Ibex Cabin

A meadow under Ibex Mountain

Ibex Cabin stands at the edge of a meadow in the foothills of the Crazy Mountains, at an elevation of 6,600 feet. A stand of lodgepole pine grows behind it. From the front the view runs to Ibex Mountain, a peak of 7,354 feet. The Forest Service reports wildflowers in the meadow in summer. Mule deer, porcupine, and elk may turn up around the cabin. Its list of birds for the area includes bald eagles, owls, jays, western meadowlarks, and mountain bluebirds.

The door is kept locked. The combination comes in the renter’s confirmation letter, and the lock opens when the numbers are lined up and the handle and base squeezed together. Inside are bunk beds with mattresses for four, a wood stove for heat, a propane lantern and a propane cookstove, a table and chairs. The tools of the place are kept on hand: axe, splitting maul, bucket, broom, mop, and shovel. An outhouse with a vault toilet stands outside, near a campfire ring.

There is no electricity and no water. Guests bring their own water, propane canisters, bedding, matches, newspaper, dishes, and toilet paper. Water taken from nearby natural sources is to be treated against Giardia. White-gas stoves and lanterns are not allowed in the cabin or on the porch. From June 1 through September 30 no firewood is supplied, and visitors bring their own or gather it in the forest. In winter the cabin is stocked with wood as long as supplies last, and the posted notice is plain about it: “DO NOT BURN PROVIDED FIREWOOD FOR OUTDOOR FIRES, EVER, AS IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO REPLACE.”

Hikers, riders, and snowmobilers use the trails nearby. The Forest Service names Tresspass Trail and Cottonwood Lake Trail. Both may cross private land, and travelers must stay on the trail. There are no facilities for horses. Riders bring electric fencing to pasture their stock in the meadow, outside the cabin fence, and any hay must be certified weed-free. Big game hunting is popular in the area, though no gun may be fired within 150 yards of the cabin.

Up Cottonwood Creek

The way in begins at Livingston and runs north on U.S. Highway 89 to just past Clyde Park. Cottonwood Bench Road turns off to the right and runs 3 miles to Cottonwood Road. From there it is about 7 miles to the fork of Upper and Lower Cottonwood roads. Upper Cottonwood Creek Road bears left and continues about 4.5 miles to Ibex Road, and signs mark the last 2.5 miles to the cabin. The roads are rough. High-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles are strongly recommended, and the last stretch can turn to mud in rain. Cars can reach the cabin from June until the snow flies. It is closed in April and May for road and wildlife protection. Cell coverage is limited or absent.

In winter, cars stop about 9 miles from the highway. Drivers park either along the county road or in a private lot at Briggs Lane and Upper Cottonwood Creek Road, which the Big Sky Snow Riders keep as Forest Service partners. The remaining 5.5 miles are made on skis, snowshoes, or snowmobiles. The Cottonwood country can be extremely windblown. Roads drift shut quickly and may go unplowed for 24 to 48 hours. Winter guests are advised to carry topographic maps and compasses, since the route can be hard to find and the signs may be down from weather or vandalism.

Ibex Guard Station, 1939

The cabin was built in 1939 as a shelter for rangers working in the Shields Ranger District of the Gallatin National Forest. The reservation record still carries the name Ibex Guard Station. It is now managed from the Livingston office of the Yellowstone Ranger District, in what the Forest Service calls the Custer Gallatin National Forest.

Ben Pierce, writing in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about the cabins of the Shields Valley, says rangers would have patrolled the forest between Porcupine Cabin and Ibex Cabin, perhaps riding to Wilsall and Clyde Park for supplies. He describes a ranger of the 1930s on horseback, watching for smoke, monitoring livestock, and making sure timber was not being poached. Across the valley, below the Bridger Ridge, a crew from the Emergency Relief Administration completed the Battle Ridge Cabin in the same year Ibex was built.

The ranger cabins later passed to the public. “In the 1980s, the Gallatin National Forest was among the first forests in the U.S. to outfit its cabins for use by the public,” Jane Ruchman of the Gallatin National Forest told the Chronicle. Renters, Pierce wrote, follow “rules of occupancy” much like those of Forest Service field crews in the 1920s: sweep and mop the floors, fill the wood box, pack out all trash. At Ibex the rule still holds, and the cabin must be cleaned before the last guest leaves. “It is money that the renters pay that helps us maintain these historic structures,” Ruchman said.

On April 27, 2026, the Custer Gallatin National Forest awarded a $69,800 contract for roof replacement on Battle Ridge Cabin and Ibex Cabin. The contractor is listed as Sean Smyth of Missoula. The notice records the award; it does not say the work is done.