Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/759669
D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 52 It is also an opportunity to live history, as each cabin breathes a story from the past. ere are 24 cabins available for rent in the Custer Gallatin National Forest alone, with the majority built in the 1920s or 1930s for use as aid stations or fire lookouts by Forest Rangers on patrol. Picking a cabin — especially when you haven't been to the area — can be quite a feat. You just never know until you are there. But I've found the uncertainty is part of the whole adventure. Below is a selection of five cabins in the Gallatin Custer National Forest, identified by characteristics important to a wintertime stay. BATTLE RIDGE CABIN Last year Carrie Shockley and her family started what is becoming a much-anticipated Christmas tradition, centered around the Bozeman district Battle Ridge Cabin. Grandparents, parents, and kids ventured to the cabin for an overnight stay in the Bridgers. e kids made the most of the fresh snow by sledding on a nearby hill and everyone checking out the surrounding forest. And before leaving, with permits in hand, they picked the perfect Christmas trees to take home. e cabin rests in a meadow, not far from Bridger Bowl, settled below Ross and Sacagawea peaks. It has two sets of bunkbeds and one cot, as well as a wood cook stove. Battle Ridge Cabin is north of Bozeman on Highway 86. Winter parking is allowed at the Battle Ridge Trailhead and visitors may ski, snowshoe, or snowmobile roughly half-a-mile to the cabin. MAXEY CABIN In 1912, the then-owner of the Bozeman Chronicle and Great Falls Tribune, William M. Bole, built a recreational cabin in the Hyalite drainage on land Bole purchased from the Northern Pacific Railroad. e little spot overlooked the headwaters of Hyalite Creek, at a time well before construction of the reservoir. Today, Bole's cabin is available for rent as a USFS cabin named after his descendant, Emma Bole Maxey. COURTESY OF USFS/CUSTER GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST COURTESY OF USFS/CUSTER GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST Battle Ridge Cabin Maxey Cabin