Montana is home to one of the most iconic free-roaming horse herds in the American West: the Pryor Mountain wild horses, which have roamed a rugged stretch of land along the Montana-Wyoming border for centuries. The herd is managed by the Bureau of Land Management on roughly 38,000 acres of designated range, and the horses are among the most accessible wild herds in the country for visitors willing to make the drive. Beyond the Pryor Mountains, Montana falls within the broader network of western states where federal agencies oversee free-roaming horse populations, though the Pryor herd is the state’s standout attraction and the one most visitors come to see.
The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range
Established in 1968, the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range was the first public wild horse range in the United States. It sits in Carbon County in south-central Montana, extending slightly into Big Horn County, Wyoming. The range covers a mix of arid desert lowlands and higher-elevation grasslands, stretching from around 4,000 feet in the canyon bottoms to over 8,000 feet near the mountain peaks. The horses here have been studied more intensively than almost any other wild herd in the country, in part because the terrain and relatively small population make individual identification and long-term tracking feasible.
The herd’s population has fluctuated over the decades but generally hovers between about 100 and 200 animals, depending on management decisions and foaling years. The BLM sets an appropriate management level (AML) for the range and periodically gathers or treats horses to keep the population within that target. A USGS demographic study tracking the herd from 1993 to 2007 documented detailed information on stallion behavior, harem formation, and foal survival, giving scientists one of the most complete longitudinal datasets on any wild horse population in North America.1U.S. Geological Survey. Demography of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horses, 1993–2007
These horses are protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which tasks the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service with managing wild horse populations on federal public lands across ten western states, including Montana.2Rangeland Ecology & Management. Western US Residents’ Knowledge of Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Their Management on Federal Public Lands The law treats the horses as an integral part of the public land system and prohibits capturing, harassing, or killing them without federal authorization.
Where Exactly to Find Them
The most common access route is through the town of Lovell, Wyoming, which sits just south of the Montana border. From Lovell, you can drive the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range road (also called the Bad Pass Highway or Highway 37) north toward the range. The road is partly paved and partly gravel, and it winds through the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area before reaching the horse range. A high-clearance vehicle is helpful, though not always required, depending on the season and how far into the range you plan to go.
The horses move between elevations with the seasons. In spring and early summer, many bands descend to the lower desert areas around Sykes Ridge and Tillett Ridge, where they are relatively easy to spot from the road. As summer temperatures climb and water sources dry up at lower elevations, the bands often move higher into the mountain meadows. Fall is another productive season for sighting horses at mid-elevations. Winter pushes many horses down again, though snow and road conditions can make access difficult from November through March.
The Bighorn Canyon Visitor Center in Lovell is a good starting point. Rangers can tell you which parts of the range have had recent sightings and whether the roads are passable. There is no entrance fee, and the range is open year-round, though you should be prepared for remote conditions with no services, cell coverage, or reliable water once you leave the main road. Binoculars are essential: the horses blend into the rocky terrain at a distance, and what looks like an empty hillside often has a band of horses resting in the shade of a juniper.
What the Landscape Looks Like
The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range spans two distinct ecological zones. The lower elevations are arid, with sparse desert shrubs, scattered juniper, and exposed limestone cliffs. Higher up, the landscape shifts to mountain meadows with more diverse grasses and forbs. This range of habitats is part of what makes the area viable for horses year-round: the animals can follow vegetation greenup from low to high elevations through the growing season, a pattern similar to what wild ungulates do throughout the northern Rockies.
The horses share the range with mule deer, bighorn sheep, and occasionally black bears. Researchers have documented how long-term grazing by horses affects plant cover and species composition across both the arid lowlands and the more productive upland meadows of the range.3Plant Ecology. The influence of herbivory on plant cover and species composition in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, USA Heavy grazing pressure in the lower zones has led to noticeable changes in vegetation, which is one of the reasons the BLM manages population size: too many horses on a finite piece of arid land can degrade the habitat that the horses themselves depend on.
Herd Structure and What You Will See
If you spend time watching the Pryor Mountain horses, you will notice that they are not scattered randomly. They live in small, stable groups called bands. A typical band includes one adult stallion, a few mares, and their young offspring up to about two years of age. Males that do not hold a band live either alone or in loose bachelor groups.4PubMed. Social structure
The USGS demographic study of the Pryor herd found that most stallions who successfully formed a harem did so around age five or six. Harem size tended to increase as stallions matured, peaking when stallions were around eleven, and declining as they aged past that. Most harems included one to three mares aged two or older. About six percent of bands had a secondary or “satellite” stallion hanging around the edges, though the presence of a second stallion did not seem to change the average number of mares in the group. Young males typically left their birth band at two or three years old, though a small percentage stayed as late as age four or five.1U.S. Geological Survey. Demography of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horses, 1993–2007
For visitors, this social structure means you will usually encounter horses in small clusters rather than large herds. A band of five to eight animals is a common sight. Stallions are often easy to identify because they position themselves on the periphery, watching for threats or rival males, while the mares and foals graze more casually. Spring is foaling season, and watching mares with newborn foals is one of the draws for photographers and horse enthusiasts who time their visits to the range.
How the Population Is Managed
Wild horse management in the American West is contentious, and the Pryor Mountain herd is no exception. Without management intervention, wild horse populations can grow rapidly because they have few natural predators and high reproductive rates. The BLM uses a combination of tools to keep the Pryor herd within its target range.
The most widely used fertility control method is PZP, an immunocontraceptive vaccine. Mares are darted with PZP to prevent pregnancy without removing them from the range. Research across multiple western herds, including the Pryor Mountain horses, has shown that PZP reduces foaling rates, though its effectiveness depends on how many mares can be reached and how consistently they are treated each year.5Wildlife Society Bulletin. Foaling rates in feral horses treated with the immunocontraceptive porcine zona pellucida One complexity is that the length of time between a mare’s last PZP treatment and her next pregnancy increases substantially with each consecutive year of treatment, meaning mares treated for several years in a row may take years to conceive again once treatment stops.6PLoS ONE. Contraception can Lead to Trophic Asynchrony between Birth Pulse and Resources That delayed fertility effect can shift when foals are born relative to peak forage availability, which researchers have flagged as a potential ecological concern.
Beyond PZP, management options include physical removal of horses for adoption, long-term holding in off-range corrals, other vaccine types like GonaCon, intrauterine devices, and surgical sterilization. A predictive modeling tool called PopEquus has been developed to help managers compare the trade-offs among these approaches, evaluating how different combinations of removal and fertility control affect population size, handling frequency, and cost over time.7Ecosphere. PopEquus: A predictive modeling tool to support management decisions for free‐roaming horse populations The modeling suggests that combining removal with either mare sterilization or GonaCon treatment tends to minimize the total number of times horses need to be handled while still meeting population targets.
Removals from the Pryor Mountain herd are rare compared to larger herds in Nevada or Wyoming, partly because the population is smaller and has strong public advocacy. Local organizations monitor individual horses by name and track bloodlines, making every management decision highly visible and emotionally charged.
Mountain Lions and Natural Predation
One question that comes up in wild horse management debates is whether natural predators could control horse populations without human intervention. Mountain lions do prey on wild horses in some parts of the West, and a recent study modeled the effect of mountain lion predation on feral horse population growth. The findings were sobering for anyone hoping predation alone might solve the overpopulation problem: the researchers found that without predation, the population growth rate would have been roughly twice as high as the observed rate, meaning predation slowed growth but did not come close to stopping it or reversing it. The study concluded that predation alone is unlikely to drive stable or negative population growth in feral horse herds.8Frontiers in Conservation Science. Effects of mountain lion predation on reducing feral horse population growth rates: panacea or pipedream?
In the Pryor Mountains specifically, mountain lion predation does occur but is not the primary driver of mortality. Harsh winters, limited water, and old age account for a larger share of natural deaths. Foals are the most vulnerable to predation, and losing foals to mountain lions can have a noticeable effect in a herd as small as the Pryor population, even if it does not bring the population growth rate below replacement level. The practical takeaway is that predators contribute to the ecological balance of the range but cannot substitute for active management.
The History and Genetics of the Pryor Horses
The Pryor Mountain horses carry a reputation for being genetically distinctive, and this is one reason the herd has attracted so much attention from advocates and researchers. The horses are thought to descend from Spanish colonial stock brought to North America centuries ago, with possible later mixing from ranch and cavalry horses released or escaped over the years. Genetic studies have identified markers consistent with old Spanish breeds, which is unusual among western wild horse herds, where many populations show heavier influence from more recent domestic breeds like Quarter Horses and draft crosses.
This genetic heritage is part of the herd’s identity and has shaped management decisions. Advocates argue that the Spanish colonial bloodlines make the Pryor horses culturally and genetically valuable, and that management should prioritize maintaining genetic diversity rather than simply reducing numbers. The BLM has acknowledged this by sometimes factoring genetic considerations into removal decisions, choosing which horses to gather and which to leave on the range based partly on bloodline representation.
Maintaining genetic diversity in a small, closed population is genuinely difficult. With the herd typically numbering between 100 and 200 animals, inbreeding becomes a real risk over generations. Managers have to balance keeping the population small enough to protect the range with keeping it large enough to sustain genetic health. It is a narrow window, and it is one of the reasons the Pryor herd management plan gets more scrutiny and public comment than many larger herds that are less genetically unique.
Are There Other Wild Horses Elsewhere in Montana?
The Pryor Mountain herd is Montana’s only designated wild horse range, and it is the only population in the state that most visitors will encounter. Montana is one of ten western states where the BLM and Forest Service manage wild free-roaming horses on federal lands.2Rangeland Ecology & Management. Western US Residents’ Knowledge of Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Their Management on Federal Public Lands However, the vast majority of the country’s wild horse population lives further south and west, with Nevada alone accounting for roughly half of all free-roaming horses in the United States. Montana’s contribution by headcount is modest in comparison.
Occasionally, individual horses or very small groups are spotted on open range elsewhere in Montana, typically animals that have strayed from private land or are semi-feral ranch horses living on large unfenced tracts. These are not managed as wild horses under the 1971 act and do not have the same legal protections. If your goal is to see genuinely wild, free-roaming horses in Montana, the Pryor Mountains are the destination.
Practical Tips for a Visit
The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range is remote. The nearest services are in Lovell, Wyoming, or Bridger, Montana, both small towns with limited lodging and supplies. Here are some things worth knowing before you go:
- Best seasons: Late spring through early fall offers the best combination of road access and horse visibility. May and June are foaling season, and the horses tend to be at lower, more accessible elevations. July and August push the horses higher, where the roads are rougher but the scenery is spectacular.
- Vehicle requirements: A standard car can handle the paved road to the Bighorn Canyon area, but reaching the heart of the horse range usually requires a high-clearance vehicle, especially after rain. Four-wheel drive is recommended if you plan to explore the upper ridges.
- Distance from horses: Federal regulations require you to stay at least 100 feet from wild horses. The horses in the Pryor range are habituated to vehicles and will sometimes approach the road on their own, but you should not approach, feed, or attempt to touch them. A telephoto lens or spotting scope will serve you well.
- Water and supplies: There are no water sources or services on the range. Bring everything you need, including extra water for your vehicle if you are driving in summer heat on rough roads.
- Camping: Dispersed camping is allowed on some BLM land near the range, but check current regulations at the Lovell visitor center. There is no developed campground within the horse range itself.
The horses are genuinely wild, and sightings are not guaranteed on any given day, though experienced visitors who know the terrain rarely come away empty-handed. Local advocacy groups maintain websites with recent sightings and band locations, which can help you plan your route. Some visitors hire local guides who know the range intimately and can take you to the bands by horseback or vehicle.
The Economics of Wild Horses on Public Land
Wild horses attract visitors and generate goodwill, but the economic picture for communities near wild horse management areas is more complicated than simple tourism revenue might suggest. A study examining economic data from 1980 to 2005 found a negative relationship between the presence of a wild horse management area and overall wages and tax receipts in the surrounding county. While federal land protections showed some positive economic effects, those benefits were outweighed by the negative effects associated with having a horse management area in the county.9Journal of Rangeland Science. Understanding the Economic Impact of Wild Horse Management on Local Communities
This does not mean wild horses are bad for local economies in every case. The Pryor Mountain herd, with its strong public following and proximity to the Bighorn Canyon recreation area, likely generates more tourism traffic than a typical management area. But the broader pattern suggests that the costs of managing horses on public land, including range degradation, reduced grazing allotments for ranchers, and infrastructure wear, can outweigh the direct economic benefits. For small Montana communities near the Pryor range, the horses are a source of genuine pride and identity, but the financial equation is not as straightforward as a tourism brochure might imply.