Canyon Creek Cabin

The cabin sits at the base of a sheer cliff in the eastern Pioneer Mountain Range, at an elevation of about 7,300 feet, with a mountain creek running beside it. Mountain goats live on the cliff and in the country around it. The cabin is a small wood building, rented by the night through Recreation.gov and locked between parties. The padlock code comes with the confirmed reservation.

Inside, according to Recreation.gov, are bunkbeds for four, a fold-down table, folding chairs, and a wood stove for heat. The Visit Montana listing is more exact: a cupboard, a table, three folding chairs, and four fold-down single spring bunks. Visit Montana says a saw, an axe, and some dishes and pans are usually on hand, though that can’t be guaranteed. Recreation.gov adds that a broom, dust pan, shovel, bucket, and propane stove may also be there. Firewood may be stacked, but that is not guaranteed either. The cabin has no electricity and no running water, and the toilet is an outside vault toilet.

Guests carry in their own water, bedding, matches, food, propane canisters, and cooking gear. Water drawn from the creek must be treated before drinking or cooking. All garbage and food are packed out. Before leaving, guests split firewood to replace what they burned and clean the cabin.

The road up from Melrose

The way in starts at Melrose, and the two managing pages describe it differently. The Forest Service puts the cabin about 13 miles west of town. Its route runs about 5.5 miles on Trapper Creek Road, then approximately 7 miles on Canyon Creek Road, then follows the signs to a turnoff about half a mile from the cabin. Recreation.gov’s route runs west on Forest Road 187 for about 13 miles, then southwest for 6 miles on Forest Road 7401. Both call for four-wheel drive or a high-clearance vehicle.

Between December and April, the last stretch may take snowmobiles, skis, or snowshoes. The Forest Service says this can mean 6 or more miles and asks visitors to call ahead about road conditions. In winter the same trails and roadways carry snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, and snowshoers. Recreation.gov warns of avalanche danger and tells winter guests to carry a beacon, shovel, and probe and to know how to use them.

Goats on the cliff, trout in the creek

Below the goats, moose can usually be found in the nearby willow bottoms, and black bears frequent the area. In winter, deer and elk come onto their winter range up and down the canyon from the cabin. Canyon Creek runs cold. Recreation.gov lists brook, rainbow, and cutthroat trout among its fish. Visit Montana names brook trout first, with “some rainbow and cutthroat.” The lakes of the area are fished too, the Wise River runs nearby, and hunting is a common pursuit.

Old roads around the cabin serve walkers and bicyclists. A trail climbs 5 miles to a group of glacial lakes. Visit Montana places its trailhead near the Canyon Creek Guest Ranch, five miles up the Canyon Creek drainage on road #7401. A short drive away is Vipond Park, where wildflowers come up in early summer.

Rangers, kilns, and a smelter stack

The cabin was built as a guard station where rangers could stay while working in this country. The Forest Service dates it to the 1930s. Recreation.gov and Visit Montana give the year as 1930.

The cabin stands in the middle of an old mining district, and the mining days left their marks nearby. The historic Canyon Creek charcoal kilns stand one mile from the cabin, down Canyon Creek, by Visit Montana’s account. Farther on lies Glendale, an old smelter town, with two cemeteries nearby. Most of the land around Glendale is privately owned. What remains of the town is a few old buildings, the foundations of many more, and the red brick smelter stack.