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The Old Condon Ranger Station is a two-story 1920s Forest Service cabin in Montana's Swan Valley, just west of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. It sleeps eight, comes with a full kitchen and indoor bathroom, and sits on a sweeping property with mountain views. At $85 a night, it's one of the best-value cabin rentals in the state.

Everything you need to plan a Bozeman hiking trip, from a quick trailhead reality check to a complete breakdown of all 28 trail guides on the site organized by region and difficulty.

The snowcoach tours are booking their final departures, but the road from Mammoth to Cooke City is open to your own car and hitting peak wildlife conditions right now. The 2026 snow drought means bare pavement and animals packed into the valley bottoms where you can actually see them. This window closes fast.

Most trail guides don't distinguish between 'easy' and 'truly accessible.' This guide covers only confirmed, sourced information about accessible trails in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest, plus honest notes on what to expect from each one.

Every wildlife search near Big Sky returns guided safari tours at $150-$250/person. The Gallatin Canyon corridor is one of the most wildlife-dense areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and it's all free to access. This is the guide the tour operators don't want you to have.

Big Sky is the #1 trending travel destination in the world for 2026, and resort lodging prices reflect it. But the Custer-Gallatin National Forest surrounds Big Sky on all sides, and all of that land is free to camp on. Here's where to go and what you need to know...

The Crazy Mountains are one of Montana's most beautiful and least-visited ranges, but figuring out how to actually get into them is another story. Between checkerboard land ownership, private property gates, and trails that don't always go where your map says they do, the Crazies require more homework than most ranges. Here's everything you need to know.

It's February and the Gallatin Valley looks more like April. Lower and mid-elevation snowpack is sitting at 40-60% of normal, which means trails that are usually buried under three feet of snow are already drying out. If you've been waiting for hiking season, it just started early.

Hyalite Canyon is the most concentrated natural ice climbing venue in North America, and it's 30 minutes from downtown Bozeman. You don't need to own a single piece of gear or know how to tie a knot. You just need a guide, real wool socks, and the good sense to tell someone where you're going.

Lewis & Clark Caverns is Montana's first state park and home to one of the largest limestone caves in the Northwest. The formations inside are more dramatic than you'd expect, but the real challenge is the hike to get there. Book your tour tickets online or risk getting turned away.

There's a rare convergence happening at Big Sky this winter. A three-Michelin-star chef's final tour stop. A brand-new glass observation deck on Lone Peak. Yellowstone snowcoach tours an hour away. If you've ever considered visiting Big Sky as a non-skier, this is the season to do it...

Big Sky Resort has 5,850 acres of skiable terrain and some of the best hiking in Montana, but the prices can feel like a second mortgage. Here's how to experience Big Sky without draining your savings account...

If you ask a Bozemanite where to go for just about any outdoor activity, there's a good chance they'll say Hyalite. Hiking, camping, fishing, boating, ice climbing, backcountry skiing, mountain biking. It's all here, 12 miles from downtown...

Huckleberry hunting is one of our favorite family activities in Montana. Most people guard their secret spots, but we like sharing the knowledge so more families can have fun and be successful. Here's everything you need to know to find Montana's purple gold this summer.

Polebridge has 14 year-round residents, no electricity, no cell service, and the best bakery in Montana. The last 25 miles are gravel. The huckleberry bear claws are worth every pothole.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road is a 50-mile stretch of pavement that will blow your mind. It connects West Glacier to St. Mary, crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (6,646 feet). This is one of the most incredible drives in America, and it lives up to every bit of the hype. The road took 11 years to build, opening in 1933. Engineers carved it directly into the mountainside, threading through tunnels...

Sleeping on the ground in a tent is less than ideal. When you don't sleep well, the night can be the most dreaded time of your backpacking trips. 8 hours of rolling around to get comfortable can be torture! All of the different styles of sleeping pads offer their own advantages and disadvantages. By buying a different style of pad a backpacker can customize their sleep to their cushion, pack size and weight preferences...

The Garnet Mountain Fire Lookout Cabin is a popular Forest Service rental just southwest of Bozeman in the Gallatin canyon. Perched atop Garnet Mountain, the cabin sleeps 4 people and offers 360° views of the surrounding peaks. It is accessible via a 4 mile hike or ATV via the Rat Lake Trail. Staying at this cabin is all about the views. You can see down the Gallatin Canyon, across to Storm...

Getting your ever-growing piles of camping and outdoor gear organized can feel intimidating, but doing so will eliminate hours of prep time and result in more outdoor adventures. Here are a few tips and ideas to get you started. This step might take some digging, but try to gather all of the camping and outdoor gear you own and put it in one spot. Once you have located everything you can sort...

Mystic Lake Cabin is a popular Forest Service rental just southeast of Bozeman. Nestled above a 13 acre lake, this is a great stop along a backpacking trip or just a place to hang out and fish, hike and take in the sights. It's accessible year round via hike, ski or snowshoe. The Mystic Lake Cabin is a primitive one-room structure that sleeps four. There's also a table with four chairs and...

Do not spray clothing, tents, backpacks or any other objects in an effort to deter bears from you or your campsite. In fact, if the can is sprayed the oily, resin-like substance that is released may actually attract bears in the same way food might. Bears look big and slow, but they can run about 50 ft/sec (more than twice as fast as we can run). This means that you may only have a few seconds...

Thompson Lake is a small body of water below the towering 11,000 ft Gallatin Peak. It's located Southwest of Bozeman in the Spanish Peaks Unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area. It's tough to reach just for a day hike, but there's plenty of room to camp if you need to. Head Southwest down the Hellroaring Creek Trail, off of US 191 just north of the Lava Lake Trail. Hike for a little over 11...

Forest Service Cabins are reservable cabins located throughout our national forests. They're often affordably priced and range from backcountry shelters with few amenities to full fledged houses with electricity and toilets. There are two ways to find more info on these cabins. It can be tough to find all the info you're looking for, but it's there. The first method: Recreation.gov. Head on...

Hello and welcome to Montana Trail Briefs! Trail Briefs is a site dedicated to providing important trail facts that are necessary for safe and enjoyable hiking in and around Montana. Our first hand hiking experiences are photographed, documented and presented in a quick and easily digestible format. We answer vital questions that you won't find in your expensive guidebooks, like, "is there enough shade and water to bring our dog?"...