Skiing into Garnet Ghost Town in Montana has long been on my list of “things I really want to do.” A friend of mine had done it a few years back, and, while I’ve visited the ghost town numerous times during the spring and summer, I had never experienced it during the winter. Cross country skiing into the little ghost town, nestled in its very own tiny valley, sounded like the perfect way to enjoy a little slice of Montana winter.
When initially researching how to make this happen, we came across various pieces of information, but none of them was super definitive, and most of what we were able to find out was pieced together from multiple sources. (Our sources included the Garnet Ghost Town website, calls to the Bureau of Land Management [otherwise known as the BLM], other blog posts, beta from friends who’d done it in the past, sleuthing around on Google Maps, etc., etc.). So, after all of that, we decided we’d document our mini winter adventure to the ghost town via a blog post that will (hopefully) help someone else out in the future!
Choosing the Route to Garnet Ghost Town
After a lot of initial hemming and hawing over which way to approach the ghost town, we opted for the Highway 90 route, instead of the Highway 200 option. The Highway 200 option has folks ski for 10 miles on Garnet Range Road over a gradual ascent of about 2500 feet elevation. From what we were able to tell, that route is generally groomed.
Garnet Ghost Town via Garnet Range Road with access from Highway 200.
However, this didn’t exactly appeal to us for a couple reasons. 1) Neither of us wanted to spend the time skiing for 10 miles with heavy packs on our backs. 2) Based on beta we were able to glean from our multiple sources, it sounded like the Highway 90 option would afford us better views of the surrounding valley and would be shorter, albeit with a greater elevation gain in a shorter distance.
Per our searches, the Highway 90 option (which has a trail starting out from Beartown) has you follow Cave Gulch Road. (Don’t be confused by Google Map’s default route choice which points you onto Bear Gulch Road. It’s shorter, but is a private road and isn’t accessible.) Cave Gulch Road is roughly 5.7 miles (per my RunKeeper tracker) and sports an elevation gain of about 2000 feet. It’s an ungroomed, steady, gradual climb for most of the route with a slight downhill right before hitting town.
Garnet Ghost Town via Cave Gulch Road with access from Highway 90.
This seemed like the ideal way to go for us because, even though we kept hearing “it’s steep and most people don’t go that route,” we figured anything is doable at 5 miles, and we’d give ourselves time to take it slow and have fun on the way up. Plus, the better views were more appealing.
Cave Gulch Road Route to Garnet Ghost Town
While I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of the 10 mile route we didn’t take (other than driving it in the spring and summer), I’m super glad we opted for the Cave Gulch Road approach! We started skiing at about 1 pm, and even though we spent a lot of time goofing around and taking things fairly slowly, we still got into the ghost town in good time and arrived at about 5 pm.
The route was not groomed, though snowmobiles had made a pass or two on it likely several days prior to our outing. This resulted in a base that was a little packed, which made skiing the ungroomed snow easier than it would have been had there been no packed base.
This winter has been unseasonably warm, and so the south-facing road and snow definitely were a little sun-baked by the time we hit it. We slogged uphill at times as the snow stuck to the bottoms of our classic skis. In retrospect, the ideal time to start out would have been a touch earlier in the day to minimize softening of the snow. However, in spite of that, it was still a lovely ski, and as we climbed higher and started hitting shadier areas, the snow became more powdery and easier to glide on.
Brandon adjusts the bindings on his skis to give him more leverage on the ascent.
What would a trip be without a selfie or two? (The sun was baking us – felt like spring skiing! But we weren’t complaining!)
That lightweight jacket came off pretty quickly and we skied in base layers for the rest of the route.
In certain areas of the Cave Gulch route, we spied some beautiful, snowy flakes that caught the light oh-so-perfectly.
All that Vitamin D had us a little delirious! And, because we know how to compose a shot, we did our best to ensure we each had trees sticking out of our noggins. (Yes, that’s an exceptionally-bad photographer joke.)
There were little “cinnamon roll” snow rollers all over the place! I love these little things!
If you ever have the opportunity to find perfectly soft snow, stick your face in it. Seriously. I used to do this as a kid when we’d spring ski and we’d get a kick out of how perfectly our faces were captured as a relief in the snow. So. Funny!
See! They’re incredible!
A snow scream!
Documenting our shenanigans. (Side note: this was my first time using my new Sony camera, which I purchased specifically for trips where I don’t want to lug around my giant DSLRs, and it held up beautifully. Such a great little piece ‘o’ gear!)
We were pretty happy to reach the highest point of the route! Mostly downhill from this point forward!
Why, thank you, iphone panorama mode.
The sunny day afforded us some really lovely views of the neighboring mountains.
So, the iphone panorama mode is great and all, but it’s even more fun when you mess with it and create totally bizarre images! (Look at those random arms and poles! Haha!)
The snow rollers just caught the light so beautifully.
The critter tracks on the way to the ghost town were everywhere and really stood out in the evening light! Right: The McDonald cabin we stayed in. I swear, it’s not made of gingerbread even though it might look like it.
After we hit the highest point of the route (there’s a junction and signs pointing to the ghost down in one direction and another sign pointing to I-90 in the opposite direction), it was mostly downhill. As you get closer to the ghost town there are a few more signs, one of which points to the handicap parking area. We opted to take that route, which was pretty rutted up from snowmobile usage. That meant a challenging descent down a steep and winding road on skinny little cross country skis, which also resulted in a few tumbles. (Have I mentioned that skiing with a heavy pack on your back is not the easiest thing ever to do?)
But, we both made it in one piece and were stoked to be in town! The next order of business was to locate our cabin. There are two in the ghost town that you can rent. You need to make reservations ahead of time and the the BLM will send you an informational packet in the mail, complete with a combination to the lock on the door that you do not want to forget. (Keep in mind, there is no cell service in the ghost town!)
We had the McDonald cabin rented, which is the smaller of the two cabins in the ghost town and slightly up a hill and off to the “side” of things.
Initially we started going up a nearby hill to approach the cabin from above, but then realized easier access would be from below. Brandon turned a bit in the heavy snow on the hill to head back down, and BOOM, POW, SHATTER! I heard a horrible cracking sound, witnessed a giant piece of black plastic fly through the air, and it was clear Brandon’s ski binding had just committed a very unfortunate act of harikari.
To Brandon’s credit, he took it in stride (even after slicing up his hand on what was left of his binding and leaving a blood trail through the snow to the cabin). In spite of all that, he helped us get into the cabin and get the stove going. (Thankfully there was split kindling inside and we were able to warm things up pretty quickly.)
The inside of the McDonald cabin can sleep 4 on two double beds. There were mouse turds around, but during our two nights there we didn’t hear any mouse activity. We also melted snow for better-tasting water than what was available in the spigot down the hillside.
The McDonald cabin boasted plenty of icicle adornments along the roofline, was well-stocked with chopped wood, and has its own, private outhouse out back behind the cabin.
The McDonald cabin has an outdoor woodpile to access as well.
Perched on a the hill, the McDonald cabin is in a great little location that’s up and off the main road through the ghost town. This means a bit more peace and quiet away from snowmobilers who can also zip through the ghost town via the lower, main road.
The stove in the McDonald cabin heats up slowly, but gets very hot, and our damp clothes and shoes dried out quickly! Here, Brandon works to glue his binding back together in the hopes that he might be able to ski out of the ghost town the next day. Fingers crossed!
In addition to the stove for heat (BLM’s usage instructions need to be updated for this particular stove – there is no lever beneath the ash catch), the McDonald cabin also has a propane stove that we did our cooking on. In one cupboard they have various pots and pans, most of them fairly small. Many of them also looked pretty dusty so we cleaned all of them prior to using them (and after using them, of course). We brought our own soap and sponge to use. (Of note: when you’re done using the pots/pans flip them upside down if you can to keep them as clean as possible for the next people who might use them.)
There were also numerous clothespins, which were much appreciated when drying out damp belongings over the wood stove. And, for ambiance (or I suppose, for basic illumination purposes), the cabin also has two propane-powered lights. (One of them is missing a protective glass cover, though, so if you are tall be careful not to torch your hair or ski hat!!)
The cabin also comes with hand sanitizer (much appreciated) and one roll of toilet paper. (I might suggest bringing a roll of your own, though, as the one that was left for us wasn’t, ahem, the cleanest thing ever.) The water bottle pictured at right was also provided, but we (and by we, I mean Brandon) had to fill the water via the spigot down the hillside.
Though the water is potable, it tastes pretty much like straight-up iron. (See that yellow tinge?) We instead opted to melt snow over the wood stove in a large pot that comes with the cabin, and use that as our own drinking water. No issues there and it tasted wonderful! The whiskey was ours that we brought for good measure.
A couple funky little mirrors adorn the far wall of the McDonald cabin.
The McDonald cabin also has a fridge that can be powered by propane. We opted not to fire it up, though, and just used it as a storage space for the food that we brought. We cooled it off via tubs full of icicles!
We skied into the ghost town Friday evening and had Saturday to poke around (as well as fix Brandon’s shattered binding). At one point we wondered if we should ask some snowmobilers for a ride out if it looked like Brandon’s situation was going to be really awful. But we figured 5 miles was doable since we’d already packed a bit of the trail down on our initial ski into the ghost town.
However, we decided to say “hi” to the snowmobilers anyway, since they were poking around the town as we were walking around checking it out, too. As it turns out, two of the snowmobiler folks were actor, Kevin McKidd (of Grey’s Anatomy fame) and his wife who were staying at the nearby Paws Up resort to celebrate their anniversary. (You can see his Instagram post about their visit here – we were just off to the right in several of these shots. Haha!) It’s funny who you encounter in Montana sometimes.
This little stove cranked and thoroughly dried out my wet shoes!
I think my most favorite part about the ghost town (besides the fun of skiing there) was just how amazing the stars were in the evenings. We were lucky enough to see several shooting stars (including one really slow, fat, green one), and so I HAD to mess around with my new camera and test out how well it would do capturing starlight. Granted, this photo isn’t the sharpest, but my fingers were also fairly numb by this point in time. Kudos to Brandon for being a very patient model for me!
Several Canada Jays (also known as gray jays, camp robbers or whisky jacks) decided to visit us the morning of our departure. I know many people don’t like these little fellows, but I can’t get enough of them. I mean – look at that little face and those soft feathers! Beautiful, dapper little dudes! However, be mindful of the wildlife and don’t feed them or leave scraps about!
By the time Sunday morning rolled around, Brandon had completely glued, taped and reattached his shattered binding to his ski. And, if I do say so myself, I was super impressed by his handiwork! The game plan was that he would strap his skis to his pack for the uphill portions of our ski/hike back so as not to put too much tension on the repair, and I’d ski ahead to try to pack down his pathway a bit more so he wouldn’t be post-holing all the way back.
Turns out, hiking wasn’t that bad of an option for a lot of the route back. I’d (sillily) forgotten (maybe I blocked out the fact?!) that all that uphill portion we’d skied was a downhill on the way back. And when cooler temps create a crust on the snow and you’re trying to navigate turns on cross country skis you 1) FLY LIKE A SPEEDING BULLET 2) have very little room for error when turning 3) most especially when wearing a pack 4) and will likely endure some mega crashes.
You know. Speaking for a friend. Or something like that.
After a few of those aforementioned mega crashes (my knees have the bruises to prove it – wait a second – my friend’s knees), I gave up on trying to ski some of the steeper stuff and just took the sticks off my ski boots and hiked it along with Brandon. At one point, during one of the several times I detached my bats outta hell skis, one of the sneaky buggers decided to take itself for a little spin on that super fast crust, and was slated to go sailing off the trail and down a steep embankment, Loose Caboose style.
I could see what was about to happen, and before I knew it I found myself doing the only thing I could – belly-flopping straight onto the ski to prevent its imminent escape. Doing this with a giant pack on, of course, meant this move was less-than-graceful (hold up – is a belly flop ever graceful??). I was laughing so hard at my turtle-like state that I literally couldn’t get up. Thankfully Brandon hoisted me up by the pack on my back (I suddenly felt like I was five-years-old again) and off we continued on our little hike/ski/ski/hike/hike/ski.
Eventually Brandon switched out his hiking boots to ski boots, clipped into his skis and away he went! I still find this utterly amazing considering the state of his binding! Of course, he was mindful about not bending his foot too much within that fragile binding, but whaddya know – he made it all the way back to the car with his binding still intact. SO impressed!
Suffice it to say, the ski trip to the Garnet Ghost Town was a super fun adventure, and we were both really glad to have done it! It’s definitely a uniquely Montana experience, and one of the many reasons I’m grateful to live in this state!
I hope this blog post helps others out who are looking to enjoy a little ghost town adventure of their own in the winter!
Cheers,
-Kristine
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