About Hyalite Canyon

Hyalite Canyon is part of the Custer Gallatin National Forest. It is the most heavily visited Forest Service area in the state of Montana, offering a stunning array of activities for outdoor recreationists. It is also an important water source for the city of Bozeman - approximately 80% of Bozeman’s municipal water supply comes from Hyalite Canyon and the adjacent Bozeman Creek watershed.

Despite it’s high level of visitor use, Hyalite is also a wild place. The Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area (WSA) stretches from the upper reaches of Hyalite Canyon to Yellowstone National Park. The WSA serves as a critical wildlife corridor and Hyalite is home to many species, from big critters like elk, moose, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and grizzly bears to small ones such as pikas, weasels, and marten. There is also an abundance of bird life in Hyalite Canyon.

Friends of Hyalite works with the Forest Service to care for Hyalite Canyon so that it remains wild, our water quality remains high, and everybody can continue to access and enjoy this special place.

Hyalite Canyon is part of the ancestral land of the Apsaálooke (Crow), Niitsítpiis-stahkoii ᖹᐟᒧᐧᐨᑯᐧ ᓴᐦᖾᐟ (Blackfoot / Niitsítapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ), Salish Kootenai (Flathead), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), and Shoshone Bannock peoples.