HD 314 takes in the south end of Paradise Valley—the Tom Miner Basin, Cinnabar Basin, and the country climbing east off US-89 into the northern Absaroka-Beartooth front above Gardiner. Elevations run from about 5,200 feet on the Yellowstone River near Gardiner up to over 10,000 feet on the high Absaroka ridges. The valley floor is sage benches and irrigated hay along the river; climb the front and you hit aspen, then dense Douglas fir, lodgepole, and spruce-fir before the country breaks into alpine meadow and rock. Yellowstone National Park forms the southern boundary—a hard line you do not cross with a rifle—and a lot of the elk action here is animals migrating out of the park as snow pushes them down. The Tom Miner Basin is famous for grizzly density; this is core Greater Yellowstone bear country and you carry spray and act like it. Custer-Gallatin National Forest covers most of the public ground with the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on the east edge of the unit (no motors). Significant private ranch ground in the valley bottom—some of it locked, some of it accessible through Block Management. US-89 is the only paved road through; forest roads (Tom Miner Road, Six Mile Creek, Mol Heron) climb into the high country and are 4WD when wet. Gardiner is the closest supply town with gas, basic groceries, and lodging that books out for the late hunt; Livingston has full services 50 miles north. Cell service follows US-89 and dies in the side drainages. The late-season elk hunt here can be politically charged—this is the unit that catches park-migrant herds and has been the center of the wolf-and-bison managment debates—so expect company, expect strong opinions at the boat ramp, and expect winter weather. The hunting is genuinely good when timing aligns with snow.