Cabin camping in the winter is an experience! An experience that everyone should have. In the Rockies, there are quite a few forest service cabins you can rent out. 

What is cabin camping?

Well, it’s when you go stay in a forest service cabin somewhere in the woods and/or mountains. It’s amazing! 

Patrick and I just did this, and it was magical.

How to reserve your cabin in Montana.

You have to go to the official Forest Service website (Click Here), pick the cabin in the area that you want to stay in, and reserve. The price in the Gallatin is usually $30/night but that price may vary. In British Columbia, Canada, it was free and on a first come first serve basis. Same in Ketchikan, Alaska in the Tongas National Rain Forest.

Once you have your reservation, you need to plan your trip!

The cabin we went to required a 4 mile hike up a 8,245 foot mountain. It is an old fire look out in the Gallatin Canyon and has windows on all four sides! Some cabins are directly accessible by car or some other motorized vehicle and require no hiking.

We started our hike a bit late, around 3:30 pm. Our group of four met at the local hot springs and then caravan-ed to the trail head. At the trail head, we geared up all our packs and warm clothes and started on our way.

The trail was fairly packed down, so all we really needed were our snow boots. Although, we all carried snow shoes with us.

Everyone in our hiking group, except Patrick, is competitive trail racers. We figured we could do the whole thing in just two hours. Which is feasible for hiking four miles BUT we forgot to factor in snow, cold, and pack weight. So it took us almost four hours!

Half way up, the sun went down and the snow started to fall!

We were getting tired, cold and hungry! The hose of my camel back had frozen solid and for some reason, my pack was hurting my back! I say for some reason because me and this pack have been all over the world and mountains together, and it has never hurt my back. Maybe it was as anxious as I was to go cabin camping for the first time in the winter?

The final 100 yards were the toughest ones because it was way longer than 100 yards. The sign misinformed us of the distance. It was a mean trick.

Finally, FINALLY, we got to the look out cabin at the very tippy top of the mountain. We got a fire in the stove started and took off all our wet gear and changed into dry clothes. All of us excited to do some cabin camping.

After we had warmed up, we started on dinner. Patrick and I brought a pre-made Quesadilla, sausages, and sauteed veggies. Why was it all pre-made? Because then all we had to do was reheat! Which takes way less time than cooking. Just wrap it up in a foil and you can use the foil as a cooking surface.

The night was spent in the toasty cabin, surrounded by friends and snow fall, on top of a mountain, playing Monopoly Deal and Phase 10.

The morning was beautiful. The clouds had cleared up and the sun shined as it only does in Big Sky Country. We stoked the fire, heated up our delicious breakfast of pre-made breakfast sandwiches wrapped in foil, and enjoyed each others company. I wrote in my journal, and Patrick read his book.

After eating the rest of our food, taking a few pictures and appreciating the general splendor of the entire canyon and mountain range, Patrick and I packed up our gear and started the trek, with our snow shoes on, back down the mountain.

One of my favorite things about hiking something you’d previously done in the dark is seeing it in the light. Everything was so different and so beautiful! Nothing beats freshly fallen snow catching in the sun light.

On our drive out, we found our Christmas tree in the woods, cut it down and took it home to set up in our home.

It was the perfect way to kick off the Christmas Season as a 6 month old family!

That night, we went to the Bozeman Christmas Stroll, bought an ornament and a tree stand, and went home and decorated our beautiful tree.

Long story short, cabin camping is a lot of fun and a great way to spend time in the winter months!

What are your favorite, unconventional activities for the winter months? Please share them in the comments!

Happy travels! And remember to Leave No Trace!

Click on the LEAVE NO TRACE above to read more about that 🙂