RYAN FIELD, MT

Location Overview
Ryan Field (identifier 2MT1) sits about one mile southeast of West Glacier, Montana, right on the doorstep of Glacier National Park. The airstrip's coordinates are roughly N48°28.98' / W113°57.57', and it sits on 153 acres at an estimated elevation of 3,660 feet MSL. It has a single grass runway, designated 15/33, measuring 2,500 feet long by 65 feet wide, with both thresholds elevated relative to the rest of the runway and a low point near the entrance to the barn area. The setting is classic northwest Montana backcountry: timbered land at the base of Strawberry Mountain, with the peaks of Glacier Park as a backdrop.

Camping & Recreation
This is very much a fly-in camping destination. The Recreational Aviation Foundation has built out camping facilities for pilots, including leveled and seeded camping areas, tie-downs, a 24'x30' camping shelter built from lumber sawn on-site, a masonry BBQ, a handicapped-accessible vault toilet, picnic tables, a wood-burning cook stove in the pilot shelter, and even a regulation horseshoe pit. More recently, the site has grown to include a barn and cooking shelter, restrooms (some with showers), games, firepits, and four reservable cabins for pilots who bring their own sleeping bags. A courtesy car is available first-come, first-served in summer, or visitors can walk about a mile into the small town of West Glacier. Hiking is a popular add-on given the proximity to the national park, and the field hosts an annual fly-in with food, seminars, and group hikes that has drawn over 100 participants in recent years.

Notes & Warnings
Ryan Field is privately owned and operates under a strict access protocol. It is open to pilots only with the requirement that each one request and receive a current annual safety briefing, and the field notes explicitly state pilots must obtain this mandatory safety briefing before landing. As a Prior Permission Required (PPR) field, pilots must review and acknowledge the safety briefing before flying in, available through the RAF's Airfield Guide. Because the Ryan family still lives quietly on the property, visitors are asked to coordinate arrival in advance, keep aircraft numbers modest, and avoid large unscheduled fly-ins out of respect for their privacy and other backcountry users. The runway's grass surface and elevated thresholds with a dip near the barn area are worth factoring into approach and landing planning, and pilots should check current field conditions (a text-based weather update system has been used for fly-in events) before arrival.

History
Ryan Field's story is really the story of Ben and Agnes "Butchie" Ryan. Ben, a World War II Army P-38 pilot, and Butchie, a WWII Army nurse, first saw the 160 timbered acres at the foot of Strawberry Mountain in 1967 and decided to settle there. After retiring, the couple cleared land for a home site and built a sawmill, using the lumber to construct outbuildings, and Ben — who had learned aircraft repair — even built his own tandem-seat Wendt Traveler airplane. Ben built the 2,500-foot airstrip himself, and the RAF was introduced to the property in 2003. Having no children of their own, the Ryans wanted their land and airstrip preserved for fellow aviators, so in 2004 they approached the newly formed Recreational Aviation Foundation about progressively gifting the property. Since then, RAF volunteers have cleared encroaching trees, leveled the runway, and built out the camping and shelter facilities that exist today, while the Ryans continued living on-site as honored hosts to the pilots who visit. Ben Ryan passed away in July 2017, but the airstrip he built remains an active, beloved fixture of Montana's backcountry flying community, carrying his and Butchie's legacy forward.