New cabin-rental system for forests begins Feb. 2
The Flathead National Forest is transitioning its cabin-rental program to a national reservation system at the beginning of February.
The program, which has been expanded in recent years, has long been managed by the local ranger stations. The decision to switch to the National Recreation Reservations Service came from the Region One headquarters in Missoula, and applies to several national forests in Montana.
The new system is expected to be more accessible and convenient for the public. But at the same time, cabin rentals that have been dominated by area residents will have a much broader public availability because of the system's online accessibility.
The Flathead forest has 10 cabins and lookouts available for rent, most of them during the summer. Starting on Feb. 2, they will be added to a list of more than 1,700 sites across the country that can be reserved by calling 1-877-444-6777 or visiting the recreation service Web site at www.ReserveUSA.com.
Some of the Flathead's more popular cabins have been rented on prime weekend dates, because the forest used its traditional reservation "lineup" Nov. 1, allowing people to make reservations throughout 2006.
"That was their last chance to go through our traditional process for getting reservations for this calendar year," said Jimmy DeHerrera, the Hungry Horse district ranger.
"I don't know if there was a single weekend left at either Schnaus or Ben Rover, the two most popular ones, after that first day," he said, referring to two cabins in the North Fork Flathead drainage. "At those cabins, every weekend is popular. Anymore, just weekends in general are pretty popular."
Some weekday openings remain at those cabins and others.
"The nice thing about the new reservation system is that people will be able to go online and see the calendar and see what's available," DeHerrera said. "In some ways it will be more convenient than it was in the past. People will have to learn the new system to figure out when they can get online to reserve their favorite days."
That's because the new national system allows reservations to be made a maximum of six months in advance. So a person who wants to rent a particular cabin the second weekend in August may want to be online, making reservations, exactly six months before that weekend.
The six-month advance system takes effect Feb. 2, but many dates in the latter half of the year have been claimed because the traditional sign-up was allowed last year.
"We will go to the six-month reservations, but they will just honor our prior reservations," DeHerrera said.
Also new to the cabin-rental program will be a $9 reservation fee, with proceeds paying for the reservation service. Overnight fees for cabins, ranging from $20 to $50, are used to maintain and improve the cabin-rental program.
Refunds are available on a limited basis, and cancellations or date changes can be made for a change fee. The forest does not offer refunds based on weather or road conditions.
The program includes the Schnaus, Ford, Ninko, Ben Rover and Hornet Lookout cabins - along with the new Wurtz Homestead Cabin - in the North Fork drainage, and the Zips and Challenge cabins in the Middle Fork Flathead drainage.
On the Tally Lake Ranger District, the Star Meadows Guard Station is available northwest of Whitefish.
The Swan Lake Ranger District rents the Owl Creek Cabin near Holland Lake and the Mission Lookout south of Swan Lake.
The National Recreation Reservations System offers facilities across the country that are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service and the Forest Service.
The reservation system is accessible online or by telephone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.