Distinctly Montana Magazine

18 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 - 2 5 M Y MOM HAS ALWAYS LOVED LAKESHORE CABINS AND CAMPGROUNDS. She remembers swimming and sailing on Ennis Lake with her mother and father, my grandparents. Staying at the Lakeshore Cabins and Camp- ground is the closest thing to being able to go back with her parents, now passed. Now she treasures the week she spends there with her husband, my stepfather, nearly every summer. When I told her that Lakeshore was being renovated, her re- action was at best bittersweet. She didn't want it to change too much, she said. She wanted it to feel still like the Montana she knew as a young person, and which she and so many other Mon- tanans worry is disappearing fast. So when my significant other and I booked the Lakeshore as a long weekend getaway for us and our kids, we were almost enacting a ritual. Spending time with family on Ennis Lake is a tradition. If the Lakeshore had become too trendy, or too styl- ish, catered too much to tourists, and lost the essential hominess that defined it for us—we would be crestfallen. What we found was that the Lakeshore Cabins and Camp- ground is, in every way, thoughtfully improved without any compromise to its essential nature. We arrived in the early afternoon and found the grounds tran- quil and inviting. A carpet of thick green grass made us want to kick off our shoes and sandals and scrunch our toes into the ver- dant mat (and we did). The lake, as pretty and shining as a sheet of glimmering quartz, can be seen almost anywhere you stand. Later, we looked up, and right there in a tree whose branches extend over the water's edge, we watched a golden eagle for several minutes as it spied fishes swimming under the surface of the lake. We all agreed it was a heck of a welcoming committee. First, we went to the office to check in and found a store that, in addition to any sundry necessities you might need, is also stocked with tempting treats. There was meat from the ranch next door. Over the course of our stay, we liked it so well that we by JOSEPH SHELTON PHOTOS BY LYNN DONALDSON / COURTESY OF LAKESHORE CABINS AND CAMPGROUND LAKESHORE CABINS AND CAMPGROUND

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