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

Silvertip Cabin

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 33 mi
Wildfire
Sinclair fire · 33 mi away · updated Oct 15, 2026
Wildfire
Route 8 fire · 47 mi away · updated Oct 15, 2026
ReservableOut of season, no booking; January 2 opens July 2.
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
4,380 ftElevation
556 ftWater · Spotted Bear River
32.9 miSE of Bigfork, MT
47%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 51st darkest of 501 in MT

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices

In the agency’s own words

The remote Silvertip Cabin serves as an ideal base for accessing various hiking and horseback riding trails to the Great Bear and Bob Marshall Wilderness areas. Located 70 miles south of the town of Hungry Horse, up to eight guests can enjoy the comforts of the cabin's mattress-covered beds and warm up by the wood stove following various wilderness adventures. The cabin is only available on weekends from early July until August, or sometimes the first weekend of September. Access requires up to a 4-mile hike or horseback ride to the cabin, depending on conditions and the time of year. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading

Recreation

From the cabin, several hiking and horseback riding trails lead into the two wilderness areas. Fishing, wildlife viewing and hunting are also popular activities.

Facilities

The log cabin can sleep up to eight people in six single beds and two cots. Amenities include a propane stove, propane lights, basic cooking utensils, a wood stove, a sink with running water, and an outdoor pit toilet. Equestrian campers are welcome to use the corral and hitching rail. There is a water valve above the stock tank to provide water for the horses. No tables or campfire rings are available outside the cabin. Drinking water is available at the cabin. The water system is not filtered but can be treated or boiled prior to consumption. There is a bag water filter for cabin use hanging next to the sink. Guests should bring water, food, bedding, towels, a first aid kit and all other basic camp gear. Click here for more cabin details. Guests must clean the cabin and carry out all trash before leaving. Dogs are allowed.

Natural Features

The cabin is situated in a stand of mixed conifer trees, at an elevation of 4,400 feet. It lies a short walk from the Spotted River, on a stretch of Flathead National Forest land wedged between Great Bear Wilderness to the north and Bob Marshall Wilderness to the west. Peaks in the region include Sergeant Mountain and Whitcomb Peak.

Nearby Attractions

Silvertip is a long distance from any modern conveniences. Guests should expect to drive over two hours for gas and groceries.

What the agency tells you

Rule

The cabin remains locked; a combination lock code will be contained in the reservation confirmation letter

Rule

Contact Spotted Bear Ranger District at (406) 758-5376, for additional information

Rule

Please bring garbage bags; this is a 'pack-it-in, pack-it-out' facility

Everything else this campground posts · 5
Rule

Grizzly bears frequent the area; store food, beverages, coolers and garbage inside the cabin

Rule

Hay must be certified weed-free; grain or pellets must be stored in the bear-proof container available in the barn

Rule

Guests must clean cabin prior to departure; a fee will be charged if extra clean-up is needed

Rule

Click here for more information on the Flathead 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
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Pit Toilets
“…sink with running water, and an outdoor pit toilet. Equestrian campers are welcome to use the corral…”

Around the campground

On the water
River
Fishing
Hiking
Wildlife viewing
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 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 windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On January 2, 2027 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through July 2, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Sites, a night, from$50From 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 Fri, Jul 2 2027 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 · 14

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$50
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$50
These are next season’s rates, Jul 2, 2027 to Sep 6, 2027. The campground is between seasons now.
Rental fee is $50 per night.
Refunds will not be given due to inclement weather, road conditions, or too much or little snow, etc.
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.

SILVERTIP CABINSilvertip Cabincabin nonelectric600 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
Coordinate47.92546, -113.28617
The phone406-758-5376
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Hungry Horse, drive east on Highway 2 to Martin City, then south on Forest Road 38. Drive about 55 miles on a winding, gravel road, along Hungry Horse Reservoir. At the junction with Diamond R Guest Ranch, turn east on Forest Road 568 and travel approximately 15 miles. Park at the trailhead and hike or ride on Trail No. 228 for about a third of a mile, to the Spotted Bear River Trail 83. Go past trails 43 and 89. Silvertip Cabin is just south of the Trail 89 intersection.

If traveling in July or August, the trail requires a 1.5-mile hike to the cabin. If traveling in June or September, a gate will prohibit access on Forest Road 568 and the trek to the cabin may be up to 4 miles.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today55°Sunny2% rain
Tonight33°Partly Cloudy4% rain
Sunday49°Sunny
Sunday Night34°Partly Cloudy

NWS forecast for Swan Lake, MT

Typical weather

Typical October night 29°F, day 54°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical February night 12°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: GIBSON DAM, MT (USC00243489), 33 miles away and 210 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

developing
Flathead National Forestlogging, drilling

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

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Oct 9, 2026

Who answers for this land

Ryan Zinke, official portrait

Silvertip 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 campground description, 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.
Nearest place of any size: Swan Lake, MT, 21.3 mi E (a census designated place). Straight line.