backcountry Adventures in the Flint Creek Range, Montana
Elev8150 is a year-round off-grid backcountry destination located at 8,150 feet in the Flint Creek Range of southwest Montana, near Anaconda and Philipsburg. Whether you're planning a backcountry skiing trip in Montana, a snowmobile adventure near Anaconda, a fly fishing trip to Georgetown Lake, or a fall elk hunting expedition in the Flint Creek Range, Elev8150 offers access to some of the most untouched wilderness in the American West.
The property sits inside Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, surrounded by nearly 60,000 acres of roadless terrain. In winter, sled-in access opens up untracked powder, frozen alpine lakes, and high-ridge snowmobile routes. In summer and fall, mountain biking trails in the Flint Creek Range, UTV and ATV access roads, and remote trout lakes draw adventurers looking for something beyond the trailhead.
Plan Your Visit to Elev8150 — Anaconda, Montana
Elev8150 is located at 6 Greater New York Mine Road, Anaconda, Montana 59711 — roughly 25 miles from Butte and 2 hours from Missoula. The destination is accessible year-round: snowmobile access in winter, high-clearance 4WD and UTV access in summer and fall. A $1 reservation holds your place at this one-of-a-kind Montana backcountry lodge experience currently being built by the Bellrose family.
Related destinations nearby include Discovery Ski Area in the Flint Creek Range, Georgetown Lake (one of Montana's top trout fisheries), Granite Ghost Town State Park near Philipsburg, and the Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park. Elev8150 is the only off-grid backcountry resort in the region offering guided access, lodging, and fine dining from Chef Alayah at Bistro 8150.
Reserve Your Place
at 8,150 Feet
The lodge isn't finished. The story isn't over. Your $1 reservation holds your place in what this becomes.
Reserve for $1 →FROM THE MOUNTAIN — UPDATED AUTOMATICALLY
The Elev8150 Journal
Real dispatches from 8,150 feet. No filters, no press releases — just the Bellrose family documenting what it actually takes to build a backcountry destination in the Flint Creek Range of Montana.
