Intact Cabin Rests Half-Buried on a Riverbank Near Billings

Give the cabin builder a pat on the back.

My friend Nathan Oak shared a picture this week of what appears to be a completely intact cabin that now rests partially buried in rocks and debris on the banks of the Yellowstone River near Billings. He and his friends discovered the small log cabin on a recent float down the river and snapped the wild (and sad) photo above.

The aftermath of record spring floods.

The spring of 2022 saw record flooding in many parts of Montana, but flooding was really bad in the Absarokas and Beartooth Range, as well as Paradise Valley. Many bridges, roads, trails, homes, and cabins in south-central Montana were heavily damaged or completely washed away in the raging waters.

Who can forget the house above?

We all saw the horrifying video of the dwelling near Gardiner as it dramatically crashed into the river. The roiling flood water quickly smashed the house into pieces, and it was broken down to smaller bits as it passed under bridges downstream.

Many of us wondered where all the pieces would end up as they made their way east. Some pieces could have eventually reached the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, but they were certainly pretty small chunks by then. Most construction materials probably washed up along the riverbanks.

The cute little cabin survived the float.

Oak said they spotted the cabin wedged on the riverbank between Park City and Laurel. I joked that it almost seems salvageable if someone had an excavator, winches, and a big trailer. I asked if any personal items remained in structure and he said no.  Remnants of the flood of 2022 will likely turn up for years along the mighty Yellowstone.