Cabin reservation day is Monday
Monday is the opening opportunity for cabin rentals over the next year on the Hungry Horse and Glacier View ranger districts of Flathead National Forest.
Cabin reservation day is a popular event at the Hungry Horse Ranger Station, attracting a line of people who typically start showing up before dawn.
Their mission: to get first dibs on rental days at seven cabins: Schnaus, Ben Rover, Zips, Challenge, Ninko, Hornet Lookout and Ford. The cabins have different seasonal availabilities and prices.
Summer weekends at the cabins are usually the first to be reserved, but some cabins are popular destinations for snowmobilers and cross-country skiers during the winter.
The ranger station opens at 8 a.m. and reservations are taken in the conference room, where calendars for each cabin are posted on the walls.
Here are the basic rules for the cabin rentals:
. You can make one reservation per phone call at 387-3800 and one reservation through an in-person visit;
. Cabins can be rented for a maximum of three consecutive days;
. You have 14 days to pay for your reservation, either with a check, cash, or credit card, and there are no refunds;
. Check-in and check-out time is 2 p.m.;
. No pets or livestock are allowed at the seven cabins;
. All bear attractants must be stored inside the cabin or a hard-sided vehicle;
. Cabins must be left cleaned and locked;
Once a reservation has been paid for, permits will be sent to the renter, and the permit must be signed and returned to the Hungry Horse Ranger District.
Once the signed permit has been sent back, the district will issue a copy. Within five days of a reservation, renters must call the district office to get the lock combination to enter the cabin.
The cabin rental program is part of the Forest Service's Recreation Fee Demonstration Program that authorizes the agency to keep 85 percent of the fees it collects for use at the site where they were generated.
Fees retained from cabin rentals are mostly used for maintenance of the cabins.
More information on the rental program is available by calling 387-3800 or on the Flathead Forest Web site: