Scapegoat Wilderness Llama Trips from the Lincoln Side

The Wilderness

The Scapegoat: Southern End of the Bob Marshall Complex

The Scapegoat Wilderness, designated in 1972, is the southern piece of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Together with the Bob Marshall and Great Bear, the complex covers more than 1.5 million acres, managed by three national forests and five ranger districts. On the Scapegoat, that means the Lincoln and Rocky Mountain districts of the Helena-Lewis and Clark and the Seeley Lake district of the Lolo.

The Scapegoat's long northwest border is shared with the Bob Marshall, and the cliffs of 9,204-foot Scapegoat Mountain are an extension of the Chinese Wall. Elevations run from about 5,000 feet along the Blackfoot River to about 9,400 feet on Red Mountain, with 14 lakes and 89 miles of streams.

The Forest Service lists wolverines, moose, elk, mountain goats, mountain sheep, lions, black bears and numerous grizzlies. Keep a clean camp, and give wild sheep and goats a wide berth with your llamas under control.

Wilderness Rules

Stock Rules in the Bob Marshall Complex

The Forest Service's Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Great Bear wilderness restrictions order applies across the whole complex. For llama parties, the key points are:

• Group size: parties of more than 15 people are prohibited.
• Stock limit: no more than 35 head of stock per party.
• Single file: stock on trails must be ridden or led in single file. No shortcutting switchbacks.
• Lakeshores: no tying or containing stock within 200 feet of a lake shore where posted.
• No caching of equipment, hay or feed, and no wagons, carts or vehicles.
• Salt: livestock salt only in block form, and only as much as you need for the trip.
• Area closures on the Rocky Mountain district (east side): no livestock on Our Lake Trail #184, and no camping or grazing in the Moose Creek area below the Chinese Wall.

Bear food storage and feed

The NCDE food storage order covers the forests that manage the Scapegoat. Human food, llama pellets and grain, and garbage must be attended (an awake adult within 100 feet) or stored in a bear-resistant way. That means a hard-sided vehicle, hung 10 feet up and 4 feet out, in an IGBC-certified container, or behind an approved electric fence. Hunters must store carcasses within 1/2 mile of camp or 200 yards of a system trail in a bear-resistant manner. All hay, cubes and pellets must be certified weed-free and tagged (order R1-2024-01).

Hunting the Scapegoat? Check the FWP regulations for your district, then see our elk and deer pack-out guide and hunting page. For shorter trips closer to Helena, look at the Elkhorns or the Big Belts, or compare every area on the Trips & Areas hub.