To access these caches you are driving on an old section of the 287 highway. On the night of August 17, 1959, a 7.5 Earthquake struck this area. An enormous landslide downstream caused the Madison River to stop flowing. The river began backing up creating a new lake, Earthquake Lake. The waters backed up into this canyon and continued to rise toward Hebgen Lake dam. The nearby Halford Camp cabins floated off their foundations into the newly forming lake. They drifted in this canyon for nearly 3 weeks until the Army Corps of Engineers opened a channel in the slide allowing the newly formed lake to begin to drain. At that time the lake was 190 feet deep at it’s deepest part. The cabins settled on the ground across the river as the lake drained. They have become known as “Ghost Village”. The lake is currently 124 feet deep and will continue to slowly drain taking about another 200 years to restore this area to being just the Madison River.
Be advised that this is a dirt road with seasonal deep potholes. Two wheel drive vehicles are fine. Clearance may be an issue at times. There is no cell service in the area.
My thanks to the staff at the Earthquake Center for assisting me with the facts in this description. The Earthquake Center is well worth your time to visit. It is open between Memorial Day and mid-September.