This adventure is taking us north - to Montana!

Pryor Mountain is an HMA that is well-known and loved by many so you possibly may have already visited, and information for a visit is pretty easily found, but even so I remember my first few visits were kind of intimidating as I knew nothing more than that it was where the famous wild stallion Cloud had lived.

So off we go, to explore the wilds of Pryor Mountain HMA!

Pryor Mountain is a pretty easily explored HMA - sort of!!

It is one of the smaller HMAs that exist, there are only a few roads that will take you in and out of it, and most of them are out of the small town of Lovell WY.

What is a little bit iffy about Pryor Mountain is that much of the terrain is very rocky and requires a good high-clearance vehicle, preferably with 4x4, and excellent tires!

There is the lower area of the HMA, that has a paved road through the Bighorn National Recreation Area, for those who do not have the more durable vehicle to climb to the top of the mountain.

And if you want to see more of the HMA without damaging your rig can book a tour with the Pryor Mountain Mustang Center!

Pryor Mountain HMA is one of the smaller wild horse territories with just around 38,000 acres, although the terrain of this land is so challenging there are many places that you can access only by foot or with binoculars!

It is one of the toughest places for wild horses to live, the lower elevation areas tend to be sparse red dirt and rocks, the higher elevation areas on the mountain see heavy snows with limited access that is usually from sometime in May and until the snows start falling in earnest a few months later.

These wild horses truly know what it means to survive and thrive in adverse conditions and they have been doing so for a very long time.

Pryor Mountain is also a place where the local community - including ranchers - gathered around the horses before the 1971 WHBA, and after gaining the attention of thousands nationally, this land and the horses were granted protection in 1968 - you can read some of the amazing history in the book "Saving the Pryor Mountain Mustang - A Legacy of Local and Federal Cooperation".

Pryor Mountain is one of the rare wild horse lands that you will not see cows or sheep grazing... this land is inhabited by wild horses, Bighorn sheep, Mule deer, black bears, and mountain lions - to name just a few wild things you may encounter!

And while this HMA is managed by Montana BLM, the very southern part of the HMA is in Wyoming, and most find it easier to visit the HMA from the Wyoming side.

Pryor Mountain is one of the most beautiful places you will ever visit - seriously!!

Not only is Pryor Mountain itself incredibly beautiful with unique rock canyons and bluffs, red dirt hills and washes, and wild flower filled high mountain meadows - but the vista of the Bighorn Mountains in the distance is incomparable!

And the horses are some of the most amazing wild horses - watching them clamber through trees and rocks on the steep side of a mountain - wow!!!

The easiest route to visit Pryor Mountain HMA is going to be from Lovell WY, a small town that has just enough to get you what you need, some really good folks that will be kind and helpful, and not one single thing fancy to find for shopping or eating out!

Remember, you are going to see the wild horses that live in a spectacularly beautiful place - all else is just extra and you won't care all that much once you start your adventure in this land of wild horses!

I highly recommend that you stop and visit the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center, even if you have the 4x4 rig to drive yourself, the people at the center are amazing and love sharing all kinds of information about the wild horses and their range!

You can pick up a book that tells you about the horses you will meet on your adventure, they usually have maps that you can use finding your adventure, and if you want to let someone else do the driving while you enjoy the day, you can book a tour with them - Nancy and Steve Cerroni are an amazing couple that will give you a once in a life-time experience as they show you around this place they know and love!

To start you are going to head west on Hwy 14A from Lovell, as if you are headed to the Bighorn Mountains, but instead a few minutes out of town you will turn left onto Hwy 37 and follow that for several miles.... you will start looking for a dirt road on the left (west) side of the highway called Crooked Creek, there is a nice big BLM sign telling you it is the road to the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range!

Hang that left and make your way down the dirt road.... or - you can just stay on the smooth and easy highway and head into the Bighorn Recreation Area to visit the lower part of Pryor Mountain HMA - there are no wrong choices!

If you stay on the highway it will take you into the Bighorn Recreation Area, or as the locals call it - Yellowtail.... it is a national recreation area, a wonderfully beautiful place to spend time in, with hiking trails and wild horses!

As you can see from the above map the HMA borders along the reservoir itself, be aware though that there are only one or two roads that go down to the water, the reservoir and Bighorn River runs through an incredibly scenic deep canyon with high rock cliff walls, and the horses mostly access water from other sources than the reservoir, the exception being at the very southern end of the recreation area and HMA.

Driving the paved road along in Yellowtail can be done year round, it rarely gets much snow, and on the days I did visit after a snow I thought it was incredibly beautiful!

Just take it a little slower, enjoy the views, and watch for wild horses and Bighorn sheep!

There are a lot of fun little pull-outs to stop at, one of my favorite stops along the way is the tipi rings - the map above shows it is called Two Eagles Interpretive Trail, it is a fun place to stop and stretch your legs, take in those views, and visit with wild horses - one of my favorite memories is of wild horses wandering through the tipi rings on a wonderfully golden afternoon.

If you made the left and are driving the dirt road, you will find your way through a few curves and past a ranch or two, and then as you continue on you have three different routes to reach the top of Pryor Mountain.

Which road you choose is going to depend on what you are driving and how much time you have to make your way up the mountain, and be aware, that even the 'easy' way up is still pretty dang bumpy!! An intrepid person might take a car up to the top but I would not really recommend it.....

The above map shows Crooked Creek going past 16, this is also known as Sykes, and this is the most challenging route to the top of the mountain - absolutely stunning drive, but difficult and not meant for any kind of regular vehicle!

I was told by a few people that they made several improvements to Sykes a few years ago, some claiming they have taken a Jeep on it, which a skilled Jeep person in the right kind of Jeep probably can, I would recommend using an ATV instead - way less wear and tear on you and your rig, and certainly far less stressful when you meet someone else driving along this steep narrow trail.

If you do take Sykes to the top you can loop back down the mountain using one of the other two roads if you decide you have had enough driving challenges for the day.

Continuing up Crooked Creek you will see a small pasture and some buildings on your right, with a BLM sign for Britton Springs, this location is used for various things including mustang adoption events - fun fact, this location is where our mustang, Aegir's Fire, was adopted by the Cerronis, before he came to live with us!

You are going to keep driving along Crooked Creek and after a bit you will see another road turning to the northeast called Burnt Timber, this is your 2nd route to wander through the HMA and climb to the top of the mountain.

Burnt Timber is a really lovely drive - as long as you don't mind a few rocky spots!

I have driven this way a few times, and I can make it up okay by myself in my FJ, but I struggle really hard coming down it, there are a couple spots that require knowing exactly where your tires are so as to not tear out the bottom of your rig, and I usually let my hubby take the wheel through those spots.

I have seen people take it in a regular pickup or explorer though, so I think it really just depends on your 4x4 skill comfort level, and you probably want to have good tires so you don't have to worry about them getting shredded by the wrong rock.

If you are comfortable and have the right rig this (to me) is the best route.... I love the scenery going up, you will get the full experience of rocky banks, red dirt hills and washes, and high mountain meadows.

You will also pass one of the old wild horse trap sites, that part of the drive always freaks me out a little, the road runs along this little ridge that if you are not careful to stay on, could send you tumbling on a long fall!

There is wild life of all kinds, my favorite are the Bighorn sheep, and there are - of course - the amazing wild horses to be found along this route.

Once you near the top of Burnt Timber you will likely see more horses, especially in summer when the grass is lush and the wildflowers fill the open meadows with a riotous assembly of color - the lupines are incredible, all the images you have ever seen of Pryor Mountain wildflowers are just a hint of the awe you will feel when witnessing this in person.

Burnt Timber road might be easier than Sykes road, but much of it is still rocky and requires slowing down to navigate - and I mean slowing down to as little as 5mph in some spots, so make sure to start your day early so as to have time to navigate up and back down - unless you are lucky enough to be camping on the top!

If you are thinking Burnt Timber and Sykes are not quite your style, no worries, there is one more option to get to the top of Pryor Mountain HMA!

I like Sykes and Burnt Timber because you are in the HMA itself and may see horses while meandering your way to the top of the mountain - but they are both just a bit extra and I have used the 3rd option a few times myself.

So you will keep following Crooked Creek up a canyon until you reach an intersection where Crooked Creek and Pryor Mountain Rd meet up, you are going to hang a right and follow that road all the way to the top and into the HMA.

It is the longer way in, and you still will not be able to drive terribly fast, Pryor Mountain is a rocky place, and no matter how hard they work at those roads they are bumpy!

There is this really fun stop along the way called the ice cave, it is a great place to get out and stretch your legs and see something interesting.... maybe - depending if caves are interesting to you!

As you wind your way to the top of the mountain the vistas will stretch as far as you can see.... the surrounding mountains and canyons are breathtaking.

You will travel across the top for a few miles before you reach the HMA, you will know you have entered wild horse territory by the cattle guard and signs - one of the really great things about Pryor Mountain is the many signs letting you know where to turn onto which road, and when you have entered into wild horse lands.

You can also take Pryor Mountain road in from the Montana side.... me and my husband left that way one day, it was a long trip, the road was heavily rutted with a lot of large muddy mud puddles, and even my adventure loving always wants to find a new road to drive husband was a little worn out by this road, so I don't really recommend it as a preferred entrance.

But if you are living in Montana on the north side of the Pryor Mountains it might be easier and shorter for you than driving around to Lovell...

Pryor Mountain is a sacred land..... yes, I do say that about almost every wild horse territory, but the Pryors are different and if you visit you will understand.

It is a known sacred ground for the Crow nation, they held many rituals and ceremonies here before this land was colonized, you may find the things that tell the story of those rituals - please respect them and leave them undamaged, the Crow people still consider this mountain to be sacred ground.

The horses are.... incredible, one of a kind, unmatched for the things they know how to survive, a treasure that even with the love of people across the world, still need guardians to stand and protect them.

And now it is your turn to find your own adventure in this wild sacred land, experience magic with these incredibly rugged wild horses, and may you find joy in the beauty that exist in this truly unique place.

** I was almost done writing this explore blog when news of the death of Echo/Killian broke across the world.... I had already delayed this blog for the commenting of Rock Springs and Adobe Town herds and I almost chose not to finish and share it at this moment, because it seems awkward and opportunistic to do so, but at the same time I feel it is important to encourage any who have not already done so, to visit and connect with these wild horses.

We can look at other peoples photographs or videos for hours, and those things will invoke in us feelings of love and passion - but it is not the same personal connection you make when you are standing in the same dirt as the horses, with the same wind whispering across you as that is running through their wild manes - and having that personal connection will allow you to not only understand the horses a little better in the way they speak with you, but it also allows you to decide for yourself how you want to step into the fight that is necessary for all wild horses, and there is a fight to be had for these horses, it has been coming for a while.

And if we fail to protect a herd that has been a national treasure even before the 1971 act, how are we ever going to fight for the rest of them?

So I did decide to post this blog after all... because in the end I have to follow my heart and it tells me that there is no time to waste.