Hike to OTO Ranch

The OTO Ranch is a former Dude Ranch – the first in Montana – a little north of Gardiner. Lorraine and I had heard about it last year as a good place to hike. It is now deserted, but is undergoing a renovation by the Forest Service to its former glory. It was built in 1912 and active in the early part of the 20^th century but closed in the late 30’s. There is a road that takes you there, but it has been closed because parts of it are washed out and are very dangerous for automobiles. It is still safe for hikers, however, so Lorraine and I jumped at the chance to hike there with friends Ron and Lin.

Ron and Lin are more experienced hikers than we, so they seemed to be breathing easier than Lorraine and I as we did the initial climb over the Yellowstone River valley. Since we were on a (former) gravel road, the walking was easy, - or would have been easy if we weren’t climbing the sides of mountains for the first mile. We made it to the top, with a few stops to try to get some oxygen into our systems, and were rewarded by beautiful views of the Yellowstone in the valley and of the surrounding hills.

Once we reached the top (more or less) we passed a few beautiful pastures and followed a rushing stream to the ranch. Some of the cabins had already been restored and looked like they could be occupied any day, and others had not been touched since the ranch closed. The contrast was really interesting.

We were able to walk through the main lodge building, which was in the process of being restored, so we could see parts that were untouched as well as parts that had partially updated. We entered through one of the red doors at the rear of the building and found a large dining room, a kitchen with wood stoves, other meeting rooms, and small rooms for guests, along with very small bathrooms for men and women. The front room was all logs – even the ceiling. The ranch will be beautiful once restoration is complete, but it is probably more interesting to see now in its partially-restored condition. Note the cast iron pool table leg holding up one of the porch rails.

I’ll close this posting with a picture of Lin, Ron, and Lorraine as we started our return hike to the car. At this point we were all craving beer!