Meadow Creek Cabin
1Heads up1 fire 21 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Meadow Creek Cabin was originally built in the early 1920s and used as a guard station, which consists of five buildings. The main cabin contains the office, a sleeping area and the kitchen. The bunkhouse contains a main room and loft. There is also a tack shed, woodshed and outhouse. Since 1932, Meadow Creek has served as a workstation, with field crews occasionally utilizing the bunkhouse. The cabin is nestled among the pines on a steep-sided canyon along Meadow Creek. Plan on a 15-mile hike or horseback ride to this remote backcountry cabin, which is typically available from May 1 to September 15. Keep reading
Recreation
Several trails are available in the area to explore by foot or horseback, including the Meadow Creek National Recreation Trail and the Butte Creek Trail. Anglers can enjoy fly fishing for trout in Meadow Creek after July 1st each year.
Facilities
The rustic cabin has six beds with mattresses, a living room with wood heat, and kitchen facilities with a wood cook stove. A propane refrigerator, dishes, cookware, kitchen utensils, Coleman lantern (no fuel provided), mop, bucket, broom, fire extinguisher and lights are provided. Modern bathroom facilities and electricity are not available. An outhouse is located near the cabin. An indoor but untested water system is available; all water should be filtered or boiled for five minutes. The propane tank is located on the back porch. A corral is provided for stock use and any grazing should take place beyond the grassy area in front of the cabins. Visitors must being weed-free feed for their stock. Visitors should bring garbage bags for packing out trash. The cabin does not have matches, bedding, flashlights, first aid supplies or Coleman fuel. Click here for more information about this cabin.
Natural Features
Meadow Creek is a major tributary of the Selway River and is known for its clean, cold water and unspoiled beauty. Big game species found in the area include black bear, elk, moose, mule deer, whitetail deer and cougar. Visitors may also spot the Coeur d'Alene Salamander, which is only found in areas near the Selway River and Meadow Creek. Beaver, mink and otter may also be seen.
Nearby Attractions
Indian Hill Lookout is near the cabin and just outside the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. The present tower was built in 1951 and the cabin is occupied by staff during the summer months.
What the agency tells you
You must hike or ride stock approximately 15 miles to access this site
Due to the rugged trail, experienced livestock are recommended
The drinking water at the cabin is not potable so must be treated
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Maximum capacity is 6 people
If using stock to access this cabin, make sure to bring weed-free feed
Guests must pick up door key at Moose Creek Ranger Station before hiking or riding to the cabin
Guests should be aware that there is a risk of exposure to hantavirus when visiting remote cabins; click here to learn more
Click here for more information about Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “An outhouse is located near the cabin.”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek, Meadow
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Swimming
- 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
1 sites
All 1 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA MEADOW CREEK CABIN | 001 | cabin nonelectric | $40 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Walde Lookout CabinClearwater National Forest · 18 mi
Johnson Bar Group SiteNezperce National Forest · 20 mi
Fish Creek Group UseNezperce National Forest · 22 miCastle Creek CampgroundNezperce National Forest · 22 miTravel to Lowell, Idaho, located approximately midway between Lewiston, Idaho and Missoula, Montana on Highway 12, milepost 97 at the confluence of the Lochsa and Selway Rivers. Cross the bridge and drive 20 miles up the Selway River. Cross the Selway Falls Bridge on the right. Travel about a mile to the trailhead at Slim's Camp. It's a 15-mile hike or horseback ride on National Recreation Trail #726 to Meadow Creek Cabin.
Another route is from Elk City by way of Kirk's Fork Trail #830 to Anderson Butte, then Butte Creek Trail #809 to the Meadow Creek Trail #726. Take a right on this trail approximately 1/4 mile to the Meadow Creek Cabin. This route is open to motorcycles the whole way. This route is a total of approximately 14 miles to the cabin.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Kooskia, ID
Typical weather
Typical October night 38°F, day 62°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 26°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Meadow Creek Cabin is in Idaho’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Russ Fulcher (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →