The winding and tortuous saga of Bullwhacker Road in the Missouri River Breaks

2024-05-07

When it comes to accessing public lands, the Bullwhacker Road dispute south of Havre has been one of the longest simmering and most contorted in Eastern Montana. For 18 years the public, agencies and landowners have jousted over motorized access into a section of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument via the road. It provides vehicle access to between 35,500 and 50,000 acres of public land, depending on how it’s counted. The rugged coulees peppered with pine trees is located north o...

When it comes to accessing public lands, the Bullwhacker Road dispute south of Havre has been one of the longest simmering and most contorted in Eastern Montana.

For 18 years the public, agencies and landowners have jousted over motorized access into a section of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument via the road.

It provides vehicle access to between 35,500 and 50,000 acres of public land, depending on how it’s counted. The rugged coulees peppered with pine trees is located north of the Missouri River, west of Cow Creek and south of the Bears Paw Mountains.

Driving the Bullwhacker Road to reach the land, overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, requires traveling across almost 4 miles of private property. That’s where the dispute started.

On this episode, Brett French, outdoors and natural resources reporter for the Billings Gazette newspaper, untangles the back and forth of public access into the Bullwhacker area.

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