Bloody Dick Cabin

Bloody Dick Cabin is a single wood-frame room in a lodgepole pine forest below the Continental Divide. It sleeps four on two bunkbeds with mattresses. Inside are a table and chairs, a small wood-burning stove, a propane cook stove, cooking and eating utensils, a shovel, a bucket, an axe, and cleaning gear. There is no electricity, and the Forest Service lists solar lighting. A vault toilet stands in the outhouse. The Dillon Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest rents the cabin year-round. Renters bring their own bedding, matches, toilet paper, and garbage bags, and they pack out all garbage and food.

Three pilot lights and a woodpile

The propane stove has a small oven, and the Recreation.gov listing warns about it in capitals. Renters must light all three pilots: two on the stovetop and one at the rear bottom of the oven. The listing states that “FAILURE TO LIGHT THE REAR BOTTOM OVEN PILOT - has resulted in renters leaking propane into the cabin.” Firewood is provided but not guaranteed. The forest asks renters to burn it sparingly and not to split wood inside the cabin or on the porch. Each party leaves split wood and kindling for the next and cleans the cabin before going.

The sources disagree about water. Recreation.gov says a small sink and faucet inside supply drinking water from June through the end of September. The Southwest Montana travel guide describes a spring east of the cabin in the willows, with water that must be treated. The Forest Service page, last updated April 16, 2026, reports that drinking water is currently unavailable. Recreation.gov also warns of a risk of hantavirus exposure at remote cabins.

Bloody Dick Creek and Reservoir Lake

The cabin sits beside Bloody Dick Creek at about 7,100 feet. Cold springs feed the creek, and a variety of shorebirds can be seen along its windings. The Forest Service places the cabin in the Beaverhead Mountains, while Recreation.gov says the Bitterroot Mountains. Both black and grizzly bears are present, so proper food storage is mandatory and coolers may not be left outside unattended. Use peaks in summer and fall, with hikers, off-highway-vehicle riders, and big game hunters. A hang pole west of the cabin holds game. There are no corrals, and livestock are not allowed in the yard.

Reservoir Lake lies about a mile north. It covers 11 acres and has a primitive boat ramp, with a small campground on its edge. Non-motorized boats are welcome. Anglers may catch rainbow and brown trout in the lake and in the creek, and in winter and spring the frozen lake is fished through the ice. Nearby trailheads lead to the Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark National Historic Trails and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.

The road from Jackson

Bloody Dick Road, Forest Road 181, runs south from Jackson about 23 miles to the junction at Reservoir Lake Campground. Recreation.gov puts the cabin around 25 miles from Jackson. From the other direction, the road leaves Highway 324 west of Grant. In the snow-free season a passenger car can make the trip over gravel, dirt, and rock, rough and slow-going. Recreation.gov’s directions name the place the Bloody Dick Guard Station. They describe a locked double gate half a mile off the road, then another sixteenth of a mile to the door. The gate and the cabin share one combination, sent with the reservation. There is no cell phone coverage.

In winter the road from Jackson becomes a snowmobile route, and wheeled vehicles cannot reach the cabin. Depending on snow levels, renters may travel up to 23 miles on skis or snowmobile. From the Dillon side, the winter parking lot is about five miles from the cabin. The Southwest Montana guide says some winter visitors snowmobile in and use the cabin as a base camp for trips on cross-country skis.

The cabin, the creek, and the road share one name. The Forest Service and Recreation.gov both trace it to an English trapper, Richard “Bloody” Leigh.