Ironstone Hut is a single-roomed hut built of stone, with a wooden floor, an iron roof, and a narrow verandah which runs along the front of the building. It sits at the foot of Forty Lakes Peak, with commanding views of Lake Nameless and Mt Ironstone. The Hut can be accessed via Higgs Track, or from Lake McKenzie via Explorer Creek.

The original Ironstone Hut was built in 1918 by the Deloraine and District Improvement Association, to promote tourism and fishing in the area. The DDIA was responsible for the establishment of other huts on the central plateau and provided funding for the labour and the building materials required. Sydney & Caleb Higgs were contracted by the DDIA to build Ironstone Hut, assisted by other members of the Higgs Family as well as the local Cunningham and Woodberry families, to carry materials to the building site. A stone boat shed was also built on the shore of Lake Nameless to house a small boat, which was purchased by the local community.
By the late 1940s, due to the ravages of weather and time, the hut was showing signs of deterioration; by the 1960s it was in ruins and by the early 1990s was nothing more than a pile of rubble.

In 1988 the Deloraine Walking Club made application to the Department of Parks, Wildlife and Heritage to rebuild the hut. Their application was refused. In late 1990, MHPS sought permission to rebuild Ironstone Hut and, while having the full support of the local community, was met with strong objections from various other bodies, including the Department of Parks, Wildlife and Heritage and certain factions within the environment movement of the day.

Over the next few years, a protracted and vigorous campaign was waged by MHPS, including, in February 1992, the gathering of almost 100 local people  and representatives from 11 local organisations at the hut site showing support for the project and unanimously rejecting the Government’s attitude and reasons why the hut should not be rebuilt. With MHPS standing firm, in November 1992, the proposal was ultimately referred to the World Heritage Area Consultative Committee which, after due consideration, found in favour of MHPS and recommended the rebuilding of Ironstone Hut.

Members of MHPS began rebuilding the hut in January 1993. The Department of PWS supplied all materials and lifted the supplies in by helicopter to the hut site. All labour came from MHPS members. Working bees involved men, women, teenagers and young children– sometimes entire families participated—and it became a time when people reconnected with the mountains and the traditions and respect for the plateau environment which had been passed down by their forefathers. With a total tally of 2,500 hours of volunteer labour, the project was completed in 1995.

Twice postponed due to bad weather, almost 300 people eventually attended the official opening in March 1996, which was a resounding success with many returning to the mountain after an absence of many decades. They came on foot, on horseback and by helicopter—from the very young to the young at heart. The opening ceremony was officially performed by Rema Jago (née Higgs), grand-daughter of Sydney Higgs, the original builder of the hut.