HD 285 covers the heart of the Flint Creek Range west of Philipsburg—a compact, north-south running range of granite and metamorphic peaks between the Flint Creek and Rock Creek drainages. Elevations climb from about 5,000 feet on the Philipsburg-area valley floors to 10,168 feet on Mount Powell, the high point of the range. The lower country is a mix of Douglas fir parkland, sage benches, and old mining-era prospect scars; mid-elevations are dense lodgepole and mixed conifer with regrowth from old fires; the high country breaks into spruce-fir, alpine larch in pockets, and a high spine of glaciated cirque country. The Flint Creek Range is one of the underrated elk ranges in southwest Montana—it doesn't have the magazine attention of the Madison or the Bitterroot, but it holds elk, mule deer, mountain goats, and an excellent black bear population. Old mining roads from the Anaconda copper boom snake through the timber and let you reach trailheads most maps don't show. Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF dominates the higher country, with BLM and DNRC state sections in the foothills, and private ranch ground around Philipsburg and Hall. MT-1 (Pintler Scenic Byway) hits the south edge; FR 8567 (Rock Creek Road), the Boulder Creek road, and the network of mining grades are the access. Philipsburg is a wonderful small Montana town—gas, groceries, the Sweet Palace candy store, the Phillipsburg Brewery, a couple of motels, the Granite County courthouse. Anaconda is south, Drummond east, Missoula west. Cell service hits in P-burg and dies on the back roads. The Flint Creek country sees moderate pressure, mostly local, and rewards hunters who climb above the obvious roads.