In your experience, where are the biggest, most rugged mountains?

[Poser]

Needle sub range of the the San Juans.

 

[Scoot]

Dang... I've never been to any of the places mentioned in this thread. ...and now I want to go to ALL of them!!! They look awesome, unforgiving, and downright mean! I'm sure they'd all chew me up and spit me out, but in a week or two I'd be loving the adventure in my mind (once my body healed).

 

[wesfromky]

I would 2nd Frank Church, but also add in the Winds as well. Maybe the Absarokas.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I'll go with the "Floreeda's" and the Sawtooths.
Honorable Mention to various places in the Appalachians.
As these are the ones I've actually hunted.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

The area around the Maroon Bells was the steepest I've been in.

 

[manitou1]

Whichever mountain I am climbing with a sixty pound pack on at the time!

 

[Yarak]

Coming from the Deep South any mountain range is rugged
Just plain ruff on a southern man
First time hunting out west I didn’t train or even remotely try to get in shape
Out of the truck and 100 yds in I was sounding like a dog with distemper

 

[WCB]

Kind of subjective as almost every range has cliffed out granite hell holes. Hell the Chinese wall in the Bob is the same length as the entire Florida Mountains.

Beartooths have their moments and other areas I've been in have their spots...still most are childs play compared to hunting on west coast of NZ (I know...not in the U.S).

 

[kfili]

This thread needs more pictures

 

[Billy Goat]

Steep is steep.

Some of the worst I have been are steep with dead falls, I tend to stay out of shear cliffs, but at least the dead falls don't stay there.

 

[mtnwrunner]

The state of Idaho

 

[sodaksooner]

Whichever mountain I am climbing with a sixty pound pack on at the time!

This!!!!

Most of our hunting is in the Sawatches. I don't consider the terrain all that sketchy(although we have been in some crazy spots) but the altitude flat kicks your ass. We spent one hunt pretty much north of 11 to 12k feet the entire time....(going back to that unit again this year)

 

[mitchellmountain]

I've gotten off trail trying "short cuts" in the high peak region in the Adirondacks. It's steep but the main thing is thick, places you are pushing your way along through brush for a long ways. Some of my more stupid decisions.

 

[Mosby]

I don't know the right answer but I always found that where ever I was hunting in Idaho sucked for me but I'm pushing 63 now so it pretty much sucks everywhere I go these days.....

 

[timekiller13]

After hiking the Sangre de Cristos last summer, that’s probably the most rugged I have been in.

It’s been nearly 20 yrs since I have been to the Beartooths but I remember just feeling like it was such a massive, wild place. Not necessarily the most rugged, but endless big mountains.

On the east coast, the Linville Gorge will humble you. I’m not talking about the trails. Off trail in the gorge is an interesting experience. Thick rhododendron and then bam you can fall 1000 ft off a cliff real quick.

 

[Blockcaver]

CO: Needles in the San Juans, Sangre deCristos, and some of the continental divide goat country I hunted.

 

[bobinmi]

While Not the biggest/tallest mtns, the most rugged ones I’ve ever encountered were the Florida (fla-REE-da) mtns in Southern NM. Also known as “the Rock”. I Spent 6 days in there in 2020 chasing Ibex with a bow and it was STRESSFUL! I heard that ~ 1 hunter dies each year from falls. The hunt regs even suggest using “professional climbing gear”. In addition to that it’s 100% cactus and thorns, there’s zero water, incredibly high winds all day, and it’s chock full of rattlesnakes and cougars.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm not the biggest fan of heights. My feet and hands start sweating every time I see a pic of someone in the Floridas. I'd love to do the ibex hunt there some day but I don't bother putting in for the tag because I'm 100% certain that there are a lot of areas that a goat can fall and I don't trust myself to put in a good faith effort to make the recovery.

 

[mtwarden]

Almost all of the ranges in Montana (and guessing the rest of the Mountain West as well) have plenty of rugged country (rugged as you wouldn't want to set foot in it).

The Bob Marshall Complex (Bob, Scapegoat, Great Bear) stands out as it encompasses a lot (lot) of rugged country. The Absaroka-Beartooth Complex has a bunch of country you'd be better off not setting foot in as well.

An area less known, but with plenty of rugged country is the Cabinet Wilderness in the Northwest corner of the state.

couple of pics from our failed attempt at a full high traverse of the Cabinets (second attempt will be made this summer )

 

[elkyinzer]

The least-flat states in the US are WV, PA, and KY.

 

[Poser]

After hiking the Sangre de Cristos last summer, that’s probably the most rugged I have been in.

It’s been nearly 20 yrs since I have been to the Beartooths but I remember just feeling like it was such a massive, wild place. Not necessarily the most rugged, but endless big mountains.

On the east coast, the Linville Gorge will humble you. I’m not talking about the trails. Off trail in the gorge is an interesting experience. Thick rhododendron and then bam you can fall 1000 ft off a cliff real quick.

I’ve been down in there. Rhododendron is super frustrating.