Bishop Mountain Cabin

A signage system or lock system to keep people on the other side of the gate would be helpful. Or signage at the gate saying the look out tower is inaccessible.

Great place to stay!

Gorgeous view. No mice or evidence of mice in the cabin. Plenty of firewood. Fire ring was huge. Plenty of room to roam. If we closed the gate, no visitors came to see the lookout.

The information given for this cabin says that the road is "easily accessible" during the summer, leading me to believe that the road would be windy and gravel but smooth on the way up. Easily accessible for a car with little clearance, right? Wrong. We did not find the road to be easily accessible. We found it to be only passable by 4x4, a truck with high clearance and off-road tires would be preferred. If you go slow it is OK for an all-wheel drive with normal tires but our fear of blowing a tire led us to cut our visit short, especially since we would have had to drive that road 3 more times. Please edit the description of this cabin to give renters a more realistic expectation of the road conditions.
Other than the road, we thought the cabin was great. The old iron stove was fun to figure out; even though we didn't get it to stay lit through the night, the cabin was insulated enough that we were not bothered by the below 30F morning. The views and the night sky were absolutely breathtaking.

Great stay at the Bishop Mountain Cabin. Rough road to get there, but worth the trip.

Super place & view.

The good:
The unit actually has curtains for privacy so Bigfoot can't see you naked although they are stained and yucky looking.

4 bar 4G service with Verizon.

Has a Mealmaster B44n wood cook stove with oven and water reservoir. See YouTube videos on how to use if not familiar. Wood ONLY goes on the top left. So funny/SAD that people have put wood into every single opening and burned. Not thinking about where the smoke is to go? YEP! DUH!

Very nice dining table with chairs & nice additional table.

Two storage cabinets for food and gear.

Only a little wood left when we were there.

Nice sized screened in porch.

Picnic table with fire pit.

Old school non ADA pit toilet but it had a modern toilet seat which was nice compared to your butt on some boards.

The existing fire tower is fenced off & not maintained. People have broken in to climb but it is a law violation to do so.

Gate for privacy & sign to respect renters but while it says to not drive up it says you can walk in anyway.

Bring oven mitt

The bad:
It's a very rough road getting there & will take about 45-60 minutes once you leave the paved road. Do not try and take a car as you will be SORRY!

No mice but there is a loud squirrel that gets into the attic and walls throughout the afternoon and night.

We've been to over 20 lookouts and cabins recently but this is the only one we had to go and get the keys from the ranger station in Ashton. All the others have combination locks at the actual rental. Then you have to return the keys back. Mighty inconvenient. They also give you a status report and inventory list. We discovered the fire extinguisher had expired 3 years ago & neither smoke detector worked even when we replaced the batteries.

The interior walls and ceiling are a soot covered mess from fire and lanterns. Since this on the National Register of Historic Places it is sad that it is not maintained better.

We would stay again and the lady at the office was so very nice.

This is a quaint little cabin. The views are amazing on top of this mountain. The road in is a bit tough. I did speak with the rangers and was informed that they will be working on road conditions in spring 2022. We had no visitors, but we stayed during the week. Thus cabin has minimal cooking pots so bring yours. If I end up back here I will bring and leave them for all guests. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay as we always do. Thank you USFS for all you do.

Roads up were very poor, more Atv friendly than 4wd friendly. Made it fine in old pickup but makes for long drive. Beautiful scenery all the way. Cabin is perfect for what it is. Very rustic, stove works incredibly well and keeps you warm. Plenty of wood for chopping. Others have left extra supplies and cards and games which came in handy when it snowed.Early June is perfect for snow flurries, and too early for berries or mushrooms. Bring atvs and can explore for days and days. Only had 1 group come up to cabin otherwise very secluded. Didn't see any critters besides birds and squirrels. Mice are plentiful but we only heard at night and never sis see them. Keep stuff clean and not an issue. Fun adventure

Stayed there Sept 20-21 of 2021 and left a 5 star review. Since that time nothing at all has been improved. Where is all the money going?

Nice view, fancy wood cook stove, nice floor & nice dining table with chairs so we are not all negative. Firewood was stocked unlike last time. Lady who answers the phone is very pleasant. Price is a mere $30 when most every USFS cabin is now being raised to $50+ at least in Montana. So we compliment where we can.

However...
You have to rent 2 nights if you rent on a Friday or Saturday.

You still have to pick up the key & return & they give you a form to fill out inventory to list any issues. But guess what... They do NOTHING about those issues!

No attempt to fix the road to help people access with cars. We had a SUV so fine.

The fire extinguisher expired years ago! Reported last year.

Smoke detectors still do not work. Reported last year.

Squirrel still coming into walls and ceiling in evening & night. Reported last year.

Still soot all over walls and ceiling. Is there no deep cleaning ever? This is a registered historic site but you do not maintain? Reported last year.

Made the suggestion last year that they allow somebody to come in & fix these issues in exchange for a free stay. Probably not legal per government regulations but a solution was suggested.

Last year we stayed on a Monday night & had no visitor issue. This year on a Fri/Sat stay we had a huge group of 12 show up and start flying drones. We also had dirt bikers ignore the sign & rode up & climbed the fenced off tower. It does not help that renters can't lock the gate to keep vehicles out & the signs says people are still allowed to come in but just do not drive in of the gate is closed. It is ignored.

Sure go ahead & still stay there but maybe go during the week & bring a chain and lock. The $30 price is nice too. Our complaints are the issues should be fixed and the cabin cleaned.

Amazing cabin. Overall had a wonderful experience. Huckleberries we’re abundant. Can’t wait to go back! Definitely recommend bringing a bike lock or some sorts for the gate to the cabin. Had some unwanted visitors on side by sides open the gate and drive up.