Six cabins and two new tiny homes on East River Road, Pray, Montana.
What's out the door
Forty-odd miles of river between Livingston and the edge of Yellowstone, with the Absaroka range on one side and the Gallatins on the other.
We sit on East River Road in Pray, roughly in the middle of it. What follows is what we'd tell a friend who asked what to do — written by two people who live here rather than assembled from a tourism board.
The Yellowstone
The longest undammed river in the lower forty-eight runs the length of the valley. Wade it, float it, or watch it from the bank with a coffee. EJ has a degree in fish and wildlife and years with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks — ask him what's hatching before you drive anywhere.
The handiest access is Emigrant Bridge, a few minutes up the road. Mill Creek Bridge and the Chicory and Grey Owl fishing access sites are all close by too. Wade fishing the Yellowstone is tough most of the year, since the river runs big and fast. It gets much better in winter when the water drops, and Grey Owl is the place to wade when it does.
Chico Hot Springs
Minutes up the road in Pray. Open-air mineral pools, a dining room worth booking, and a bar that has been there since 1900. Better in winter than in summer, which surprises people.
Yellowstone
The north entrance at Gardiner sits 37 miles south — the only gate open to cars year-round. Mammoth Hot Springs is another five miles on. From there, south takes you to the geyser basins and east takes you through the Lamar Valley, where the animals are and the crowds aren't.
Hiking and the Absarokas
Three hikes we send people on, all a short drive from the cabins. Pine Creek Falls is the easy one: about a mile and a quarter each way on a well-kept trail, with only a few hundred feet of climbing, to a tall waterfall with a footbridge at its base. Past the falls the trail turns steep on its way to Pine Creek Lake, a full day for strong hikers. Passage Falls, up Mill Creek Road, is two to two and a half miles each way on a gentle grade, ending at a big waterfall dropping into a narrow canyon. The road to that trailhead closes past Snowbank Campground in winter. Thompson Lake, up the West Fork of Mill Creek, is the longer, quieter climb to a mountain lake, best saved for a long day or an overnight. And somewhere up Mill Creek there's a waterfall we won't name. Go explore. You'll know it when you find it.
Getting here
About 55 miles. I-90 east, exit 333 for US-89 south toward Livingston, then 16 miles and left onto East River Road for 8 more.
About 130 miles. I-90 west to exit 333, then US-89 south and the same turn onto East River Road.
37 miles south through Gardiner — open to cars year-round, unlike every other entrance.
Longer pieces, written as we go
Hatch timing, day trips, what's open off-season — things worth more than a paragraph.
Somewhere to come back to.
Six cabins on East River Road from April to October, and two tiny homes open the whole year round.