Big Trinity Cabin
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 2All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Big Trinity Cabin offers a quiet retreat in a beautiful high alpine landscape. The cabin is situated within a popular summer recreation area with many activities to enjoy. The cabin has a limited season due to late snow melt, but is accessible by vehicles with reasonable ground clearance. Many creature comforts are provided; however, guests may want to bring some supplies and gear to make their experience more comfortable and enjoyable. Keep reading
Recreation
The 4- mile Rainbow Basin Trail system for pedestrain travel only, offers access to several lakes, hikers can access the trail System from the trailhead located within Big Trinity Lake campground. Other trails within the area Roaring River trail 045, and Lava Mountain trail 125, these are motorized motorcycle trails. Click here for an Idaho OHV Safety Message. Anglers can fish in any of the nearby lakes for rainbow and cutthroat trout. The lakes are also ideal for exploring by canoe or kayak.
Facilities
The cabin sleeps six and is equipped with one double bed, a sofa bed, side tables, a drop-down kitchen table, cleaning supplies, dishes and tableware, chairs and a dining table, cookware and a fire extinguisher. A wood stove is available for heating and cooking. A picnic table and campfire ring with grill are provided outside. Drinking water is available from a nearby hand pump. The cabin is stocked with seasoned wood, a splitting maul, axe and hatchet. A vault restroom is located outside. No electricity or propane is available. Guests must bring garbage bags to pack out their trash. Bedding, lighting and emergency supplies are not provided. Guests are responsible for cleaning the cabin before leaving.
Natural Features
The cabin is located in a dense lodgepole pine forest close to the East Fork Roaring River at an elevation of 7,900 feet. It's nestled among four subalpine lakes: Big Roaring River Lake, Little Roaring River Lake, Big Trinity Lake and Little Trinity Lake. The peaks of the Boise Mountains surround the cabins, and Trinity Mountain, the tallest in the range at 9,451 feet, is just to the south. Snow can make this area inaccessible until early July, but soon afterward, the land is blanketed by colorful summer wildflowers. This area is a haven for elk and deer, but wildlife watchers may also spot an occasional black bear.
Nearby Attractions
The summit of Trinity Mountain is the highest drivable point in Idaho, although the road may be blocked by snow until early July. A short, steep hike takes visitors to the lookout tower for panoramic views of several subalpine lakes and other mountains in the Boise Range.
What the agency tells you
Instructions for the combination lock on the door are located at the gate and cabin entrance; the combination is included in the reservation confirmation letter
No water is available in the cabin; it is only available from the outside hand pump
No garbage service; trash must be packed out
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Phone service is one hour away
Candles are not permitted in the cabin
Camping is not allowed at this site; please do not use tents at the cabin
Livestock, such as saddle, pack or draft animals, is not allowed at this site
Camping is available on a first come, first served basis at three nearby campgrounds: Big Trinity, Big Roaring and Little Roaring
Click here for more information about Boise National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 2 · 2 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…a splitting maul, axe and hatchet. A vault restroom is located outside. No electricity or propane is…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…ring with grill are provided outside. Drinking water is available from a nearby hand pump. The cabin is…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Biking
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 sites · the site map
All 2 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 2 of the 2 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 2 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Elks Flat CampgroundBoise National Forest · 9.5 mi
Dog Creek (ID)Boise National Forest · 9.6 miIce Springs CampgroundBoise National Forest · 10 miNinemeyer CampgroundBoise National Forest · 11 miAbbott CampgroundSawtooth National Forest · 11 miTravel east from Boise, Idaho on I-84 to Mountain Home. At I-84/Highway 20 junction, take Highway 20 east for 35 miles to Pine/Featherville turnoff. Travel north on Forest Highway 61 for 29 miles to Forest Road 172. Travel 15 miles northwest to Forest Road 129. Travel 3 miles to the Guard Station junction. The roadway is paved up to the junction of Forest Road 172. Forest Road 172 is native material (dirt) and trailer traffic is not recommended. There are signs noting each of the junctions.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Idaho City, ID
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Big Trinity Cabin is in Idaho’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Simpson (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →