50,000 Acres of Montana Backcountry Are Reopening to the Public After a Long-Awaited Land Acquisition

The Anchor Ranch had been at the center of a long-running land dispute involving two of Montana's largest landowners.

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A view over the newly-accessible prairie (Photo: Courtesy American Prairie)

For the first time in 16 years, 50,000 acres of rugged public land along the Missouri River Breaks in Montana are accessible to hikers and campers once again, following a major acquisition by the nonprofit American Prairie.

On September 4, American Prairie announced that it had finalized its purchase of the Anchor Ranch, a 67,960-acre parcel in north-central Montana that sits adjacent to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. In addition to opening up the ranch itself—which includes 22,837 acres of fully-private land and 45,123 leased acres—the purchase reopens 3.8 miles of Bullwhacker Road, a dirt track that provides critical access to the nearby swath of public land.

“It’s super rugged terrain,” Beth Saboe, senior public relations manager for American Prairie, told Backpacker. “It’s some of the most beautiful and scenic parts of the Upper Missouri River breaks, a mix of pines and short grass prairie. You can get into some gnarly spots back there. It’s obviously not designated wilderness, but it’s pretty impressive terrain.”

For nearly two decades, Anchor Ranch and Bullwhacker Road have been at the center of a fierce debate over access that’s involved some of Montana’s biggest landowners. For years, locals treated Bullwhacker as a public right of way. Then, in 2009, ranch owners William and Olive Robinson filed suit arguing that the road was private property. When they won in 2011, they gated the road, effectively cutting off access to the large spread of public land.

In 2014, the ranch’s new owners, Texas billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, attempted to use the Anchor Ranch as a bargaining chip for a high-profile land swap, telling the Bureau of Land Management they would trade it for the Dufree Hills, a well-known elk hunting area entirely encircled by another one of the brothers’ ranches. Local conservation and hunting groups protested, and in 2016, the BLM refused the proposal. In 2022, the brothers—who owned the second-largest properties in Montana—put the Anchor Ranch up for sale, asking for $35.96 million.

The status of the land’s ownership changed on Thursday when a video posted to American Prairie’s Facebook page showed staff removing “No Trespassing” signs and unlocking the gate that blocked access to the road.

Founded in 2001, American Prairie manages just over 600,000 acres of shortgrass prairie in Montana, split between private holdings and grazing leases. The group allows campers, hikers, and bikers free access to the reserve, which is home to wildlife such as sage grouse and free-ranging bison and has opened more than 80,000 acres to hunters. Together with adjacent public lands, it envisions eventually creating a 3-million-acre reserve that would restore and preserve the area’s original prairie environment. While there are few dedicated trails across the reserve, the group has promoted it as a destination for ‘prairie snorkeling’—destinationless rambling while observing the area’s many animal and plant species and geological features.