U.S. Forest Service · Lolo National Forest · MT

Monture Guard Station Cabin

1Heads up1 fire 44 mi away
Wildfire
Doney Lane fire · 44 mi away · updated Oct 15, 2026
ReservableOut of season; bookable December 1 through April 14.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
4,180 ftElevation
863 ftWater · Monture Creek
11.7 miSE of Seeley Lake, MT
18%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 133rd darkest of 501 in MT

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices

In the agency’s own words

Monture Guard Station sits in the Lolo National Forest in western Montana, offering a variety of excellent winter recreation for visitors. Keep reading

Recreation

Monture Guard Station offers modern amenities and furnishings just like home, but it also provides access to a variety of outdoor winter recreation opportunities that can only be enjoyed in a National Forest. A system of groomed trails surrounds the cabin and the nearby Seeley Lake, leaving lots of land for exploration. The area also offers plentiful opportunities for cross country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

Facilities

The two-story cabin is fully furnished and can accommodate up to eight people. Beds with mattresses are available on the second floor, while the first floor contains the kitchen, dining room and living room areas. A vault toilet outhouse is located approximately 75 yards northeast of the cabin. The kitchen is equipped with a propane stove and oven, a small microwave, refrigerator and a variety of cooking and eating dishes and utensils, as well as pots and pans. There is a large table and ten chairs, as well as couches and other seating. The living space has electricity, rugs and wood floors throughout. Heat is provided by a propane heater. Propane fuel is provided. Guests should bring their own bedding, towels, food, water, garbage bags, toilet paper and other necessities. Cleaning supplies and equipment are provided and guests will need to clean the cabin prior to leaving. There are no trash services, please pack out all garbage at departure. The cabin is only available in the winter and guests will need to hike, snowmobile or ski about a mile to the cabin. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities.

Natural Features

The cabin is located about 8 miles north of the town of Ovando at an elevation of 4,200 feet. The surrounding forest contains a wide variety of trees, plants and wildlife. The area is home to mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, deer and grizzly and black bears. Both the bald and golden eagle reside in the forest, along with trumpeter swan, herons and dozens of varieties of ducks.

Nearby Attractions

The nearest gas and groceries is available about 10 miles from the cabin.

What the agency tells you

Rule

This facility is located in a remote area; before making a reservation, become aware of bear , water and weather safety.

Rule

You must walk, snowshoe, ski or snowmobile approximately 1 mile to access the cabin.

Rule

Snowmobiles are the only motorized vehicles allowed up to the cabin during the rental period. It is about one mile from the designated parking area to the cabin.

Everything else this campground posts · 4
Rule

Pets are allowed at the cabin; owners must clean up after their pets.

Rule

Renters must clean the facility before departing. Pack out all food and garbage.

Rule

Learn more about the Lolo National Forest

Rule

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.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 cabin
Hookups
1 electric
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
Drinking water
Yes
WATER SPIGOT on 1 of 1 campsite records
Stay limit
16 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Around the campground

On the water
Lake
Cross Country Skiing
Hiking
Historic site
Snowmobile
Wildlife viewing
Winter sports
Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
Yes
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own per-site records, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise. · Sep 8, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowFrom December 1Out of season now. Bookable for December 1, 2026 through April 14, 2027.recreation.gov
Max stay16 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$75From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

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’ll write once, when the season that starts Tue, Dec 1 2026 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$75
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$75
These are next season’s rates, Dec 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026. The campground is between seasons now.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Cabin or shelter1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsUp to

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.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate47.12778, -113.15167
The phone406-677-2233
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Clearwater Junction (Highway 83 and Highway 200), travel East on Highway 200 for about 13 miles. Turn North (left) onto Forest Service Road 89/Monture Road (Across the highway from the turnoff to Ovando). Continue for 8 miles. Park in the plowed parking area on the West (left) side of the road. To get to Monture Cabin from the parking area, cross the bridge across Monture Creek and stay right for approximately one mile. The winter entrance to the cabin is on the rear (east side) of the cabin. Maps are available online or for purchase by calling the Seeley Lake Ranger District.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Overnight32°Widespread Frost
Saturday65°Widespread Frost then Sunny
Saturday Night32°Mostly Clear then Patchy Fog1% rain
Sunday59°Mostly Sunny

NWS forecast for Ovando, MT

Typical weather

Typical October night 24°F, day 54°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 8°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°0°

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.

Measured at: OVANDO 9 SSE, MT (USC00246304), 18 miles away and 145 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

watch
Roadless
Bear - Marshall - Scapegoat - Swan118,485 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Oct 4, 2026

Who answers for this land

Ryan Zinke, official portrait

Monture Guard Station 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate: the number below is the only way to be sure.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own per-site records, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise. · Sep 8, 2026

“the agency's own site records list "CELL PHONE SERVICE" on 1 of 1 campsites here”

Nearest place of any size: Ovando, MT, 6 mi N (a census designated place). Straight line.