Bloody Dick Cabin

Native Montanan here. Been here twice and I love this cabin. Well stocked with supplies and firewood. Everyone seems to pitch in cleaning or leaving useful supplies for the next person. Floor needs a good mopping and I tried but my swiffer was a little dinky, but it helped a little. Cabin is fenced in and surrounded by lots of trees so you get your own little private slice of paradise! We hiked Selway nearby which was amazing and the cabin is not far from the Continental Divide and other trails. Reservoir lake is very close, no motorized boats allowed so it was very quiet and peaceful. We jumped in the lake (we knew we were late in the season and it would be cold!) but it was so worth it and we were literally the only two people in the lake that day! Remember to take your trash out with you, some people leave their trash behind as “fire starter.” There’s lots of firewood for making kindling at this site so make kindling instead! There is a resident squirrel who lives in the wood pile shed and he might come out and yell at you when you chop wood. We felt bad for taking wood from his home, hopefully there will be enough of a pile for him to reside in this winter!

We have rented this cabin several times before & always enjoy our stay there! The previous renters did not leave the cabin very clean & left a nice little bag of garbage. We always try to leave things cleaner than we find it! Thank you Forest Service for making this great little cabin available!

Updated review since our last two stays. Thank you Dillon Ranger District for redoing the cabin on June 23!

The tarp ceiling was replaced with wood, interior repainted, sink now drains, windows cleaned and other misc cleaning done. They also put screws in the cooking area with what appears to be new cooking items. Also there now is a metal bucket and poker to use with the wood stove.

We are still rating this as a 5 star stay even though the propane oven still does not work, one propane light does not work and we still think the floor needs plywood placed over it for easier cleaning. Also they cut the water off as last year before September 30. The improvements are enough that we think it overcomes the still needed repairs.

A big shout out to the Dillon Ranger District for helping us with an issue we had. We wish the Butte Ranger District was as nice and helpful as you!

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Nice location, cabin was nice and clean outhouse needed serious cleaning we did what we could.
Two times in our three night stay there were different people that came through the locked gate.
There is not an ax there is a dull splitting maul and broken hatchet at the wood shed.
Having used FS cabins in past I was disappointed and amazed to see the extreme price hike. I booked in January 2022 at $20 per night.

Please see our past review from September 22, 2021 for more detailed info.
More below for this visit.

For this stay we have upgraded our review from 3 to 4 stars as the broken windows have been replaced. On top of this we were told by some nice USFS employees that stopped by that this cabin was to be blocked off from rentals for an entire week to have the ceiling fixed, floor possibly replaced and various other maintenance and rebuilding done!

They have delayed raising the fee to $55 until after they have done the updates.

The propane oven still is broken and we hope that will be fixed during that week.

Sink still drains into a bucket.

There are no metal items to tend to the wood stove such as poker, ash shovel and bucket. Hopefully these will be replaced.

Funny. Last time we did not try the radio but this time we did and the only AM or FM station we could get was 550 AM. That shows how remote you are.

The cabin was clean but needs a lot of maintenance. Plastic tarp for ceiling, doors not fitting properly and wood heating stove draft and pipe/flue needs to be either cleaned or replaced. Otherwise the cabin is comfortable and in a nice setting.

PRICE INCREASE! Going from $20 a night to $55 plus $8 fee.

The good:
Two unit propane light with 4 burner propane stove & oven although oven burner would not work.

Portable propane lantern but needs mantles. Uses standard small camping propane fuel.

Has sink that drains outside & water although water already turned off for winter on our Sept 22 stay. Site says water through September. FALSE.

2 bunk beds but no ladders if you are not physically able to raise yourself.

Table with chairs.

Wood stove.

Some good cooking items.

Shelves & storage unit.

Lots of wood.

Nice non ADA pit toilet with privacy screen.

Fire pit with benches but no picnic table.

4 mile trail in back of cabin to Idaho border.

Last Verizon signal on way to cabin was 3 bar 3G in Grant MT & 4 bar 4G about 2 miles from I-15.

Bring fly traps during summer.

OK size porch.

Partial curtains supplied over a couple of windows but not really private.

Locked gate for privacy but hunters were driving up behind the cabin.

The bad:
We put 3 stars as this unit is not being maintained & due to the new pricing. The pit toilet was nice & the exterior of the cabin was nicely painted. However the front door was covered with wood due to 2 windows being busted out & the window over the sink was broken as well. A journal entry was made saying they were measured at the first of September by the USFS for replacement. Hopefully that takes place.

The sink needs to be replaced and over half the ceiling was gone and was covered with a blue tarp. The floor also needs to be painted or even better plywood to cover it all so sweeping is easier due to deep cracks between planks.

We hope that the USFS will be using the higher fee to specifically repair this little cabin as it deserves it. While we know USFS cabins are mostly primitive this unit has fallen below the standard when compared to other units.

Rent now at $20 to save but not at $55 if repairs are not done. An hour drive from I-15 has to be worth it!

A very good experience for $20.00/night but at the proposed rate of $55.00/night I doubt I’ll rent it again. The mattress pads are inadequate, the oven doesn’t work, there’s a broken window with plastic covering it, and no screen on the windows. Other then that it’s a beautiful area and a nice outdoor fire pit.

We had a great 4 days at the cabin. We were serenaded every night by sand hill cranes and woken by their call every morning. The cabin is isolated which provides lots of time for quiet reflection. We had a great time exploring the area and even found a secluded lake! Already looking forward to next year!!