Indian Flats Cabin

Cabin is what I expected. It was clean and cozy.

Cabin was as described but quite hard to find.

This is one of the best stocked cabins around! It has everything! Really, about the only things you need to bring is food, water and a sleeping bag. They have everything else. The location is awesome and the night stars on a clear night are amazing, especially if you can make the trip to the top of Hogback! It is about a 4.5 mile hike (or drive) to the top of Trout Creek Canyon which is also very pretty. I would definately recommend and will visit again in the future!

Stayed 3 days and 2 nights over Memorial Day weekend. Relaxing and no cell service made it better. Road to cabin was in decent shape although there was one area that were sketchy but my convoy made it through.

Loved it!

Hiked up the 8 miles from Trout Creek to the cabin on Feb 3 2024. There was ice and snow, did not need snow shoes. The time we were there we it snowed the entire time. I recommend bringing snow shoes regardless of the conditions. The hike is long but fairly straightforward, beautiful scenery and very enjoyable.

The cabin was tidy, but needed some general cleaning, the cabinets filled with remanence of stuff people felt they should leave behind. The cabinets could be cleaned up and many things could be thrown away. Otherwise, the cabin is perfect size for 2 anymore it would be very crammed. The wood stove is hot and fast with chopped pine as the fuel. Be prepared to keep the fire going all night, a full stove will burn out and be cool to the hand in about 2-3 hours.

Be cautious of CO2 if you have the propane stove and lantern running, i suggest keeping a window crack open the entire time, especially since the stove can turn the cabin into 100degree sauna very quickly.

Overall it was a great experience and I highly suggest this as a winter getaway. We did not see a single person the entire time. As a nice gesture, bring 1 full propane canister, use it, and leave it. The cabin needs 2, 1 for the stove and 1 for the lantern.

Need to put in solar panels for inside pluss possibly outside lighting

We had a pleasant stay despite it rained for part of each day. Because the road was drifted in we had to spend a couple hours figuring out how to get in. Would have been nice for FS office to mention that when we talked to them the night before to confirm lock combination. The road situation meant we had the entire area to ourselves; peace and solitude. There is good area for all kinds of activity. We even witnessed some flash flooding of the little creek after one tremendous bout of rain. Plenty of area to gather wood and explore. And we must note, as others who have stayed here, it has one of the cleanest vault toilets around.

Do NOT use Google Maps to try to get there. It took us to the wrong place. Luckily it came to a dead-end, so we realized sooner than later. Also, before you leave service, take screenshots of the info provided (directions & email w/ combo). Luckily I did, so we backtracked to the bar in York, then started using the directions provided, which aren't the greatest. Nelson is 7 miles from the bar in York, not 5. I didn't notice any of the landmarks in the directions marked. We had a lot of anxiety, worried that we weren't going the right way, especially after Google did get us lost & it was getting close to dark (we spent most of the day in Helena, then swimming @ Canyon Ferry). Right when we started considering turning around, luckily there was a sign pointing us in the right direction, but I feel there should be a few more. It was WAY back up in there - more so than I'd realized. It ended up being around 25 miles from the bar in York (which wouldn't been nice to know prior).
The cabin & restroom were nice. I was worried that we'd get all that way up there & the combo wouldn't work, but thankfully it did (it was confusing b/c I got an email right before saying call for combo but the email had the combo, so I went with that but I was worried maybe I should have called). There was no key or combination lock to the wood shed as described (which we didn't need luckily). There IS a picnic table outside as well as a fire pit. I wasn't able to determine that prior & I really wanted to know, so FYI. Bring twin fitted sheets if you're using blankets. I just brought another blanket to sleep on & it got all twisted up. I would have preferred 1 less cabinet & have one set of bunkbeds be queen-sized @ least so that I could've slept with my husband more comfortably.
It's a cute cabin, well maintained, pretty area but we probably won't be back b/c it's so far & there's no water nearby.
We hiked Refrigerator Canyon on the way out - enjoyed that! Try to find the time capsule ;)

Beautiful location, the wildflowers were incredible to observe on our hikes. Having the creek nearby was awesome so we could filter all our water for eating and drinking and fill the solar shower for a refreshing shower after hiking. The set-up was perfect for two people and the dog. We have a camp tote we travel with so didn’t use the dishes and cookware provided but the cabin appeared to have most kitchen equipment in the cupboard The road left a lot to be desired-especially after the rain. Hopefully the work they were doing on it will be an improvement. Less boulders and more gravel would certainly be better. All in all a relaxing, cozy hangout for a week.