Project overview: Reinforce the Snow Creek Backcountry Cabin — with repairs to keep out moisture and rodents — to ensure its continued access to winter visitors, use in snow surveys, and as a backcountry patrol cabin.

How your support helps: The Snow Creek Cabin, which sits on the westerly slope of Mount Watkins at 7,650 feet, requires a rigorous seven-mile, 108-switchback, 4,000-foot climb on skis or snowshoes to access in the winter. Although popular among winter visitors — specifically backcountry skiers and snowshoers — the cabin has had a tumultuous history of use. 

Snow Creek Cabin was built in 1929. Modeled after Swiss mountain chalets, the cabin was intended to support increased winter visitation and ski-mountaineering in the park. Quite soon after, however, downhill skiing at the Badger Pass Ski Area eclipsed ski touring in popularity, and the cabin was closed to visitors in 1934.  

Instead, the National Park Service began using the cabin for snow surveys — measurements of snowpack depth and water content that can help identify year-over-year trends that are valuable to park managers, hydrologists, and others. 

The cabin reopened to visitors in the 1970s but was closed again in 2000 because of its poor condition. To avoid another 40-year public hiatus, park historic preservation crews and Conservancy donor enthusiasts jumped in to restore the cabin in 2006, and it has been open for winter use ever since, offering visitors a warm winter stopover site or overnight shelter as they explore the beauty of Yosemite’s high country. 

Nearly a century since its construction, the Snow Creek Backcountry Cabin is once again in need of serious repairs. Assessments in 2023 and 2024 by the Yosemite Historic Preservation Crew determined that repairs to keep out moisture and rodents would be essential if the cabin were to continue to be used for backcountry operations. With your support, we can take these required actions to avoid repeated cabin closures and preserve Yosemite’s backcountry experiences for all. 

This year: In 2026, donor funds will support critical repairs at Snow Creek Cabin, including water- and rodent-proofing the internal structure. Repairs will also include installing new doors and windows, restoring the roof, eliminating lead-based paint hazards, repainting the cabin interior, and more. In doing so, park preservation crews will not only preserve a notable historic building in the park, but also ensure that both visitors and park staff can continue to use the cabin as a refuge during the winter season.

Project partner: Yosemite National Park