Cunningham Cabin Historic Trail

The Cunningham Cabin Historic Trail is a roughly 0.2-mile round-trip out-and-back from the close cabin lot to an 1888 log homestead and its interpretive wayside. It is an easy, mostly level dirt-and-grass path; the preserved cabin and open Teton view are the payoff. Allow about 15 minutes to walk, read, and look around. Come for the history and setting, not a long hike.

John and Margaret Cunningham claimed the Bar Flying U Ranch in the 1880s. John built this dog-trot cabin in 1888, lived here until his main house was finished in 1895, and later used it as a smithy and barn. He and his neighbor Si Ferrin helped propose buying ranches for public recreation; their petition carried 97 local ranchers’ signatures. Cunningham sold the ranch in 1928 to the Snake River Land Company, which later donated land for park expansion. The cabin area joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

One darker episode belongs to the ranch story: in 1893, a posse killed two visiting wranglers. Their guilt and the supposed U.S. marshal’s identity were never confirmed.

The mapped walk reaches the cabin and returns the same way. More paths cross the former ranch grounds, but they’re faint and don’t make one clearly signed extension. Longer descriptions count a different approach or a wider wander, so use the close lot for this short route; the large highway-side lot adds walking. The open ground gives a broad Teton view. Step back from the cabin to frame it against the range. Bison may be nearby, so stay at least 300 feet from large mammals; pets aren’t allowed on park trails.