A wide range of recreational activities take place on the Sweet Grass Hills Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA-#MT06753). An estimated 1,200 visits were recorded for the public lands in this area for fiscal year (FY) 1993. The most visits were associated with hiking, backpacking, and hunting. Other activities include sightseeing, wildlife viewing, caving, rockhounding, and some winter sports, depending on the amount of snow cover in the area.
The public land in and around the Sweet Grass Hills is rated visual resource management (VRM) class II with a scenic quality of "A" or excellent scenery. The Sweet Grass Hills offer a stark contrast to the surrounding prairie and can be seen from a great distance away. From ridgecrests and peaks, the cultivated plains surrounding the buttes may be seen for up to 100 miles on a clear day.
Access to the public lands for motorized vehicles is minimal. In most cases permission from private landowners must be obtained. Walk-in hunting areas have been established in coordination with adjacent landowners and the implementation of an ORV closure on the BLM land. Some signing has occurred on public land, but on a very limited basis.
The East Butte is the site of recreational activity during the summer months as hikers park in the Iron Creek drainage on the east side and work their way along an old jeep trail to the Devil's Chimney Cave. A land exchange completed in 1982 provided legal access to public land on the north side of East Butte, but the terrain is very rugged.
No developed recreation sites have been established on BLM land in the study area.