Cook / Packer / Wrangler – Bozeman, Montana
Medicine Lake Outfitters ✓
Bozeman, MT
$150–$200/day
SeasonalHousing
Backcountry Cook Jobs
9 open listings · updated Oct 28, 2026
67% include housing · Pay Report
Backcountry cook jobs feed crews and paying guests far from a grocery store: hunting and fishing camps, outfitter base camps, remote lodges, guest ranches and river trips. You plan the menus, track supplies and send grocery orders out, cook for the group, and store food so it does not draw wildlife. Swan Mountain Outfitters in Montana describes its base camp cook job as family or buffet style meals for 10 to 20 people, three times a day, from a canvas wall-tent kitchen with a stove, flattop grill and water pump.
More About Backcountry Cook Jobs
Pay comes monthly or hourly, often with room and board. Swan Mountain pays its base camp cook $2,000 to $3,000 a month plus tips for a May to September season. A Colorado guest ranch posted a ranch cook job in August 2026 at $18 to $24 an hour plus tips with bunkhouse housing and three meals a day. The 2025 BLS median for restaurant cooks, a year-round benchmark, was $17.98 an hour. Hunters tip the camp cook on top: Royal Tine Outfitters in Montana says cooks average $100 per hunter, and Star Valley Outfitters in Wyoming cites $50 to $100 per hunter.
Cooking usually falls outside guide licensing. Idaho law exempts people an outfitter employs solely for cooking, livestock care, woodcutting or road transport from outfitter licensing. Food handler certification is the credential that comes up: Swan Mountain prefers it, and Grand Canyon requires river guides to hold food handler or Backcountry Specialist certification.
Seasons stack. Montana outfitters posted 2026 camp cook ads running May 1 to October 15 with housing and meals, and fall hunting camps follow the big game seasons. Read backcountry cook jobs, dude ranch jobs and seasonal jobs with housing.
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Assistant Cook – F/T Northern Glacier
Glacier Fish CompanySeattle, WAFull-time -
Ranch Cook
Diamond 4 RanchLander, WYSeasonalHousing -
Hunting Camp Cook
Yellowstone OutfittersJackson, WYSeasonalHousing -
Pack Trip Cook
Yellowstone OutfittersJackson, WYSeasonalHousing -
Executive Chef – Remote Fly-In Lodge
Alaskan Adventures LodgeSleetmute, AKSeasonalHousing -
Head Cook / Chef
Rainy Pass LodgeRainy Pass, AKSeasonal -
Culinary Team Member – Remote Fly-In Lodge (Summer 2027)
Wilderness Place LodgeLake Creek, AKSeasonal -
Second Cook – Remote Alaska Lodge (2027 Season)
Katmai Wilderness Lodge (Ouzinkie Native Corporation)Kodiak, AK$4,000–$6,000/month + tipsSeasonalHousing
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Questions About Backcountry Cook Jobs
How many backcountry cook jobs are open right now?
9 listings are live on WildWork as of October 28, 2026. 2 state their pay and 6 include housing.
Do backcountry cook jobs come with housing?
67% of current listings say the employer provides housing, free or at a charge, and 44% include meals. Each listing shows whether housing is included and what it costs when the employer says.
Do you need a license to be a camp cook?
Not an outfitter or guide license in Idaho. State law exempts anyone employed by a licensed outfitter solely for caring for livestock, cooking, woodcutting or transporting people and gear on public roads from outfitter licensing. A food handler card is the credential employers ask about: Swan Mountain Outfitters prefers one for its base camp cook, and Grand Canyon requires food handler or Backcountry Specialist certification for river guides.
How much do camp cooks make a month?
Swan Mountain Outfitters pays its Montana base camp cook $2,000 to $3,000 a month plus tips, with room and board included, for a May to September season. Hourly ranch cook jobs can pay more: a Colorado guest ranch posted $18 to $24 an hour plus tips in August 2026. BLS put the 2025 median for restaurant cooks at $17.98 an hour.
How much do hunters tip the camp cook?
Outfitters tell clients $50 to $100 per hunter. Star Valley Outfitters in Wyoming says average camp cook and packer tips are $50 to $100 per hunter, so each hunter in a shared camp tips that amount. Royal Tine Outfitters in Montana says cooks are tipped separately from guides and average $100 per hunter.
What does a backcountry cook do all day?
Three meals and everything around them. Swan Mountain’s base camp cook serves breakfast, lunch and dinner for 10 to 20 staff and clients, plans the meals, inventories supplies, sends grocery orders to management, adjusts dishes for dietary needs, and keeps food and food waste stored away from wildlife.
Are camp cook jobs remote?
Often. A Montana outfitter’s 2026 lodge cook ad described a remote, rustic location 55 miles up a dirt road from Hungry Horse, cooking homestyle for groups averaging 15 people, with housing and meals included, from May 1 to October 15. Another 2026 ad sought a camp cook for the Bob Marshall backcountry over the same dates.
Sources: Swan Mountain Outfitters, Employment; CoolWorks, Sundance Trail Ranch, Lunch and Dinner Cook (posted Aug 18, 2026); O*NET OnLine, 35-2014 Cooks, Restaurant (BLS 2025 wage data); Royal Tine Outfitters, Guided Hunt FAQs and Info; Star Valley Outfitters, FAQ and Documents; Idaho Code 36-2102, outfitter and guide definitions; National Park Service, Grand Canyon Commercial Operating Requirements (Feb 2026); Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, Classifieds.