Strawberry Cabin

Beautiful spot, easy easy hike to the cabin. 1-2 miles from the turn off. My biggest complaint is the cleanliness. It smelt like mouse pee and poo. There is a need for more pots and pans. There was 1 "pot" for melting snow and one teeny tiny pot for cooking. If you plan on going i would plan on bringing some lysol and a cooking pot.

The cabin was very well kept! Lots of firewood and clean! We enjoyed our 2 nights there.

Stayed here for NYE! Awesome experience, cozy cabin with a great wood stove. I have a 2wd with snow tires and made it to the gate without difficulty because there was hardly any snow. Highly suggest AWD or 4WD and good tires for winter access, the road condition is decent but there are tight turns and steeper uphill and downhill sections. Couple things to note: the splitting maul is one of the dullest I've encountered even for FS cabins but gets the job done (if you have files and sharpening skills, would serve it well), and there is no hatchet for kindling. Plenty of wood rounds in shed adjacent to the cabin. Cooking pots are limited to one small saucepan, and one small frying pan, best to bring your own bigger pots or pans if you plan on making a larger group meal. Counter top propane stove does have a griddle side and one burner. Supplies were somewhat scant, but I left a few essential things and an oil lantern that takes paraffin oil and left a 32 oz supply of oil. There's definitely mice but not an infestation I'd say- I did find a dish sponge left out in the open covered in poop- best to put these things and other food in containers or bags or locked away in cabinets. Don't forget garbage bags and disinfectant wipes as there's none at the cabin and maybe leave a few for the next folks :) Wonderful little cabin!

Overall, this cabin was wonderful. Very clean, amazing views with windows on all 4 sides, and great cabin. The indoor stove was top notch (didn't leak and very clean). The only reason this cabin didn't get 5 stars: the traffic that came up to the cabin was excessive. I even had a couple park directly in front of the cabin and walk around the cabin at sunset to "see the sights". It was very inconsiderate. Most others saw that I was there in front of the cabin and they turned around and left. But there only option was to turn around at the cabin or awkwardly turn around before they got to it. There should be access to the renter to close the cabin to deter others from coming up that 1 mile of "driveway". Without the constant bombardment of vehicles this would be a 5 star cabin.

A friend and I stayed two nights over Labor Day weekend 2023. The cabin itself is one of the cleanest, and nicest ones we've stayed in. It comes stocked with games, eating utensils, tea, camping supplies and more. The fire ring is really nice and has a built-in grill you can move on and off the fire. That area comes with logs to sit on and two picnic tables as well. The bathroom was nice and clean, and stocked with toilet paper.

Now the cons of the cabin - We were told that the cabin and the woodshed both had combo locks. When we got to the cabin though, both had key padlocks. The cabin was unlocked with the padlock inside, but the woodshed's lock was still on, and we weren't able to use the firewood all weekend.

If you are booking this cabin for the lookout - think again. We booked this cabin back in April with the intent of watching the sunrise in the lookout. When we arrived Labor Day weekend, the lookout had a gate that was padlocked, a sign that said "Closed to Public", and a fence that was being built around it. So we were very disappointed.

The third and quite possibly MOST frustrating aspect about this cabin is the traffic. Just like other reviews stated - be prepared for random people to show up. Over the two-night stay, we had 22 separate vehicles with multiple people show up, starting from 15 minutes after arrival on Friday, all the way until 10AM Sunday morning. At one point we had six Forestry trucks hauling 20 some people up to build part of a fence at 11AM on Saturday. Saturday was the worst day for traffic, as we were awaken by a large diesel truck flying up the hill at 5:30AM and ended the day with a car hanging out at 9:30PM as we were laying down. If you stay here, be very prepared to get woken up by side-by-sides and have random people stop by your camp and ask to look around for a bit....even if you're in the middle of breakfast. It was NOT peaceful to say the very least and actually stressful at times.

Strawberry lookout cabin was very clean and comfomtable. The first night there was not a "camp stove" as listed in the outline of what to expect but we enjoyed a wonderful dinner over the outdoor fire. When we returned from a hike the next day, the camp stove was leaning against the cabin door with a note from Forest Service technician requesting we put it in the cabin as she did not want to invade our privacy by entering. We greatly appreciated respecting our privacy. The tech also left another roll of toilet paper. SO-- Our suggestion for future cabin renters .. come prepared, be flexible regarding your hikes (changes in weather) as well as # of general public looking in your cabin windows. Most importantly please leave the cabin as clean as ,or better, than you left it. We definitley give our experience a strong 5 of 5 stars. A HUGE thank you to the forest service for opening it to public use!!!

Be careful renting in the winter. Many folks have gotten stuck in the snow. It is not plowed

Non-resident was camping in the parking lot upon our arrival. He agreed to leave when found we rented for our family. Very rustic, we just slept on the bunks and cooked on the fire grate. Disappointed not able to climb into fire tower.

Strawberry Cabin was the perfect one-night getaway! My partner and I live in Missoula and drove through Helena to stay at the cabin for the night. Parts of the road were fairly rocky/uneven, so definitely best to have a high clearance vehicle. Our CRV did just fine! The cabin was well stocked and we did not see any hikers during our stay. There were games and puzzles available, and the built in, fold-out tables were amazing! We can't wait to visit again!

Beautiful and secluded, some great hikes a short drive away, but expect visitors in side by sides or 4x4s skidding to a stop after speeding around that last corner to see a family and dogs enjoying the woods. The only turn around is between cabin and fire pit, so its only momentary blindness as their headlights blare (yeah they show up in the dark, I'm sure they're sober) while they execute a messy three point turn and drive out if you're lucky.