Federal Forest Rd 3920

A 2008 camp on 10 acres off a Forest Service road west of Iron River, 768 square feet with two bedrooms and one bath, listed at $179,900. The listing says the parcel sits against federal and corporate forest land, that the cabin comes mostly furnished with its appliances, that the two bedrooms sleep seven, and that the grounds hold a detached guest cabin, a composting privy, a storage shed and a workshop garage. Water and sewer are both listed as none, electric is a generator, and the listing’s special conditions field says short sale. The parcel has no assigned street address. It went on the market on September 4, 2026.

The land and setting

The listing gives 10 acres, 330 by 1,320 feet, with 330 feet of road frontage and a rural view. That shape is a quarter of a forty, a long narrow strip running back from the road. Iron County has the parcel, 007-281-005-00, on record as single family residential with no lot size on file, so the acreage cannot be checked against the county.

The aerials show the clearing as a small opening in a canopy that runs to the horizon in every direction. The remarks call the neighbors federal and corporate forest land. Corporate forest in the Upper Peninsula usually means timber company ground enrolled in Michigan’s Commercial Forest program, which is open to the public on foot for hunting and fishing.

Access is Federal Forest Rd 3920, a Forest Service road. The listing gives frontage type as road and says nothing about surface, maintenance, plowing, or whether the drive crosses anyone else’s ground. The photos show a gravel entrance with a sign post and a mown clearing around the buildings, with a picnic table and a stone firepit under the hardwoods.

The house

Built in 2008, 768 square feet on one level, conventional frame with wood siding on a crawl space. Two bedrooms and one bath, with the rooms listed as a 13 by 14 living room, a 10 by 9 kitchen, a 7 by 14 dining room, bedrooms of 9 by 10 and 9 by 12, and a 5 by 5 bath. The listing fields count one full bath. The remarks call it a three quarter bath.

Inside is one open room under a vaulted tongue and groove ceiling with exposed beams, leather couches, a kitchen with red cabinets and a peninsula bar, and a propane wall heater against a stone wall. Heating is listed as a propane space heater, cooling as none, and the one fireplace as type other. The photos show no wood stove, and the one metal flue on the back wall lines up with the propane heater. The listing says the range and refrigerator are included, and the remarks say all appliances and most of the furniture.

The second bedroom holds a double bed and a built-in bunk, which is where the seven sleepers come from. The bath has a composting toilet with a vent pipe, a small sink and a shower curtain.

Outside, the photos show a second cabin with a screened porch and a deck, finished inside with wood floors, a bed, a wall heater and a run of kitchenette cabinets. A two-car garage with a green overhead door holds a four wheeler and a trailer. A small privy stands at the tree line next to a solar panel on a pole. The listing’s structures field says sheds and workshop.

The facts

What to know before you call

The special conditions field says short sale. The listing’s special conditions read Short Sale, Private, Standard, three terms that do not usually sit together. A short sale means the seller owes more than the price and the lender has to approve the deal, which adds weeks or months and can end in a no. Nothing else in the listing mentions it. Ask the agent directly whether this is a short sale, whether the lender has already agreed to a price, and how long approval is expected to take. If it is, our foreclosures page covers what that process looks like from the buyer’s side.

The parcel has no assigned street address. Federal Forest Rd 3920 is a Forest Service road designation. Zillow files the property as Federal Forest Rd #3920 and Redfin as TBD Forest Rd 3920. No street number means no mail delivery and emergency services routed by parcel or coordinates. Ask for the parcel number and legal description in writing.

No water, no septic, and a sink and shower with nowhere listed to drain. Water and sewer are both listed as none. The remarks say the toilet is a composting privy, and the bathroom photo shows a composting unit with a vent pipe. The same photo shows a sink with a faucet and a shower curtain, and the kitchen has a sink and a range. Ask where the water comes from, whether it is hauled and stored, where the sinks and shower drain, and whether Iron County has ever permitted a gray water system here. A camp that sleeps seven on a composting toilet is fine for deer season and something else for a family in July.

Power is a generator, and the panel in the photos is not listed. Electric reads generator. Two photos show a solar panel on a pole beside the privy, and the listing never mentions solar, a battery bank, or what the panel feeds. Ask what the generator is, whether it conveys, what the panel runs, and what a week at the camp looks like on that system.

The propane tank is leased. The listing says propane tank leased. Heat is a propane space heater and the remarks say all appliances are included, which on a camp with no grid power usually means a propane refrigerator and range. A leased tank stays with the supplier, not the seller. Ask who holds the lease, what the fill contract says, and whether the supplier will deliver down a Forest Service road in February.

Access across ground you will not own. The parcel sits against federal and corporate forest land and the road is a Forest Service designation. The listing gives 330 feet of road frontage and nothing else. Ask whether the road is open year-round or seasonal, who maintains it, whether it is plowed, and whether any part of the drive or the road between the parcel and the county road crosses national forest or timber company land by deed, by easement, or by a special use permit that carries conditions and renewal terms.

Commercial Forest next door means hunters on foot. The remarks pitch this as a hunting camp adjacent to corporate forest. Corporate timber ground in this county is usually enrolled in Michigan’s Commercial Forest program, which requires the owner to allow public foot access for hunting and fishing. That is a great deal of huntable ground out the back door, and it means the public can walk right up to your line. At 10 acres this parcel is under the program’s 40 acre minimum, so the $1,930 tax bill is not a Commercial Forest figure. Ask the township which neighbors are enrolled.

The tax bill will move when it sells. The listing gives $1,930 a year with no year attached, and neither listing site holds a tax or assessment record for the parcel. Michigan caps how fast taxable value can rise while an owner holds a property and uncaps it to the state equalized value, half of market value, the year after a sale. A camp built in 2008 that has not changed hands since would be well below its SEV, and the bill after closing can be a good deal higher than the seller’s. Ask the Iron County treasurer for the current SEV and taxable value before you write an offer.

Buildings the listing does not count. The structures field says sheds and workshop. The photos show a finished guest cabin with a screened porch, a wall heater, a bed and a kitchenette, a two-car garage, and a privy. The 768 square feet is the main cabin only, and the guest cabin is not in the room list. Ask whether the guest cabin and garage were permitted, whether either is on the assessment, and whether the guest cabin has its own heat source and power.

Full bath or three quarter bath. The listing fields say one full bathroom. The remarks say three quarter, and the photo shows a composting toilet, a small sink and a shower behind a curtain in a 5 by 5 room. Take the remarks at their word.

What stays. The remarks say mostly furnished with all appliances. The photos show couches, beds, a bar with stools, mounts and decor through every room, and a four wheeler and trailer in the garage. Ask for the list in writing.

The acreage cannot be checked against the county. Iron County holds the parcel with no lot size, no year built and no building data. Have the title company pull the legal description and confirm the 10 acres before you rely on it.

One listing, two MLS numbers, three days. The property appears as MiRealSource 50220926 dated September 4 and as Greater Northwoods MLS 219464 dated September 3, with the same remarks and price. No earlier listing or sale is on record at either site.

You can see everything else we have listed on the properties page. Nearby we have a camp on 62 acres and half a mile of the Paint River, on another Forest Service road out of Iron River, and at a similar price a 2021 off-grid cabin on 40 acres ringed by Commercial Forest land in Champion.

To ask about this one, call Stephen Remondini on 906-284-0341 or Stephens Real Estate in Iron River on 906-265-7325, and reference MLS 50220926. Tell them where you saw it.