MontanaHikes.com
The Judith Mountains are a small “island” mountain range that lies just northeast of Lewistown, MT. There are a number of these island ranges in Central Montana including the Big Snowy Mountains, Little Belt Mountains, Castle Mountains, Moccasin Mountains, and others. While most of the island ranges are on National Forest, the public lands in the Judith Mountains are administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Montana is a very large state and in the late 1800’s it was a long way from Montana to any of the nation’s population centers. Before railroads reached the state regular commercial travel was problematic at best. The first rail lines brought both people and goods into the state and provided a way to send minerals and other products to distant markets. The Central Montana Railroads were critical to growth in the area.