Blacksmith Fork Guard Station

Loved the cabin plan on going there again next year

Nothing in the description says about this cabin being on a ATV road. The road is very rough to the cabin, we actually ended up with a flat tire. The ATV's are non stop even into the night hours. In the summer if you open the windows in the cabin it is COVERED in dust inside! The community restroom is next to the cabin and through all hours of the night the door slams.. while the person using it lets their ATV idle outside. It is not a quite location; nor restful. I have stayed at many REC. GOV cabins and never had a complaint, but its sad this cabin is in this location.

Cabin was great very comfortable cozy. The road getting there was kinda bad
Will definately stay there again

Even though it says to bring your own cleaning supplies we found a broom, mop, simple green, Lysol, and other supplies there. You should bring your own paper towels. The kitchen utensils were sufficient for our needs but you may want to bring your own skillet or you’ll be stuck with a 4 inch egg pan. There is a large soup pot and some smaller ones as well. A full set of plates, bowls, and silverware for at least 4 people.

There are definitely several deer mice that have lost their fear of humans that live in this cabin one of whom had a face off with our two year old.

The bunks have a thin 1 inch ish foam pad that we didn’t find adequate but with a supplemental air mattress or camping pad are fine. There are two sets of bunk beds one is twin on top queen on bottom and the other is two twin beds.

There is a woodpile in the back and an axe in the closet of the cabin but no hatchet (we had our own). There is a clothesline outside to hang up your wet swimming clothes and plenty of fish in the creek. The propane stove, fridge, and gas lamps work great but we never tried the oven.

We ended up cleaning the public toilet as when we got there someone before us had had a very bad day and we had the means to clean it.

There is no trashcan inside the cabin and with the mice I highly recommend either bringing your own metal container or we put ours in a locking plastic cargo box at night to avoid a disaster in the morning.

Overall a 10/10 experience. Highly recommend.

So fun! And so nice! We loved the privacy and features it gave us

How do you feel about camping in mouse poop that could give you hantavirus? My husband and I, our friends, and our babies went on a XC ski cabin trip up to Blacksmith Fork Guard Station mid-February 2024. Since it is a guard station our expectations were low but this was FAR below our expectations especially for $79 a night. (See update at the bottom).

Upon arriving, we realized there was so much mouse poop on every horizontal surface we saw. On the counters, table, floor, window seals, counters in the kitchen, on the mattresses, under the mattresses, dresser, fridge, oven range, in kitchen drawers and more. It wasn’t just a small infestation. It was a big one. That wasn’t it, the cleanliness of the place was extremely poor. The fridge and freezer had mold in it.

Before our trip, I called the ranger to ask about the cabin and get more details. We were expecting to use some of the things the ranger said we could use but because of the poor maintenance of the cabin we were not able to. I was told there were propane lights we could use there and instructions on how to use them, upon arrival we read the instructions which said to install a mantle for the light. There was only one mantle in the cabin so we could only have one room lit. Since we had never used propane lights before we did not know they needed mantles and were not informed to bring any if they aren’t provided. I was told there were dishes to use there but they had mouse poop on them (they had butter knives but I don’t think they had spoons/forks). Don’t plan on using their dishes for eating if you go. I was told there would be instructions on how to use everything with propane but there wasn’t any info on how to use the propane fridge. (Which was fine because it was so nasty we just kept our food in the snow outside). I was told the beds are sanitized between guests. I’m not sure how they sanitize them… they did not look clean. They had pet hair, mouse poop, and lots of yellow stains on them. On one mattress, it looked like a human (or dog) had peed on it. In previous pictures it looked like there was a plastic waterproof cover on the mattresses but there was not when we went. There was one unset mouse trap under the kitchen sink, but no other measures to keep the mice out. We understand there are mice in mountain cabins but this was excessive. We had containers to keep our food in and that keep it safe, thankfully. The next morning, there was even more mouse poop in areas we had cleaned up the night before. The mice also got into a closed bag of popcorn left on the counter. It was a challenge to not be able to put the babies down on the ground to move around. It was also hard to keep them clean and away from the mouse poop. I would never have gone especially with our baby if I'd known the state of the cabin.

The good: it was fun to be outside. It snowed so we had fresh snow to play in and get out of the cabin. The furnace kept the place warm (almost too warm in the main room and not quite warm enough in the side bedroom unfortunately) and there was plenty of firewood so we did not have to haul in our own.

If you decide to face the mouse poop, read up on how to properly take care of it (i.e. not sweeping) to avoid getting Hantavirus. We cleaned up and left the cabin better than we found it but it needs a LOT more help. I’m sure mice have taken over already since we left. Please be aware before going. There hasn’t been a review in a while and not many winter reviews so hopefully this will help someone. I took pictures of a lot of it and will include them in my review.

Update: I called the ranger station after getting back and informed them of the issues we had there. They were grateful to know what was going on and said they would get someone up there to fix those issues with the cabin. They said they need to know about that and were grateful I called. The ranger I talked with was very patient and listened to my concerns and addressed them well over the phone call. They refunded us 100% without us asking for it.

How do you feel about camping in mouse poop that could give you hantavirus? 6 of us including babies went on a XC ski cabin trip up to Blacksmith Fork Guard Station mid-February '24. This was FAR below our expectations especially for $79 a night. Upon arriving, we realized there was so much mouse poop on every horizontal surface we saw. On the counters, table, floor, window seals, counters in the kitchen, on the mattresses, under the mattresses, dresser, fridge, oven range, in kitchen drawers and more. That wasn’t it, the cleanliness was extremely poor. The fridge and freezer had mold.

Before our trip, I called the ranger to ask about the cabin and get more details. We were expecting to use some of the things the ranger said we could use but because of the poor maintenance of the cabin we were not able to. I was told there were propane lights we could use there and instructions on how to use them, upon arrival we read the instructions which said to install a mantle for the light. There was only one mantle in the cabin so we could only have one room lit. I was told there were dishes to use there but they had mouse poop on them (they had butter knives but I don’t think they had spoons/forks). I was told there would be instructions on how to use everything with propane but there wasn’t any info on how to use the propane fridge. I was told the beds are sanitized between guests. The beds had pet hair, mouse poop, and lots of little yellow stains on them. On one mattress, it looked like a human (or dog) had peed on it. There was one unset mouse trap under the kitchen sink, but no other measures to keep the mice out...Check my google review for pictures and more info as I am limited on space and cannot add pictures here.

I called and talked with the ranger after the visit and the ranger was grateful to know what was going on. They refunded us for our trip.

House smelled like propane, windows had plywood covering them, looked like squatters had been staying there, overall not worth the money. The house was extremely underwhelming, for the trip definitely save your money and book just the campsite.

Ranger Station was exactly what I was looking for. Remote, quiet, warm wood burning stove and good nights rest.

This is a nice area, easy to find and a pretty forrest of deciduous trees mainly, and not much pine as the elevation isnt very high. Beautiful lush greenery and a lovely bubbling creek out back. Campers spread along the one dirt road in various sites yet unable to see or hear them except for the occasional passing car. Although the road is dirt, any sedan can easily navigate it, avoiding pointy rocks. The cabin itself is full of character as expected, had a nice working refrigerator, pots pans and many odds and ends in the cabinets. The bed mattresses are rough sleeping for any adult, so bring an extra pad, or air mattresses is best, kid or youth can hack it though. Unfortunately people. who come and go hardly keep it tidy, compared to many other cabins we have rented, but if you are staying a few days its easy enough to clean it up for your visit. There were a few mosquitos but not many ( August) Nearest services are 20-30 mins away. Lots of fox, deer and I presume bears in the area-bear activity signs were posted and everywhere in this area is possible for bears, so bear mace, bells and planning ahead for that is best.
Lovely views of the mountains, boulder outcrops and a small beach area for the kids to play. We were disappointed in the general condition of the property with a chipped up cement picnic table, pealing paint, exterior looking near abandoned in person, and the fence looking as if it hasn't had a facelift since the 1940s-1960s. Other cabins for rent in Utah are far more maintained than this one in terms of the exterior. We love the old world rustic interior, but A deep clean would be nice as the floors and window sils were the worst. The floors were old and scraped up and we loved that authentic look but they were pretty filthy despite being swept, and the windows and window sils were probably the worst thing with hundreds of dead bug and flies and massive dust and dirt dug into them. ALL WINDOWS NEED A FULL DEEP CLEANING. CLEAN UP after yourselves:)