Great Bear Wilderness, Protected wilderness in Flathead National Forest, Montana.

Great Bear Wilderness is a protected area in the Flathead National Forest that covers hundreds of thousands of acres of rugged terrain. Mountains, dense forest, and the Middle Fork Flathead River shape the landscape, with an extensive trail system running through the region.

Congress created the Great Bear Wilderness in 1978; it covers 286,700 acres in Flathead National Forest and borders the Bob Marshall Wilderness to the north. Together with Bob Marshall and Scapegoat it forms the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, over 1.5 million acres. Glacier National Park lies across U.S. Highway 2, separated from the wilderness by the road.

The wilderness lies west of the Continental Divide, and the Middle Fork of the Flathead River rises here, flowing about 50 miles through the area. The name reflects the grizzly population, among the densest in the lower 48 states; cinnamon-colored black bears are often mistaken for grizzlies. The area is part of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

Access to the wilderness is available from U.S. Highway 2 and Montana Highway 83, with several trailheads located along these roads. Conditions are best from late spring through early fall when weather is milder and trails are more passable.

The wilderness holds over 500 miles (800 km) of named streams and rivers but very few lakes. Its dense conifer forests of spruce, pine and fir shelter one of the densest grizzly populations in the lower 48 states; many black bears here are cinnamon-coloured and often mistaken for grizzlies.