When Middle Aged Wife and I were presented the opportunity for an open day in Sun Valley we went to one of our favorite locals for a recommendation. Without question, she suggested we hike to Pioneer Cabin. She was right. The cabin is a real gem and well worth the hike to get there.

Pioneer Cabin was built in 1937 in the earliest days of Sun Valley Resort. It was used as a shelter and destination for the Sun Valley Alpine Touring School. It’s actually one of at least three cabins built for that purpose in the area.

The name of the cabin does not refer to the pioneers who crossed the plains in the mid-to-late 1800s. Rather, it refers to the imposing and majestic mountains that stand just outside the front door of the cabin.

Pioneer Cabin sits just below a saddle at 9,460 ft looking out on the western front of the Pioneer Mountain Range. Hyndman Peak, the lowest of Idaho’s 12,000 ft peaks, looms large and beautiful over the cabin.

Extensive information about the cabin can be found here.

The Trailhead

There are at least three recognized routes to the cabin. One of them is accessed via East Fork Road, about 5 miles south of Ketchum. It climbs along North Hyndman Creek and approaches Pioneer Cabin in the shadow of Hyndman Peak. According to the guide book, this is the more picturesque hike. Given what we saw of the area from the cabin, I believe it. We did not take this route, but it remains on our list.

We took the slightly-shorter and more popular Pioneer Cabin Trail. This trailhead is off Sun Valley Road, east of Ketchum, along Corral Creek Road.

The third route to the cabin begins from the same trailhead as the Pioneer Cabin Trail, but takes a more circuitous route. In fact, half of this loop is the Pioneer Cabin Trail.

Whichever route you choose, access is close and easy. It’s one of the benefits of starting off in a mountain town instead of in the valley.

After the alpine meadows, you’ll spend a little bit of time in the rocks. The trail is still well-defined and there is no scrambling. Finally you’ll approach a saddle where you begin to see the imposing Hyndman Peak start to rise up. This is an open, relatively straight portion of trail, which treats the hiker to an experience of watching the view open up to reveal itself. This section was one of my favorite for that reason.

And then you crest the saddle.

This is when you get your first sight of the cabin with its stand of trees off to the left. And that view… That view of the Pioneer Mountains still looming grand and beautiful makes every step absolutely worth it. The word grandeur seems insufficient.