HD 322 covers the western Little Belt Mountains—the Showdown Pass / Kings Hill country between White Sulphur Springs and Neihart, with the upper Smith River and Belt Creek drainages. Elevations climb from about 4,500 feet at the Smith Valley floor to over 9,000 feet on the Little Belt high country (Big Baldy and the surrounding ridges). The Little Belts are an island range cored in limestone and sedimentary rock with extensive lodgepole pine forest, big rolling parks at mid-elevations, and spruce-fir on the higher north faces. The country is gentler than the dramatic ranges to the south—rolling timbered ridges with grassy parks, like the Black Hills if the Black Hills were 2,500 feet higher. Elk are the headline animal and the Little Belts are some of the better elk country in central MT, with consistent populations of mature bulls. Mule deer use the mid-elevation timber-park interface; whitetail in the creek bottoms; black bears are common. Helena-Lewis and Clark NF dominates the public land with private ranches at the bases. US-89 climbs over Kings Hill Pass through the heart of the unit (this road can close in heavy snow). FR 119 (Kings Hill area), Belt Creek Road, and a dense forest-road network provide access. Showdown Montana ski area sits inside the unit—a small, friendly hill that gets light traffic. Neihart is a tiny old mining town with a saloon; White Sulphur Springs is south, Great Falls north over the pass. Cell service holds along US-89 and dies in the side drainages. Pressure is moderate and the country absorbs hunters well because of how rolling and roaded it is. A weekend hunter willing to drive past the obvious pullouts can find country that hasn't been walked all season.