Big Snowy Mountains
Template:Geobox The Big Snowy Mountains, el. 8,681 feet (2,646 m)[1], is a mountain range south of Lewistown, Montana in Fergus County, Montana. One of the many island ranges in the area, the Snowies share a mile-high saddle (called the "Judith Gap") with the Little Belt Range to the west, connecting the two ranges. The Snowies are probably best known for the ice caves on top of the Snowy Crest, sitting nearly 2,000 ft. above the popular Crystal Lake & Crystal Lake Campground. The main public access into the range is at Crystal Lake, which is a shallow lake fed by springs on the bottom of the lake, & by snowmelt. The lake situated at an elevation of approx. 6,800 ft., & a developed forest service campground sits not too far away. In late summer, the lake often recedes significatly, due to water seeping out through the pourous sedimentary rocks under the lake, leaving large areas of rocky beach, & making the water shallow enough to often wade all the way through to the other side, with the water coming only up to your knees. Another major attraction in the Big Snowies is Crystal Cascades at the headwaters of Rock Creek, which emerges from a rather large spring inside a cave at the top of the cascade, & is thought to be the place where water seeping out of Crystal Lake reappears. The spectacular cascades are reached by a 2.5 mile hike that starts at a trailhead a couple miles below Crystal Lake, & require crossing Rock Creek no less than 7 times over the duration of the hike, however many (approx. half, dependingo n the year) of the creek crossings will be either dry or have only a trickle of water running through them (during low-water, Rock Creek disappears underground in multiple sections of the creek) if you go in late summer. During early summer, most, if not all, the crossings, including one across the so-called "Dry-Fork" will be wet, but still a relatively easy ford. During early summer, several small waterfalls might also exist right by the road's bridge over Rock Creek near the Crystal Cascades trailhead. A backcountry road that crosses the range near its eastern terminus is commonly considered the dividing point between the Big Snowies & the Little Snowies, a lower elevation offshoot to the east of the main Snowies. The snowmelt from the Snowies also helps feed the Madison Aquifer, which in return feeds Big Springs, located in the northern foothills of the Snowies, which is generally considered to be the world's 3rd largest freshwater spring, & provides drinking water to the city of Lewistown, where it has been rated the purest & highest quality drinking water in the nation.
