Cold Springs Peak Cabin - Clearwater NF in ID -- Campground & RV Camping

Pot Mountain Cabin is a primitive 12-by-14-foot log cabin built in 1931, perched on a rocky ridgeline near Cold Springs Peak at 6,731 feet elevation. Located off Pot Mountain Trail #169, the remote shelter overlooks Ice Lake and the Elizabeth Creek drainage. The single-room interior offers two spring beds, a small table with chairs, a modern wood heating stove, and an outdoor pit toilet. There is no electricity, piped water, or trash service; water must be hauled from a stream one mile away. Reaching the cabin requires traveling over two miles of steep, multi-use trail.

Getting there: The cabin is approximately 50 miles northeast of the community of Pierce, Idaho on the North Fork Ranger District of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. The last 35 miles to the cabin from Pierce are mostly single lane, gravel surfaced roadways that may be peppered with large potholes and rocks, with the last 6 miles being rutted 2 track road requiring 4X4 high clearance vehicles operated by experienced operators and 2 miles of multi-use, moderate difficulty trail. Seasonal conditions permitting: Cold Springs Cabin is also approachable from I90 via Superior MT, with the addition of a high mountain pass that is usually impassible from late Oct to mid-July, and 60 miles of challenging gravel/rock/dirt road conditions. Visitors are strongly advised to consult a map, the forest web site, seasonal conditions in advance of making reservations as well as prior to travel, and to plan their trip accordingly as there are no services on the forest. To approach Cold Springs Cabin from Idaho via US HWY 12 and State HWY 11: Locate French Mountain Road, also known as Forest Service Road 250 on the east side of State HWY 11 (Main St) on the south end of Peirce Idaho (approximately 3/4 of a mile from city center). Travel on FSR 250 for approximately 45 miles (be sure to stay to the right after crossing the North Fork of the Clearwater River at the “Historic Bungalow Ranger Station site”) until you reach the FSR 250 and FSR 711 junction at Cold Springs Cr (about 2 miles West of Kelly Forks Work Center) From the FSR 250/FSR 711 junction, at Cold Springs Cr follow FSR 711 to the Junction of FSR 711/FSR 5295. At this point the remaining 6 miles to the Cold Springs Cabin becomes increasingly narrow, steep, rocky, rutted and brushed in travel, barely passable with high clearance 4x4 vehicles with an experienced operator during the best of conditions, so it is recommended to continue by ATV/UTV, motorbike, or on stock/foot following the established FSR 5295 to FSR 5297 route leading to the Flat Mountain Trailhead of the 176 trail. Follow the multi-use, moderate difficulty 176 trail 2 miles, and past the junction of the Elizabeth Mountain 445 trail to the east (at about the halfway point) to the Cold Springs Cabin. Conditions permitting: Cold Springs Cabin can be approached from USI90 via Superior MT by locating the River St under pass of USI90. Follow River St to Diamond Match Rd on the south side of USI90, follow Diamond Match Rd southeast past Riverbend where the road curves to the south and becomes FSR 250, travel 25 miles (also known as the Trout Creek Road) to Hoodoo Pass at the Idaho-Montana state line. Continue southwest on FSR 250 for approximately 29 more miles past the FSR 250/FSR 255 junction and thru Black Canyon to the Kelly Forks Work Center, then continue on FSR 250 to the FSR 250 and the FSR 711 junction at Cold Springs Cr (about 2 miles west of the Kelly Forks Work Center) and follow directions in the paragraph above. *NOTE: Hoodoo Pass, is a remote mountain pass that rises to 6,000 ft elevation and is typically impassable due to snow from late Oct until mid-July when the pass melts out. Black Canyon typically has spring debris slides that can make FSR 250 between Hoodoo pass and Kelly Forks Work Center impassible until cleared. An alternate route is to take FSR 255 through Deception and then follow it along Kelly Creek back to FSR250.

• Secluded here, a single-site campground with the nearest through road 2.5 miles off.
• Flat ground is scarce: under a tenth of the terrain within a few hundred yards is level.
• Cold Lake lies 0.2 mi off.
• Cabins and shelters rather than pads, with most of them shaded.

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