RECREATION

Beartooth Overlook is near some of the most beautiful and pristine mountain wilderness; the AbsarokaBeartooth Wilderness, a trail riding and hiking paradise. Summer activities include hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and floating while enjoying the massive views of the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountain Range. Red Lodge Mountain is approximately a 1± hour’s drive from the property for downhill ski and snowboarding enthusiasts. The ski resort delivers 70 runs, 2,400 feet of vertical drop, and six chairlifts, providing great terrain without long lift lines. The Tippet Rise Art Center hosts large-scale outdoor sculptures, music concerts, and hiking and biking trails on 12,500± acres and is only a 15± minute drive from the property. All this said, Beartooth Overlook also provides recreational opportunities on the ranch. Find quiet enjoyment fishing on Fishtail Creek or hiking and riding throughout the property.

H unting & W ildlife

Beartooth Overlook offers inspiring wildlife viewing and opportunities to fill the freezer with venison. The riparian bottoms of the ranch provide excellent habitat for white-tailed deer, while the uplands are native grounds for mule deer. The vast nearby public lands are renowned for their wilderness hunting, and embarking on expeditions from the ranch is as simple as trailering a short drive to the trailhead.

Beartooth Overlook is situated upstream of the confluence of Fishtail Creek and West Rosebud Creek to the east. About half a mile of Fishtail Creek flows through the north parcel of the ranch, providing quality fishing opportunities for wild trout right on the property.

For an angler looking to explore off-ranch, the forks of Rosebud Creek are hard to beat. Both begin in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area and flow through beautiful mountainous terrain. Although both West Fork Rosebud Creek and East Fork Rosebud Creek are classified as “creeks,” they carry lots of water and are larger than some “rivers” in Montana. Rosebud Creek has excellent brown trout fishing, similar to that found in the lower sections of its forks. Assuming water levels are normal, the best way to fish it is to float it, although it will be a short four-mile float, with the take-out point located just to the west of the small town of Absarokee.

The Stillwater River is beautiful and wild. The Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains provide a stunning backdrop to any fishing or float trip. Fishing pressure on the Stillwater River is moderate—most out-ofstate anglers venture too much more popular and well-known nearby rivers such as the Yellowstone River. That said, many locals fish the waters of the Stillwater in search of the plentiful rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout found in the river. Depending on the year, Yellowstone National Park is about 2 hours away and is a favorite for photography expeditions, wildlife viewing, fly fishing, and the wonders of nature found nowhere else in the world.

Water Sources

Montana waters, in all their varied forms and locations, belong to the state for the benefit of its people. A water right is the right to use the water within state-established guidelines, and not any ownership of the water itself. Since water rights in Montana are guided by the prior appropriation doctrine, a person’s right to use a specific quantity of water depends on when the use of water began, establishing the relative priority date of use on the water source. The first person to use water from a source established the first right, the second person could establish a right to the water that was left, and so on. Additionally, water users are limited to the amount of water that can be beneficially used. Beneficial use includes, but is not limited to, agricultural, recreational, fish and wildlife and domestic purposes.

Montana is currently conducting a statewide adjudication of all water rights with priority dates prior to July 1, 1973. The statewide adjudication is a court process that prioritizes and quantifies all existing water rights in each Montana drainage basin. With eighty-five basins in Montana, and over 219,000 water right claims, the statewide adjudication is a massive undertaking that is expected to stretch well into the future. Until the adjudication process is complete, the status of any particular water right claim cannot be guaranteed. Fay Ranches, Inc., its brokers and salespersons do not warrant or make any representation concerning the quantity or quality of any water rights, nor any legal entitlement to use of water rights, permits to appropriate water, exempt existing rights, determination of existing water rights, nor any ditches, ditch rights, or ditch easements appurtenant to or constituting a burden on the