I get the feeling that lots of people don't stop to think about the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest and Scapegoat wilderness areas as they're going to/from it's more famous, popular, and crowded neighbors. Like many I first became aware of their beauty while driving to another park.
The forest service has repurposed a number of structures and old ranger cabins in air-b-n-b fashion, we stayed for a few days in one called the Judith Guard station cabin. It had propane heat and a stove top, a living area with a dining table and piano, and upstairs 3 bedrooms. Since we were traveling fairly late in the season we appreciated the heat and other comforts.
The area around Judith Guard station isn't as spectacular as some other places but it offers a number of nice hikes and fishing opportunities. A bad fire season along the West coast meant that the scenic views were obstructed by a dense haze for most of our stay.
The area includes a set of mountain passes that make up the Continental Divide Trail, dividing North America's water flows that go to the Pacific from those that go to the Atlantic one way or the other. Meriwether Lewis and his crew passed over the divide in this area as he was making his way back from the Pacific ocean in July of 1806. History buffs will recall that they'd divided their company to maximize their survey coverage and William Clark took a different route until they met up in August and finished their expedition. The hike from the nearest parking lot isn't all that spectacular and the wildfire haze limited our view so we didn't spend too much time in the area, but it was an easy hike and was neat for historical reasons none-the-less.
Cummings Cabin is another forest service location we stayed at later in our trip. It's cozy too but much smaller and more spartan, with a gas cooktop and lights, and then a wood stove as the main source of heat.
One neat thing in this cabin was an EcoFan - a small fan that can be used in unpowered environments to move air around using the heat from the stove and what I assume is a thermocouple as its power source.
Heart Lake is located in the Scapegoat Wilderness and is an easy 5 mile hike. The trail has views of Red Mountain and the lake is stocked with trout.
My friend Warren lives in the southern Black Hills with several dogs and a cat who I happened to capture being particularly photogenic as I was coming and going.
Last Updated: 6/15/2021 Anthony Anderberg - ant@anderbergfamily.net