Snyder Guard Station

Snyder Guard Station

By Pat Hart

April 11, 2025

Historic Snyder Guard Station is a complex of seven buildings. It lies in a partially wooded setting next to the Moyie River. The Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The buildings include the oldest National Forest Service residence in Region 1, two log cabins, a cookhouse, an office/warehouse, an animal shelter, machine shed and a garage.

Remnants of an old cable river trolley support remain; a replica cart helps interpret the structure. All buildings were built before 1936. The site was established in 1908 and used as a Ranger Station until 1937. It continued as a Work Center until the 1980’s. The buildings fell into disrepair. Beginning in the 1990’s, Forest Service staff and years of volunteer help worked to create and reveal this 1930’s passage in time.

Open Houses are free and open to the public. Visitors enter a time before GPS, screens and fast food. We follow the steps of our grandfathers and great grandfathers to where they shoed mules and horses, loaded packs for fire lookouts, and lived looking forward to Saturday nights barn dances, and the cook’s biscuits. Slow down, sit by the river, or visit with other time travelers.

Work projects include: fence repair, interpretive displays, and seasonal flower planting.