Avery Creek Cabin

About 200 feet past milepost 26 on Forest Road 208, a three-room cabin stands in a small grassy clearing ringed by evergreen forest, at an elevation of 3,000 feet. The North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River runs alongside. Avery Picnic Area lies directly across the road. The road from Interstate 90 is paved the whole way: 23 miles north from the Kingston exit on Forest Highway 9, then 3 miles straight on on Forest Road 208. The Forest Service puts the drive from Coeur d’Alene at about an hour. The nearest groceries are about 2 miles south in Prichard. Recreation.gov lists the cabin as near Wallace.

Three rooms and a covered porch

The Idaho Panhandle National Forests rent the cabin to parties of up to six. Guests let themselves in with a combination code. The living room holds a fold-out couch, a dining table, and four chairs. The kitchenette has an electric range, a refrigerator, basic cookware, dishes, and a sink with hot and cold water. In the bedroom are a double bed and a set of bunk beds. The bathroom has a flush toilet and a shower stall, and electric baseboard heaters warm the rooms.

Water comes from a well and is not chemically treated. The Forest Service text calls it drinkable and says it is tested regularly, although the amenity listing on the same agency page states that potable water is not available. Outside are a picnic table, a barbecue grill, and a campfire ring, with four resin chairs on the front porch. The log garage behind the cabin is closed to renters. Guests bring their own sleeping bags, flashlights, and matches and newspaper for the fire, and they pack out all trash and food. Dogs are not allowed.

Guest reviews posted in 2026 report no cell service from any carrier. In 2012 the nearest land line was at Shoshone Base Camp, 5 miles north. A guest who signed as courtney f wrote in June 2026 of “some hiking trails out the back and a creek that runs down the side of the cabin,” and “a wonderful swimming hole across the street.” Bob G, who stayed in mid-September 2026, called the place “Peaceful, quiet.” He reported one flaw: “a bat that flew around the bedroom the first night and disappeared somewhere in the ceiling.”

The Forest Service page gives the season as mid-May through mid-September in one place and mid-May through September in another. Recreation.gov lists the 2027 season as May 19 through September 25.

Trout water and the trails beyond

Guests fish the river for cutthroat and rainbow trout under Idaho Fish and Game rules, and tubing is common on the same water. In 2012 Rich Landers of The Spokesman-Review wrote that the cabin drew fly fishers because it sits near “a blue-ribbon catch-and-release cutthroat trout stream.” A short hike leads to Centennial Falls. Non-motorized routes farther off include Lost Creek Trail, Shoshone Ridge, and Settler’s Grove Botanical Area. Motorized riders use the Graham and Coal Creek trails. The Forest Service notes that elk and deer live in the forest, along with grizzly bears, wolves, and caribou.

A firemen’s cabin, 1926 to 2012

The cabin went up between 1926 and 1928 to house Forest Service employees who did administrative supervision and fire protection. It follows a standard Forest Service plan known as the firemen’s cabin, which the Spokesman-Review identifies as the C-45 plan. In 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps built the picnic area across the road on the riverbank. In 1940 a bathroom was added in a board-and-batten shed on the cabin’s east side, and the rustic log garage was built behind it. Crews lived in the cabin until 1981.

The forest later renovated the building and made it fully accessible. On April 17, 2012, Landers announced in the Spokesman-Review that “a prize overnight accommodation on the North Fork” was open for reservations. Starting May 18 of that year it joined 13 other cabins and lookouts for rent on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Its first rental season was set to run May 18 to November 18, weather permitting.

The North Fork closed, August 2015

Three summers later, the building put up for fire protection was itself shut by fire. On August 20, 2015, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported that the Forest Service had closed most of the North Fork drainage. It was the largest emergency closure in the history of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. At least 20 fires were burning in the area, and the North Fork River Road was barricaded near Shoshone Base Camp and at Jordan Saddle. Avery Creek Cabin and the Avery Creek Day Use site appeared on the list of closed sites, along with Devil’s Elbow and Big Hank campgrounds, the Eagle Creek/Settlers Grove Trailhead, and the Little Guard and Spyglass lookouts.

“It was a difficult decision to make and we don’t do these things lightly,” said Jason Kirchner, a forest spokesman. The South Bobcat Fire had burned to the edge of Settlers Cedar Grove, where some trees are more than 1,000 years old. “We got some sprinklers and firefighters up there to protect the cedars,” Kirchner said.