Eldridge Guard Station
West Yellowstone, Gallatin County, Montana. Primitive, rustic, log structure; open year-round.
Details
- Where
- West Yellowstone, Gallatin County, MT. No street address stated. Directions
- When
- Open 24 hours/day.
- Getting there
- Summer Access: From West Yellowstone, Montana, proceed north on Highway 191 for approximately 33.5 miles. Turn left on Taylor Fork Road/Forest Service Road 134 and proceed for approximately 6.5 miles. The cabin will be on the left side of the road. Parking is in front of the cabin.
- Fees
- No fees are required for this site.
- Access
- The cabin can be accessed by vehicle in warmer weather, but snow conditions may require a two mile trek on skis, snowshoes, or by snowmobile.
- Walk-in or reserve
- the combination code to the cabin is included in the confirmation e-mail.
- Phone
- (406) 823-6961
- Website
- recreation.gov
- Managed by
- Custer Gallatin National Forest.
- Coordinates
- 45.0698993, -111.3122381.
Eldridge Guard Station stands at the edge of a meadow at 7,030 feet, between the Madison and Gallatin ranges, with Taylor Creek running across from the door. It is a log cabin, uninsulated and high-ceilinged, kept by the Hebgen Lake Ranger District of the Custer Gallatin National Forest and rented to the public through every season. No one is stationed there. Renters open the gate and door with a combination sent in their confirmation e-mail.
Inside are a wood stove for heat, a propane stove for cooking, a small propane refrigerator, two cots, two full-size futons with mattresses, a table and chairs, and a large stock pot for boiling water. An axe, a shovel, and a bucket complete the issue. The cabin sleeps six. There is no electricity and no drinking water; creek water, or snow in winter, can be filtered. An outhouse stands behind the cabin and a corral holds stock. From October 1 through May 31 split wood waits in the woodshed, with more in the tack shed a little farther off under the same lock. The Forest Service warns that the cabin “can be very cold in winter, even with the wood stove burning.” Candles are not allowed inside.
In summer the way is plain driving: about 33.5 miles north of West Yellowstone on Highway 191, then left onto Taylor Fork Road, Forest Service Road 134, for about 6.5 miles, to park in front of the cabin. That access opens in May, once the snow has melted out. In winter the drive stops at about 4 miles, at a small, privately plowed lot at the Albino Lake Trailhead, and the last 2 miles go on skis, on snowshoes, or by snowmobile along the buried road. Nearby snowmobile trails are groomed from about December 15 to March 31.
The surrounding trails carry hikers, mountain bikers, and narrow motorized vehicles in summer and skiers and snowmobilers in winter. Deer, elk, and moose use the country, and so do grizzly bears in high numbers. From September 1 to December 1 big-game hunters come into the area. From March 1 to December 1 every cooler, sack of stock feed, and tube of toothpaste goes inside the cabin, and ranger staff patrol the vicinity to see that it does.