A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to

mountaineers Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, climbers and

hiker A hike is a long, vigorous walking, walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer tim ...

s. Mountain huts are usually operated by an

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

or some organization dedicated to hiking or mountain recreation. They are known by many names, including alpine hut, mountain shelter, mountain refuge, mountain lodge, and mountain hostel. It may also be called a refuge hut, although these occur in lowland areas (e.g. lowland forests) too. Mountain huts can provide a range of services, starting with shelter and simple sleeping berths. Some, particularly in remote areas, are not staffed, but others have staff which prepare meals and drinks and can provide other services, including providing lectures and selling clothing and small items. Permanent staffing is not possible above the highest permanent human settlements, which are 5500m at the latitude of Everest (27°59′, similar to Corpus Christi TX) but lower than 3500m at the latitude of Mont Blanc (45°50', similar to Montreal CAN QC). Permanent staffing has been tried long ago e.g. at

Vallot Hut The Vallot Hut (French: ''Refuge Vallot'') is a refuge in the Mont Blanc massif on the upper slopes of Mont Blanc in the Alps. It is located below the Bosses Ridge between the Dome du Gouter and Mont Blanc summit, at an altitude of 4,362 m ...

(4362 m, .58 atm) in 1890-91 but had to stop after heart or lung problems apparently due to altitude and cold combined. Mountain huts usually allow anybody to access their facilities, although some require reservations. While shelters have long existed in mountains, modern hut systems date back to the mid-19th century. The

Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (, , , ) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 110 sections with 174,726 members (2023). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss ...

has built huts since 1863. In the United States, the

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains (New Hampshire), White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., wit ...

built its first hut at Madison Spring in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

in 1889.

Huts

The Alps

The construction of refuges and shelters in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

date back to

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

times, when

Roman roads Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

led across the mountain passes. In the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

, ''hospitales'' were erected along the trade routes; cottages and sheds on the high mountain pastures served for

Alpine transhumance Alpine transhumance is transhumance as practiced in the Alps, that is, a seasonal droving of grazing livestock between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures in summer (German ' from the term for "seasonal mountain pasture", '). ...

. The long history of mountaineering from the 19th century onwards has led to a large number of Alpine club huts as well as private huts along the mountaineering paths. These huts are categorised according to their location and facilities. They may have beds or a mattress room (''

Matratzenlager A ''Matratzenlager'' ("mattress room"), sometimes called ''Massenlager'' or ''Touristenlager'', is the simplest and cheapest type of sleeping accommodation offered in mountain huts. It generally consists of a large room with mattresses usually pl ...

'', or bas-flancs in French, or sleeping berths), kind of simple or double-decker wide mattress where a few dozens people sleep aside one another, no matter same family or group or strangers, for overnight stays. More recent or more popular shelters have more comfortable sleeping arrangements. Just as the

Margherita Hut The Margherita Hut (, ) is a mountain hut belonging to the Italian Alpine Club, located on the summit of () of Monte Rosa, a mountain massif of the Alps lying near the border between Italy and Switzerland. At above sea level, it is the highest ...

in the Valais Alps is the highest alpine refuge at 4,554 m, the

Rifugio Mario Premuda A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

is the lowest refuge in the Alps at 82 m (both are owned by the

Italian Alpine Club The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment. It was founded in Turin in 1863 by the then fin ...

United Kingdom

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

the tradition is of unwardened "climbing huts" providing fairly rudimentary accommodation (but superior to that of a

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

) close to a climbing ground; the huts are usually conversions (e.g. of former quarrymen's cottages, or of disused mine buildings), and are not open to passers-by except in emergency. Many climbing clubs in the UK have such huts in

Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

or in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

. A well-known example is the

Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut Jane Inglis Clark (1859/1860–1950) was a Scottish mountaineer and rock climber. She co-founded the Ladies' Scottish Climbing Club with Lucy Smith and Mabel Clark in 1908. Life Inglis Clark was born Jane Isabella Shannon to Isabella Struthers ...

(the 'CIC Hut') - a purpose-built hut below the northern crags of

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William. The mount ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In the past, some shelters in Scotland were built in exposed locations at high elevation, often as part of military training exercises. However, and particularly following the 1971 Cairngorm Plateau Disaster, these were deliberately demolished because they were thought to pose dangers exceeding their benefits.

Norway

The

Norwegian Trekking Association The Norwegian Trekking Association (, DNT) is a Norwegian association which maintains mountain trails and cabins in Norway. The association was founded on 21 January 1868 with the scope "to help and develop tourism in this country". Today the goa ...

(DNT) operates about 600 cabins mostly in the mountains and in forested areas. DNT offers three types of cabins: staffed lodges, self-service cabins and no-service cabins. Many cabins are unstaffed and open all year, while the staffed cabins often are just open during summer and the skiing season.

Poland

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

most mountain shelters and huts are run by the

Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society ''Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze'', PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society) is a Polish non-governmental tourist organization with 312 branches across the country. The PTTK is one of the oldest tourist societies in Europe. ...

, with some being privately owned. In the Polish mountains, there are about 100 shelters. Most mountain shelters offer multi-person rooms and refreshments. Polish mountain huts are obliged by their own regulations to allow overnight anyone who is not able to find any other place before sunset, but conditions may be spartan (e.g. a

mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person Lying (position), lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a Quilting, quilted o ...

in a hall or warm basement).

Slovakia

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

there is a dense network of mountain huts ("chata") in most mountain and forest regions, serving a culture of hiking. In the past they were managed by the official tourist union, but now are mostly in private hands. Official mountain huts are similar to guest houses and are run by full-time managers. In winter, some refuges are closed.

United States

There are many huts in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, for example in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

and other ranges. The

High Huts of the White Mountains The High Huts of the White Mountains are eight mountain huts in the White Mountains (New Hampshire), White Mountains of New Hampshire, owned and maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. They are modeled after similar huts in the Alps and posi ...

are generally "full service" (cooks serve food) through summer and early fall, while some are open the rest of the year as self-service huts, at which hikers bring and prepare their own food.

Canada

The Alpine Club of Canada operates what it calls the "largest network of backcountry huts in North America."

New Zealand

The New Zealand Department of Conservation "manages a network of over 950 huts of all shapes and sizes."

The Himalayas

The mountains of Asia do not have a well-developed system of public mountain huts, although hiking, trekking and mountain climbing are common. In 2015, a competition was launched to design huts that could be located along trekking trails of Nepal.

South Africa

Many places in Africa have hiking huts but they are usually privately owned and require payment and reservations. At least one hut is open for public use on Table Mountain in South Africa, part of

Table Mountain National Park Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on 29 May 1998, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain chain, and ...

Gallery

Europe

Image:Neue Monte Rosa Huette2.JPG,

Monte Rosa Hut The Monte Rosa Hut () is a mountain hut located near Zermatt on the Monte Rosa massif (up to ) and above the Grenzgletscher (Border Glacier) sitting on a glacier-free rocky part called ''Untere Platte'' at an altitude of . It is owned by the Swis ...

Image:Ciareido hut marmarole cadore.JPG, Ciareido hut, near

Lozzo di Cadore Lozzo di Cadore is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northeast of Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern ...

in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the Capital (political), capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region. W ...

, Italy Image:CabaneduTrient.jpg,

Cabane du Trient The Trient hut (French: ''Cabane du Trient'') is a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps, near the Swiss town of Martigny and the French town of Chamonix. The hut sits at an altitude of 3,170 m (10,400 ft), on a rock perched above the Trie ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Image:Triglavska jezera 2009 09 3.JPG, Triglav Lakes Lodge in

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Image:Teryho chata I.jpg, Téryho chata in the Tatra Mountains,

Image:Pasariceva kuca na Ivancici.jpg, Pasariceva hut on Ivancica mountain in Ivancica,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Image:Blejska koca na Lipanci.jpg, Blejska koca na Lipanci,

Samotnia noca 01.jpg, Samotnia in the

Karkonosze The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bord ...

Kuonjarjoen autiotupa.JPG, Kuonjarjoki Wilderness Hut in

Enontekiö Enontekiö (; ; ; ; ) is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approximately inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about between the Swedis ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Edelweißerhütte.jpg, Edelweißerhütte in the

Tennen Mountains The Tennen Mountains () is a small, but rugged, mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, which lies in front of the Eastern Alps for its entire length. It is a very heavily karstified high plateau, about 60 km² in area, with many ca ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Capanna Regina Margherita.jpg, The

, the highest refuge in the Alps Rifugio Premuda 1.jpg, The

, the lowest refuge in the Alps

Latin America

Tronador Mountain Hut.jpg, A ''refugio'' atop

Tronador Tronador () is an extinct stratovolcano in the southern Andes, located along the border between Argentina and Chile, near the Argentine city of Bariloche. The mountain was named ''Tronador'' ( Spanish for "Thunderer") by locals in reference to ...

, Argentina Refugio de montaña Frey, San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina).JPG, Frey Hut in

San Carlos de Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...

, Argentina Refugio Otto Meiling Stevage.jpg, Refugio Otto Meiling Stevage, Argentina Refugio Perú.jpg, Refugio Perú in

Ancash Ancash (; ) is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, an ...

, Peru

North America

Image:EPSummer.jpg,

Elizabeth Parker hut The Elizabeth Parker hut is an alpine hut located in Yoho National Park near Lake O'Hara in British Columbia. The hut is maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada. History The hut was named after the journalist Elizabeth Parker, one of the fou ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

Image:Greenleaf Mountain Hut.jpg, Greenleaf Hut in the White Mountains of the U.S. Image:Balfour hut aug 2005.jpg, R.J. Ritchie Hut (Balfour Hut) in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

Image:Horse Camp.jpg, Shasta Alpine Lodge at Horse Camp on

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( ; Shasta people, Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk language, Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a Volcano#Volcanic activity, potentially active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. A ...

, California Image:Smithsonian Hut Whitney.jpg,

Smithsonian Institution Shelter The Smithsonian Institution Shelter, also known as the Mount Whitney Summit Shelter and the Mount Whitney Hut, was built in 1909 on the summit plateau of Mount Whitney, in the Sierra Nevada within Sequoia National Park, in California. It is the ...

on the summit of

Mount Whitney Mount Whitney (Paiute: ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'' or ''Too-man-go-yah'') is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of . It lies in East–Central Califor ...

, California Mint Glacier Hut.JPG, Mint Glacier Hut in the

Talkeetna Mountains The Talkeetna Mountains (''Dghelaay tahwt’aene'' in Ahtna) () are a mountain range in Alaska. The Matanuska and Susitna River valleys, with towns such as Trapper Creek, Talkeetna, Wasilla, Palmer, Sutton, and Chickaloon, roughly bound th ...

, Alaska

Africa

Image:Mountain Cabin.jpg, Mountain cabin on

Mount Cameroon Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the Southwest Region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous ...

Oceania, Australia, New Zealand

File:Bogong wallaceshut.JPG, Wallace's Hut,

Bogong High Plains The Bogong High Plains (), part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, are a section of plains located in the Alpine National Park in the Australian state of Victoria and are situated south of Mount Bogong. In winter this area is ...

File:Federation-hut-mount-feathertop.jpg, Federation Hut,

Mount Feathertop Mount Feathertop is the second-highest mountain in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is part of the Australian Alps, and located within the Alpine National Park. It rises to and is usually covered in snow from June to ...

Asia

File:Paiyun Lodge (Aerial Photography).jpg, Paiyun Lodge on Yushan (Mt. Jade),

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

References

External links

Informative website about European mountain huts
* * {{Authority control