Bull Lake Cabin in Troy, Montana
Turner Mountain: A Skier's Guide to Libby's Volunteer-Run Ski Hill
Turner Mountain is the kind of ski hill that has mostly vanished from the American West: one double chairlift, twenty-two named runs, and a window in the base lodge where you buy your lift ticket and your hamburger from the same person. It sits twenty-two miles north of Libby, deep in the Kootenai National Forest, and it has been running winters since 1960 largely on volunteer labor.
From Shangrilog on Bull Lake, Turner is a day trip rather than a doorstep run. That is worth saying plainly up front — you will want to plan around it, leave early, and treat the drive as part of the day. What you get in return is 2,110 vertical feet of snow that is very often still soft at two in the afternoon.
What Turner Mountain Actually Is
Turner is a nonprofit community ski area, operated by Kootenai Winter Sports and run mostly by volunteers. That single fact explains almost everything else about the place: the modest ticket prices, the absence of a real-estate village at the base, the lift attendant who probably knows the kids riding the chair ahead of you.
The history is entirely local. Libby skiers organized a club in the 1930s and skied small hills at the edge of town. That group eventually cleared terrain on Turner and opened for the 1960 season with a rope tow and a modest warming shelter. For the next four decades the hill ran on a T-bar that was billed, at one point, as the longest in the country. Volunteers installed the current double chairlift in 2001.
The numbers, if you like numbers:
- Base elevation: 3,842 feet
- Summit elevation: 5,952 feet
- Vertical drop: 2,110 feet
- Twenty-two named runs across roughly 400 acres
- One double chairlift, with a mid-mountain unload if the top half looks like more than you want
- Average annual snowfall in the range of 200 to 250 inches
The Terrain, Honestly
Turner is steep. The mountain publishes its terrain as roughly sixty percent black diamond, thirty percent intermediate, and ten percent beginner, and it falls away from the summit at a fairly consistent pitch rather than easing off in stages. More than half the runs are groomed. The rest hold snow in a way that has earned Turner a quiet national reputation — Ski Magazine has described it as possibly the best lift-served powder skiing in the country.
In practice: if you are a confident intermediate or better, you will have a very good day here, and you will have it without standing in a lift line. If you have never clicked into skis, Turner is not where you want to start. There is no surface tow and no separate learning area. The mountain does run a ski and snowboard school, so lessons exist — but call ahead about scheduling, and be honest with yourself about a true first-timer on 2,100 feet of fall line.
If someone in your group would rather not ski it, there is no shortage of alternatives nearer the cabin. Our guide to winter activities around Bull Lake and our notes on winter trails in Northwest Montana cover the quieter half of a winter week.
Season, Hours, and Tickets
Turner runs Friday through Sunday and on holidays, generally 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the closing hour adjusted as daylight shifts through the season.
The season itself moves with the snowpack. Some winters the lift is spinning before Christmas. Others wait until January, and a thin year can bring the season to a close in early March. Because opening dates, operating days, and ticket prices all change from winter to winter, check skiturner.com before you commit to a date, and call the mountain if the weather has been doing something unusual.
Tickets are sold at the lodge window and priced deliberately low — keeping skiing affordable for local families is the stated reason the nonprofit exists. Season passes and multi-day vouchers are sold through a small number of businesses in Libby rather than online, so plan ahead if you want one.
One genuinely unusual option: on days Turner is not open to the public, you can rent the entire mountain. Groups use it for weddings, reunions, and milestone birthdays. If you are booking Shangrilog for a full house of ten, it is worth a phone call to the mountain to ask what that looks like.
Ready to plan your Montana escape?
Call us at (406) 295-0100 and we'll help you find the right dates for your stay at Shangrilog.
Getting There from Bull Lake
The route from the cabin is simple, but it takes longer than the map distance suggests. Head north on Montana Highway 56 along Bull Lake to U.S. Highway 2 — the junction sits a few miles east of Troy — then east on US 2 to Libby, and north out of Libby on Pipe Creek Road, Montana 567, for twenty-two miles to the ski area. It is just under sixty miles door to door, and about an hour and fifteen minutes in good conditions. In winter, give yourself more.
A few things worth knowing before you turn the key:
- Montana’s Department of Transportation reports winter road conditions from November through April. Check the MDT traveler information page or dial 511 in-state before you leave.
- Fill the tank and pick up anything you have forgotten in Libby. It is the last real stop before the hill.
- The last stretch up Pipe Creek is a narrow forest road, one lane in places, and it climbs. Winter tires are the minimum; two-wheel drive struggles on a fresh snow day, so carry chains if that is what you are driving.
- Leave earlier than feels necessary. First chair is 9:30, and you are crossing most of Lincoln County to get to it.
What a Turner Day Feels Like from the Cabin
You will be up before the light. Coffee in the quiet kitchen, boots and skis into the truck, a thermos filled while the fire is still just coals. Then the drive north along Bull Lake with the Cabinet Mountains coming up dark on your right and the water flat and pewter-colored beside the highway.
By mid-afternoon your legs will be finished. The drive back is the good part: low winter sun somewhere behind you, the peaks going pink, and the turn down toward the lake. Boots by the door, gas fireplace on, steam coming off wet gloves under the log-beam ceilings. Read more about the cabin itself if you have not yet.
What to Do on the Days Turner Is Closed
Turner spins three days a week, which means most of a winter week at Bull Lake belongs to something else. That is not a shortfall — it is the reason to base here rather than in town.
- Snowshoeing. Quiet, low-effort, and available essentially from the door on the right kind of morning.
- Ice fishing on Bull Lake, when the ice makes and conditions allow. Check current regulations and ice safety before you walk out on anything.
- Winter wildlife. Tracks in fresh snow are often easier to read than the animals are to see. Nothing is guaranteed, which is most of the pleasure of it.
- Ross Creek Cedars — worth knowing that the access road is not maintained in winter and has been affected by flood damage, so check current status before making the drive.
- Kootenai Falls, which runs year-round and looks entirely different rimmed in ice than it does in July.
Our area guide collects the rest. If you would rather be closer to the ski hill than to the lake, we have also written about where to stay around Libby.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Turner Mountain Ski Area?
Turner Mountain is twenty-two miles north of Libby, Montana, on Pipe Creek Road (Montana 567), within the Kootenai National Forest in Lincoln County.
What days is Turner Mountain open?
Turner operates Friday through Sunday and on holidays, generally from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the closing hour adjusted seasonally. Because the season depends on natural snowfall, confirm current operating days at skiturner.com before you travel.
Is Turner Mountain good for beginners?
Not especially. About sixty percent of the terrain is rated black diamond and only ten percent is beginner, and there is no surface tow or separate learning area. A ski and snowboard school operates at the mountain, but strong intermediates and advanced skiers will get the most out of Turner.
How much are lift tickets at Turner Mountain?
Turner is a nonprofit and keeps ticket prices low by design, but rates change from season to season. Check skiturner.com or call the mountain for current pricing. Season passes and multi-day vouchers are sold through businesses in Libby rather than online.
Can you rent the whole mountain at Turner?
Yes. On days Turner is not open to the public, the entire ski area can be reserved for a private group — weddings, reunions, and birthdays are common. Contact the mountain directly for current terms.
How far is Turner Mountain from Bull Lake?
Turner Mountain is just under 60 miles from Shangrilog on Bull Lake — about an hour and fifteen minutes in good conditions, and longer in winter — via Montana Highway 56, U.S. Highway 2 through Libby, and Pipe Creek Road. There is no lodging at the ski area itself, so visitors base in Libby or in a rental nearby. Shangrilog sits on the lake between Troy and Noxon and sleeps up to ten.
Come see it for yourself
Shangrilog sleeps up to 10 on Bull Lake in Northwest Montana. When you're ready to plan a visit, we'd love to host you.