{"id":5892,"date":"2023-07-17T13:58:17","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T13:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=5892"},"modified":"2026-08-22T17:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:16:18","slug":"sweet-grass-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/sweet-grass-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Grass County, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sweet Grass County is a county in Montana, United States, on the north edge of the Absaroka-Beartooth range along the Boulder and Yellowstone rivers. It had a population of 3,678 at the 2020 census and covers 1,862 square miles (4,820 km2) centred near 45\u00b049\u2032N 109\u00b056\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Big Timber is the county seat, and its postal code is 59011. The county has one incorporated city, one census-designated place, and several unincorporated communities. It observes Mountain Time and carries FIPS code 30097.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Sweet Grass County<\/h2>\n<p>Sweet Grass County has eight named places: one incorporated city, one CDP, and six unincorporated communities. Unincorp. below means the place has no municipal government of its own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Big Timber<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>1,653<\/td>\n<td>59011<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Greycliff<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>65<\/td>\n<td>59033<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Carney<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>McLeod<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>59052<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Melville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Quebec<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sourdough<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Meyers Creek<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>The old site list also carried &#8220;Duffy Trailer Court&#8221; and &#8220;Sioux Crossing&#8221; as separate places; both are informal names for sites near Big Timber and McLeod rather than distinct communities, so they are folded into the table above rather than listed separately.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>59011 &mdash; Big Timber (also serves most of the county, including Melville, Quebec and Sourdough)<\/li>\n<li>59033 &mdash; Greycliff<\/li>\n<li>59052 &mdash; McLeod<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Carney and the smaller ranching sites east of Big Timber use the 59011 Big Timber ZIP for mail.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Sweet Grass County sits where the Crazy Mountains meet the Absaroka-Beartooth foothills, split by the Boulder River as it runs north to join the Yellowstone at Big Timber. Interstate 90 and the Yellowstone River both cross the county west to east. The county borders Wheatland County to the north, Golden Valley County to the northeast, Stillwater County to the east, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/park-county-montana\/\">Park County<\/a> to the west, and Meagher County to the northwest.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>The 2020 census counted 3,678 residents. Big Timber, the seat, is by far the largest community; Greycliff is the county&#8217;s only other census-designated place. Median household income in Sweet Grass County runs below the Montana median of $70,804, reflecting the county&#8217;s dependence on ranching and other seasonal agricultural work. Population density is about 2 people per square mile, among the lower densities in the state.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Cattle and sheep ranching anchor the county&#8217;s economy, along with hay and grain farming along the Yellowstone and Boulder river bottoms. Big Timber&#8217;s downtown serves the ranching trade with feed and farm-supply businesses, and the county has drawn steady interest from outdoor recreation and hunting outfitters working the Absaroka-Beartooth backcountry to the south. The 2009 documentary &#8220;Sweetgrass,&#8221; filmed in the county, followed a family&#8217;s sheep drive through the Absaroka range and remains the county&#8217;s best-known cultural export.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Montana&#8217;s territorial and state legislature created Sweet Grass County in 1895 from parts of Meagher, Park, and Yellowstone counties. It takes its name from Sweet Grass Creek, itself named for the sweetgrass (Hierochloe) that grew along its banks and was used by Plains tribes for ceremonial purposes. Big Timber, named for a stand of large cottonwoods once visible from the river, was platted with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in the 1880s and became the county seat when the county organized.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstate 90 runs the length of the county and is the main route in and out.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Livingston, Montana &mdash; 30 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Billings, Montana &mdash; 60 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Bozeman, Montana &mdash; 55 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Columbus, Montana &mdash; 25 miles east<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial airport is Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, about an hour&#8217;s drive west.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Sweet Grass County?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is in south-central Montana, along Interstate 90 between Livingston and Billings, on the north edge of the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Sweet Grass County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county had a population of 3,678 at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Sweet Grass County?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt covers 1,862 square miles (4,820 km2), of which 1,855 square miles is land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Sweet Grass County?<\/strong><br \/>\nBig Timber is the county seat and the only incorporated city.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Sweet Grass County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county has one incorporated city (Big Timber), one CDP (Greycliff), and several smaller unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Sweet Grass County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe main ZIP codes are 59011 (Big Timber), 59033 (Greycliff), and 59052 (McLeod).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Sweet Grass County named after?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is named for Sweet Grass Creek, itself named for the sweetgrass plant that grows along it.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/montana\/\">Towns and villages in Montana<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sweet Grass County is a county in Montana, United States, on the north edge of the Absaroka-Beartooth range along the Boulder and Yellowstone rivers. It had a population of 3,678 at the 2020 census and covers 1,862 square miles (4,820 km2) centred near 45\u00b049\u2032N 109\u00b056\u2032W. Big Timber is the county seat, and its postal code [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Sweet Grass County, Montana","_seopress_titles_desc":"Sweet Grass County, Montana: population, towns, ZIP codes, geography and history of Big Timber and its neighboring communities.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-5892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-montana","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5892"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11793,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892\/revisions\/11793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}