U.S. Forest Service · Targhee National Forest · ID

Al Taylor Cabin

Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:45 UTC
Right now
Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:45 UTC
Sites
1In the agency’s record
30 ftLongest rig
6,730 ftElevation
308 ftWater · Steel Creek
37.1 miNW of St. Anthony, ID
15%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices

In the agency’s own words

Al Taylor Cabin is located adjacent to Steel Creek near the Continental Divide, at an elevation of 6,300 feet. Visitors come to this area for its beautiful scenery and solitude. Guests can drive to the cabin from mid-May through mid-November with the majority of the trip on gravel roads. These roads are only accessible by snowmobile the remainder of the year. The cabin provides several conveniences, but guests should be prepared to bring some of their own supplies and gear for a comfortable stay. Keep reading

Recreation

An off-highway vehicle trail system can be accessed from the cabin. Small streams in the area provide fishing opportunities for brook trout. Other popular activities in the area include hiking, horseback riding and sightseeing.

Facilities

The cabin can accommodate six people. The cabin has a wood cook stove and wood fireplace as well as propane lights. It provides a small dining table with four chairs. The beds are wooden bunk beds. Other amenities include a fire ring, charcoal grill, picnic tables and a vault toilet - all provided adjacent to the cabin. There is no electricity at the cabin. Water is available at the Steel Creek Campground, located just before the gate to the cabin.

Natural Features

The cabin is surrounded by large douglas fir trees. It is near both Camas Meadows and the Continental Divide, providing incredible views.

Nearby Attractions

There are many miles of off-highway vehicle, horseback and hiking trails in the area. The Camas Meadows Battlefield located on the Nez Perce National Historic Trail is located nearby.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Call the Dubois Ranger District office for the combination to the lock on the cabin and the gate. The Ranger District is open Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MT and can be reached at (208) 374-5422.

Rule

This cabin is located in grizzly/black bear country. All food and coolers must be stored according to the Caribou Targhee National Forest Food Storage Order #04-15-23-217

Rule

Guests should be aware of the risks of exposure to hantavirus when visiting remote cabins; click here to learn more

Everything else this campground posts · 5
Rule

Click here for more information about Caribou-Targhee National Forest

Rule

Please respect this newly remodeled cabin and do not carve names/objects into the interior/exterior logs of this historic cabin.

Rule

Bear-resistant garbage conatiners are provided on site.

Rule

Steel Creek Group Campground is located adjacent to the cabin. Reservations

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 cabin
Hookups
None
Longest rig
30 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
Drinking water
Yes
“…There is no electricity at the cabin. Water is available at the Steel Creek Campground, located just before…”

Around the campground

On the water
Creek, Meadow
Birding
Fishing
Hiking
Hunting
Off Highway Vehicle Trails
Stargazing
Wildlife viewing
Night sky · 189th darkest of 523 in ID
Bortle 2
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:45 UTC

recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend

Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.

Sites, from, when it reopens$35From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
What’s open near here
Tell me when it reopens

Watch for it to come back

One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.

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’ll write once, when the agency reopens it.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Every line of the receipt · 11

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, when it reopens, from$35
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$35
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 15, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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 · 4
Why this page can’t say why

recreation.gov lists every site at Al Taylor Cabin closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.

Closure: U.S. Forest Service status record · Oct 17, 2026

There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.

Open within 60 miles · 1

The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.

Open near here: Agency-published status, in the CAMPANAC campground index · Oct 17, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 16:45 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Cabin or shelter1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsUp to

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.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate44.46369, -112.02588
The phone208-374-5422
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

The cabin can be accessed by traveling west from Kilgore, Idaho, via Forest Road 006 approximately 8 miles to Forest Road 478. Travel Forest Road 478 to the Steel Creek Group Area. The cabin is located just outside of the group area and can be reached by driving through the group area to the cabin. The cabin can also be reached from I-15 at Stoddard Creek Exit. Exit at the Stoddard Creek Exit and travel east on Forest Road 006 approximately 13 miles to Forest Road 478.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight34°Mostly Clear
Saturday49°Mostly Sunny
Saturday Night34°Partly Cloudy
Sunday52°Sunny

NWS forecast for Spencer, ID

Typical weather

Typical October night 29°F, day 56°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 11°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°0°

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 Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: LIMA, MT (USC00245030), 30 miles away and 451 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Sep 30, 2026

Who answers for this land

Mike Simpson, official portrait

Al Taylor Cabin is in Idaho’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Simpson (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov lists every site here closed on Friday and Saturday night (read 16:45 UTC). U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so the reason isn’t on this page. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one, and the reservations the record still carries predate the closure. That reading is ours, off the agency’s own booking record.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Spencer, ID, 9.2 mi NE. Straight line.