East Fork Cabin
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 19 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 28 of the next 30 nights read 16:31 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
East Fork Cabin offers visitors a unique chance to camp in the Bitterroot National Forest of southwestern Montana. The cabin takes visitors back to a rustic, old-time setting and provides access to a variety of recreational opportunities on public lands. The site is available year-round and offers additional camping areas to accommodate large groups. An adjacent picnic area and pavillion provides a convenient location for everyone to gather. The cabin can be accessed by vehicle, however during winter months (October through April), alternative resources may be required to reach the cabin. The road is plowed up to three-quarters of a mile from the cabin. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing is popular in the nearby river. A variety of trout, including brown, rainbow, cutthroat and brook, can be found in the area between Sula and Conner. Winter fishing for whitefish is popular and productive, as the river is closed to trout fishing during the colder months. The catch along the East Fork is fairly evenly divided between bait, spin and fly fishermen. The surrounding hills and valleys are popular for hiking, backpacking and horseback riding in the summer and fall. Cross country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling can be enjoyed in the area during the winter ( learn more about avalanche safety ). Winter sports enthusiasts can enjoy more than 50 miles of groomed trails, along with a number of unmarked trails that are open for recreation.
Facilities
EAST FORK GUARD STATION CABIN is a rustic, historic cabin located on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River. It is a small one room cabin and can accommodate up to eight people. It is equipped with two bunk beds and mattress pads, a table and chairs/benches, a counter with cupboards, and a propane range with oven. Propane is provided. There are electric lights and one outlet inside the cabin. There is a wood stove for heat, firewood is provided but you may need to split your own logs. Please fill wood box inside before you leave . Pots, pans, plates, and utensils are provided. You will need to provide your own bedding and towels . Drinking water is available at the pump house. A vault toilet is located adjacent to the cabin and toilet paper is provided. A picnic table is available near the cabin for outdoor eating and activites. A group use fire pit with benches is located between the cabin and the East Fork River. Please supply your own firewood for outside fire pit use . Wood provided in the woodshed is for heating the cabin indoors. There is a corral/pasture area for stock use, but you should check the fence line prior to turn them loose. Hay must be certified weed free. There is a large, log pavillion available for group use with many picnic tables, a fire place, and pedestal BBQ grills for cooking. Please only use charcoal in pedestal cooking grills. An electrical outlet is available on a power pole near the pavillion for your use. Even though there is a limit of eight people at the cabin, RV and tent camping is allowed in designated areas at the cabin. The site has a 35 person limit. Guests will need to bring their own bedding, towels, soap and garbage bags . Guests are asked to replenish the supply of cut wood, as well as clean the cabin prior to their departure. Basic cleaning supplies are provided.
Natural Features
The rustic cabin was built before 1914 and was restored in 1987. It was originally a guard station, used by fire watchers in the forest. It is situated on the East Fork of Bitterroot River, at an elevation of about 5,200 feet. The river flows west from within the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness, to just south of Conner, Montana, where it joins the West Fork of the Bitterroot River to form the Bitterroot River. During the spring the river becomes a dangerous combination of fast water and snags. The Anacondas are home to abundant wildlife, including mountain lions, elk, deer, moose and bears ( learn about outdoor safety ).
Nearby Attractions
East Fork Trailhead McCart Lookout Lost Trail Ski Area Cheif Joeseph cross-country ski area Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness
What the agency tells you
All garbage and food must be packed out. Please bring garbage bags.
Hay for stock must be certified weed free.
Do not park vehicles or travel off of main roaded area.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
Firewood is for use in woodstove only.
Some cleaning supplies are provided but you should plan to bring your own in case they are not available during your stay. Please help keep the cabin clean.
This facility is located in a remote area; before making a reservation, become aware of bear, water and weather safety
Check out the forest's campground description for specific information to Fish Your National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Learn more about the Bitterroot National Forest
In the winter months (Oct - April), guests may have to park at the gates and walk approximately 600 ft. to the cabin as the road may not be plowed. Guests may want to bring sleds to transfer gear from the vehicle to the cabin.
Check in time is 2:00 PM; Check out time is 12:00 PM
The cabin remains locked; contact the Darby-Sula Ranger District 1 week in advance of your reservation at 406-821-3913 during office hours (Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) to obtain a key code, road and trail conditions, and weather report.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Winter sports
- Night sky · 144th darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 2
Full this Saturdayread 16:31 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBookedClosed
The one site on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday, and on four midweek nights after it as well. read 16:31 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:31 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA EAST FORK CABIN | 001 | cabin electric | 45 ft | 247 ft | $50 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Martin Creek CampgroundBitterroot National Forest · 0.7 mi
McCart LookoutBitterroot National Forest · 2.7 mi
Jennings Camp CampgroundBitterroot National Forest · 4.9 mi
Mussigbrod CampgroundBeaverhead National Forest · 11 miCopper Creek CampgroundDeerlodge National Forest · 13 mi
Moose Lake CabinDeerlodge National Forest · 14 miFrom Sula, travel northwest on Highway 93 for less than a mile. Turn northeast (right) onto East Fork Road/County Road 472 and continue about 16 miles to the cabin. Maps may be purchased by calling the Darby-Sula Ranger District at 406-821-3913.
In the winter months (October through April), you may have to park at the gates and walk approximately 600ft. to the cabin. The road is usually plowed to the cabin but there are times it is not. You may want to bring a small plastic sled to transfer gear from the vehicle to the cabin just in case. In the summer months you may drive right to the cabins main parking areas.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 26°F, day 54°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 10°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
East Fork Cabin is in Montana’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Ryan Zinke (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyRyan K. ZinkeU.S. Representative · Montana’s 1st district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationSteve DainesU.S. Senator · Montana
- Your senator, on the same appropriationTim SheehyU.S. Senator · Montana
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at East Fork Cabin, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana
Dear Ryan K. Zinke, I’m a constituent in Montana’s 1st district. I tried to camp at East Fork Cabin, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at East Fork Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. East Fork Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run East Fork Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about East Fork Cabin (Bitterroot National Forest, Montana) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at East Fork Cabin, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana
Dear Steve Daines, I’m a constituent in Montana. I tried to camp at East Fork Cabin, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at East Fork Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. East Fork Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run East Fork Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about East Fork Cabin (Bitterroot National Forest, Montana) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at East Fork Cabin, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana
Dear Tim Sheehy, I’m a constituent in Montana. I tried to camp at East Fork Cabin, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at East Fork Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. East Fork Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run East Fork Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about East Fork Cabin (Bitterroot National Forest, Montana) via campanac.com