The first cabin I ever stayed in was shaped like a giant whiskey barrel, set out in the woods on the edge of Helen, a Bavarian-themed village in North Georgia. It was nothing fancy: it had a loft, small kitchen, and a porch, but also a big window facing a forest of pines and hardwoods. My girlfriend and I could walk to the Chattahoochee River, where I could tangle up my fly line in the trees above the water. I was 20 years old and hooked; I wanted my own mountain cabin one day.
There probably isn鈥檛 a single American dream anymore, but owning a cabin in the mountains is certainly one of them. Picture it: a one-bedroom, one-bath (or, OK, outhouse-served) hut with a wood-burning stove on a handful of acres, surrounded by National Forest land. The shape and size of the cabin don鈥檛 matter. The point is that it鈥檚 in the mountains, with access to hiking, biking, skiing, fishing鈥.
One problem. Mountain towns and cabins are expensive, especially since the recent pandemic shifted people鈥檚 real-estate interests from urban areas to remote landscapes.聽 (See 鈥淭his Is the Most Affordable Mountain Town in the West鈥.)
鈥淐ovid, low interest rates, and the new reality of working from home created a buying frenzy for mountain homes,鈥 says Dusty Allison, a real-estate agent who specializes in mountain properties in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Fortunately for those of us still holding the dream, that Covid-related buying frenzy seems to have slowed down and even reversed course in some parts of the country. 鈥淭hings are getting cheaper in some areas,鈥 Allison says. 鈥淧eople are back in the office, and a lot of those properties that were scooped up during the pandemic are back on the market. There鈥檚 more inventory now than in the last few years in a lot of places.鈥
It’s an encouraging trend, so I鈥檝e been cross-referencing a variety of nationwide realty databases to identify a handful of mountain towns to seek that dream cabin for relatively affordable rates right now. My requirements were simple: the home had to be in the mountains, be under $250,000 (or damn close to it), and have cool stuff to do nearby. These cabins aren鈥檛 going to be on the edge of well-known destinations like Boulder, Colorado, or have ski-in/ski-out access to Vail鈥檚 Back Bowls, but they are in the mountains with access to world-class recreation.
You can locate mountain cabins on most real-estate sites, but I found Zillow, Land Search, and Cabin Homes to be the best resources and to have easier search tools than others. For instance, Zillow will let you search by keywords like 鈥渓og cabin鈥 or 鈥渕ountain stream鈥 in specific states and filter those results by price. On CabinHomes, you can search by style, from A-frames to log cabins to geodomes.
Here are the places I’m dreaming about.
1. Craig, Colorado, and the Elkhead Mountains
Tucked into remote Northwest Colorado and built on the banks of the Yampa River, Craig is the Moffat County (population 10,000) seat. Locals call the town 鈥渢he elk-hunting capital of the world,鈥 and BLM and National Forest land dominate the landscape to the east, where the Elkhead Mountains rise. The Elkheads are often considered the least-known range in Colorado, since they hold no 14ers. Oh, and Steamboat Springs is just 45 minutes away from Craig.
The Cabins: I found several options in the area surrounding Craig for under $250,000, including a 3-bed/1.5-bath in the plains west of town for $139,000, and a 2-bed/1-bath cabin surrounded by aspens on a 5-acre lot.
The Recreation: Craig is set in the Routt National Forest. Downhill and cross-country skiing exist 45 minutes away at Hikers can climb Black Mountain, Sand Mountain, and , all with summit trails. Multi-day whitewater-rafting trips go down the
2. Jasper, Arkansas, and the Ozark Mountains
Bentonville gets all the attention because of its mountain-bike revolution, but two hours away is the smaller gem of Jasper (population: 498), which sits in the Ozark Mountains surrounded by public land with easy access to hiking, rock climbing, and a national scenic river. The Ozarks aren鈥檛 as tall as the mountain ranges to the west (Rockies) or east (Appalachians), but the 2,500-foot peaks offer a legitimate mountain lifestyle in the center of the country, and at a lower entry price.
The Cabins: There鈥檚 good inventory in the hills surrounding Jasper. I found an 1100-square-foot on 9 acres with a pond overlooking the Buffalo River headwaters for $235,000. A 3 bed/2 bath log closer to town but on more than 6 acres is just $239,000. Bump your price up to $350,000, and you can get a brand new 1,100-square foot log on 3 acres.
The Recreation: The is the main draw. The first national river in the park-service inventory, the Buffalo cuts through the Ozarks for 151 miles, leaving tall sandstone bluffs in its wake. The Upper District of the river is narrow and fast and has some of the most iconic rock features in the area. Mountain bikers should head straight for the trail system, where 20 miles of backcountry singletrack await.
3. Upper Peninsula, Michigan
Michigan鈥檚 Upper Peninsula touches three different Great Lakes (Superior, Huron, and Michigan), offering tons of access to water adventures, while the Huron and Porcupine Mountains, protected by the Ottawa and Hiawatha National Forests, dominate the interior.
The area gets solid snowfall (more than 200 inches annually) every winter, turning into a hotbed of fat biking, X-C skiing, and snowmobiling. The UP even boasts nine downhill ski resorts and the world鈥檚 largest artificial ski-jumping hill. In the summer, it鈥檚 all about mountain biking, fishing, and even the occasional swell to surf.
The Cabins: The area surrounding Marquette (population 20,000), which sits on Lake Superior, has great deals for under $250,000, like a hand-built log on 80 acres for $249,000. Or how about a one-room with a wood stove and outhouse on 80 acres for just $98,000? And there are deals like this throughout the UP. I have my eye on a 20×20 on a 40-acre sugar maple camp close to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park for just $129,000 (I shouldn鈥檛 have told you…).
The Recreation: The UP is nearly 400 miles end to end, so the recreation right out your door depends on which part of the peninsula you call home. But , on the extreme northern tip of the landmass, has nearly 100 miles of world-class mountain-bike trails. Small ski resorts dot the peninsula; check out , which has 250 acres annually covered in more than 200 inches of Lake Effect snow, from when winter storms move across the Great Lakes, leaving powder in their wakes.
4. Robbinsville, North Carolina, and the Southern Appalachians
Robbinsville might not have the trendy restaurants of towns like Asheville, but it has world-class recreation just out the door. Lake Santeetlah,聽for example, which has some of the best trout fishing in the south, is just outside the town limits. The town is surrounded by the Nantahala National Forest and is a 30-minute drive from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It鈥檚 remote, but the real estate is a fraction of the price it would be in the mountains outside neighboring towns.
The Cabins: With plenty of unimproved property surrounding Robbinsville, you can pick up land for a reasonable price if you want to build your own cabin. But for $250,000 you can score a on 2.5 acres in the middle of the woods with a creek and fishing pond on the property. Bump your price up to $330,000, and you can get an cabin on an acre within walking distance to Lake Santeetlah.
The Recreation: Lake Santeetlah dominates the landscape just outside of Robbinsville. The 2,800-acre mountain lake is surrounded by National Forest land and has a healthy population of steelhead trout to try to catch. has hiking trails that wander through old-growth hemlocks, and the Nantahala River offers Class III whitewater. Drive 30 minutes, and you鈥檙e at the remote western edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where you can pick up the Appalachian Trail.
5. Sandpoint, Idaho, and the Selkirk and Cabinet Mountains
OK, you鈥檙e not gonna find a cheap mountain cabin around Sun Valley, but Idaho in general has long been a haven for mountain folk seeking out a land deal. For good prices right now, look to the northern portion of the state, around the town of Sandpoint. The town of 9,000 sits on the edge of Lake Pend Oreille, tucked into the bases of three mountain ranges, with a large ski resort (Schweitzer) just 10 miles away.
The Cabins: The inventory in this nook of Idaho is shockingly diverse and affordable. I found an on 5 acres for $234,000, as well as a on an 8-acre inholding inside Kaniksu National Forest for just $238,000. Meanwhile, you can pick up a that still needs some work on 5 acres for $187,000. Or look south of Sandpoint to the banks of Lake Pend Oreille, where you can grab a tiny on a small .17-acre parcel for just $89,000.
The Recreation: Lake Pend Oreille is 43 miles long, its 111 miles of shoreline loaded with beaches and parks. The lake is known for Kamloops, which is a species of giant rainbow trout, as well as kokanee salmon. But drifting and fishing the might even be more fun.
is Idaho鈥檚 largest ski resort, with slopes that peer down onto Lake Pend Oreille. It also has 20 miles of mountain-bike trails in the summer.
Graham Averill is 国产吃瓜黑料 magazine鈥檚 national parks columnist. He has yet to fulfill the lifelong dream of owning a mountain cabin, but he has a really nice family tent and that鈥檚 good too, right?
For other recent articles by Graham Averill, national-parks and travel columnist, see below.