Fourmile Cabin

The Forest Service sign at the turnoff reads Fourmile Ranger Station. Behind it stands a two-room cabin on the west side of Main Boulder Road, Forest Road 6639, across from the Fourmile Trailhead parking area. It sits at 6,186 feet in an open, grassy stretch of the Boulder River canyon with mixed forest all around. Here the river cuts between The Needles, Carbonate Mountain and Hawley Mountain in the Absaroka Range. The Boulder runs just east of the cabin, and Fourmile Creek runs just south.

Two rooms on the Main Boulder

The cabin has power. There is an electric stove, lights, and a refrigerator, with a wood-burning stove for heat. Four people sleep on twin beds with mattresses. The rest of the outfit is a table and chairs, basic cookware and utensils, some cleaning supplies, an axe, a maul, a bucket, and a shovel. Outside are a campfire ring and a vault toilet. There is no drinking water. Guests bring their own or treat what they draw from the river against Giardia. There is no cell phone coverage. The gate, the cabin, and the woodshed are each held by a combination lock.

The woodshed is stocked in winter for as long as the supply lasts. From June 1 through September 30 there is none, and guests bring wood or gather it from the forest. The Forest Service asks that the provided wood never go on an outdoor fire, since it is extremely difficult to replace. Riders keep their stock at the adjacent trailhead. Grazing is not allowed in either of the cabin’s two administrative pastures, and hay must be certified weed-free.

Trails, trout, and the winter road

The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness lies on both sides of the road and begins right behind the cabin. Hiking and horse trails leave from beside it and head west into the Absaroka Mountains. Anglers fish Fourmile Creek and the Boulder for Yellowstone cutthroat and rainbow trout. The canyon is habitat for bear, moose, antelope, elk, deer, and many birds. Hunting is the fall pursuit, though no gun or other weapon may be fired within 150 yards of the cabin.

The cabin is open year-round, but the road decides how a guest arrives. From Big Timber, Highway 298 runs 25 miles south to the national forest boundary, where the pavement gives way to county-maintained gravel for another 17 miles. In the warm months a four-wheel-drive vehicle can make it to the door. Late-season ice may leave guests to snowshoe, hike, or snowmobile up to 3.5 miles. In winter the last stretch can run to 11 miles by snowmobile, ski, or snowshoe, and the winter country is good for both skis and snowshoes.

New footings for a historic cabin

On June 23, 2026, the Forest Service put out for bid foundation and masonry repairs to two historic cabins in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, the Ibex Cabin north of Livingston and the Fourmile Cabin. The work was funded under the Great American Outdoors Act. It covered damaged and failing foundations, foundation facades, and entrance stairs, all to national standards for repairs on historic properties. A revised schedule of July 14 set Fourmile’s share at 55 linear feet of foundation and masonry repair, with a separate item for its steps. Answers to contractors’ questions fixed the new footer at a minimum of 6 inches thick and at least 4 inches above the existing grade. Compacted drain rock goes beneath it to guard against the frost.