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Wolverine Bowl

Montana > Southwest Region > Bridger Range

Description

Wolverine Bowl is a beautiful sub-alpine limestone area located just south of Ross Pass in the Bridger mountain range. This area offers an excellent summertime option close to Bozeman with it's great temperatures and excellent rock. The entire crag starts to go into the shade between 11:45 and 2:00, which make it a great later start crag as well.

The area is characterized by the stunning, well weathered blue Madison limestone that populates southwestern Montana. Most of the routes here are very typical to the Bozeman style which offer highly technical, slightly overhanging to slightly off vertical routes that will not only test your technique but your endurance as well. There are many longer routes at Wolverine so a 70m rope is highly recommended for most of the crags and a rack of 16 quickdraws will not go unused on quite a few routes. Although all most all of the modern routes in this area are completely bolted there are still some older mixed routes that require gear. They will likely not be mentioned in this guide for the time being, but will possibly be added in the future.

Being that this area is in a sub-alpine to alpine environment, proper planing for a day up at Wolverine is important. Having at least two liters of water, extra clothing and sustaining food is definitely important due to the high elevation of the area. Bear spray might also not be a bad idea. It is also important that you bring and wear a helmet. Some of the crags at this area are protected but rock fall can be frequent in drainages in between them due to snow thawing and mountain goats (especially in the spring). Please be aware and be safe.

Also given that this is a newer area, there is still development going and some of these newer routes may be a bit dusty still. If you get on a new route that is a little dirty, do your part and give it a little once over on your way down. The community will thank you for it! Please also comment on route's quality and grades if you think they should be different.

*And a note to developers, please be courteous of the people that are using this area to climb for recreation. If you are developing a route that at all has a danger of releasing rockfall anywhere close to anyone please clean it when there is little to no people up there. This will make for a more enjoyable and safer experience for everyone. Thanks!

Getting There

From Main street in Bozeman, drive to N Rouse Ave and follow it north out of town. N Rouse will turn into MT-86. Keep following this 18.7 miles out of town and turn left onto a dirt road at the sharp bend at Bracket Creek and follow it 1.7 miles until you hit the obvious first parking lot on your left. Park here. Continuing up the hill and past the gate leads towards access for Ross Pass/Peak.

From the parking lot it is a 1 hour hike to Wolverine (45min if hiking quickly). The lower angle hike, beautiful views, and wild flowers along the trail make it quite enjoyable.

Leaving the parking lot, stay left on the trail and up two switchbacks. This will quickly bring you to an old fire road. Follow the fire road for about a quarter mile until you reach an obvious forest service sign that says "Trail" pointing right. Follow this trail for 3/4 of a mile until you reach the largest meadow on the trail. The trail you are following will cross the creek. DO NOT CROSS THE CREEK! Instead, follow the beaten foot path right through the meadow leading to a cairn at the top of the hill before the trees. From here, its just 30 min up a well beaten-in trail to reach the large scenic meadow below Wolverine. This meadow is the starting point for all approach descriptions to each area. The climbers trail cuts across the meadow leading straight to the base of the Lower Replica.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Crags at Wolverine 
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1: China Wall (no routes currently listed)
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2: The Nomad Wall
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3: Sweden
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4: Denmark 
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5: Lower Replica 
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6: The Rain Cave 
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7: Upper Replica 
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8: The Bud Wall
[Hide Photo] Crags at Wolverine 1: China Wall (no routes currently listed) 2: The Nomad Wall 3: Sweden 4: Denmark 5: Lower Replica 6: The Rain Cave 7: Upper Replica 8: The Bud Wall
Wolverine
[Hide Photo] Wolverine
Behold, Wolverine!<br>
Photo: Kris Zigich
[Hide Photo] Behold, Wolverine! Photo: Kris Zigich
This is the start of the Appraoch. Look for "Lower S. Brackett Trailhead" Do not continue up the dirt road past the Ross peak gate. Made the mistake of going to the Ross peak appraoch
[Hide Photo] This is the start of the Appraoch. Look for "Lower S. Brackett Trailhead" Do not continue up the dirt road past the Ross peak gate. Made the mistake of going to the Ross peak appraoch

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Ben Mackall
Bozeman, MT
[Hide Comment] Really would love a guide to the different walls or even a hand drawn map or something on here. Nov 2, 2014
Andrew Whitmore
Montana
[Hide Comment] Goes into complete shade around 1400 hrs near the Solstice. Friction is a a God. Aug 1, 2015
Nate Williams
Bozeman, MT
[Hide Comment] Beautiful approach, just as a hike this would be a worthy outing. The approach takes much longer than 45 minutes. It would be a 45 minute trail run to the first routes. Plan for at least 80 minutes on the uphill.

On getting there, the part where you are NOT SUPPOSED TO CROSS THE CREEK, the beaten foot path is literally 20 feet before the creek, so just go to the creek, and backtrack a bit. It's hard to find at first, but obvious once you are on it. Jul 15, 2024