Description

The original Porcupine Guard Station was built at an unspecified date and burned down on March 5, 1914. The present cabin was built that same year, constructed of piled logs. Wallboard was added in the winter of 1916, and in 1934, the Civilian Conservation Core (CCC) remodeled the station at a cost of $827.45. Apparently, this remodeling included converting the structure from one-story to two and re-shingling the roof. The barn near the station was constructed about 3 years later.

Forest Service cabins were built to house rangers, their families and crews The cabin rental program offers a unique experience similar to that of the early forest rangers.

Like the District Rangers of old, when leaving the site, you leave it clean That includes packing out garbage, stocking up kindling and firewood, and leaving the area around the cabin better than the way you found it.

The Porcupine Cabin is a 26 x 44 foot frame house with three rooms and a front porch. It sleeps eight people. It includes a table and chairs and a wood burning stove for heating. Bringing along a Coleman cook stove is advised.

The barn, which is near the cabin, is used for storage by the Forest Service and is locked. The cabin rests at the foothills of the Crazy Mountains on a hillside overlooking the Shields Valley. This provides a majestic view of the Bridger Mountains and spectacular star gazing on a clear night. The area surrounding the cabin is fairly isolated, but one can expect some passing traffic from recreational users accessing the trailhead near the cabin.

There is an outhouse toilet behind the cabin.

There are a few trails leading off from the cabin, which, although they are not as well maintained as others in the district, can still offer some enjoyable hiking opportunities. Trail #265, the South Fork Shields Trail, leads northeast from the trailhead, over Bald Ridgeand through rangeland. This nine mile hike ends farther back in the mountains. It is in fair condition but indistinct at the beginning.

The trail leading south from the trailhead goes through private land to connect with Trail #195, the North Fork Elk Creek Trail. This trail leads southeast into the mountains to Campfire Lake.

Please remember to call the Livingston Ranger District at (406)222-1892 (Monday thru Friday - 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) within 7 days prior to your rental date to obtain the cabin combination. No tent camping, camp trailers, or RV's allowed. No liquid fueled (white gas) stoves or lanterns in cabin or on cabin porch. Check-in time is at 2:00pm the day of your reservation. Check-out time is by 12:00pm the day after your last reserved date.

No bedding is provided. Remember to bring food, drinking water, flashlights, propane fuel for lantern, toilet paper, soap, matches, newspaper to start fire, and other misc. camping gear. Combinations are changed at unscheduled intervals. It is the cabin renter's responsibility to call (406)222-1892 for the current combination 7 days prior to reservation date. Combination lock is on the back door of cabin.