Alder Guard Station
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Alder Guard Station is located 2 miles north of the town of South Fork along Alder Creek in the Rio Grande National Forest. The guard station was constructed in 1910 and was the residence and office for the local ranger district. Today the historic cabin is a comfortable getaway for guests seeking relaxation and recreation in south central Colorado. Visitors may reserve the cabin for a maximum of five nights to allow others the opportunity to rent the cabin. Keep reading
Recreation
The Alder Bench trailhead is located north of the guard station on Forest Road 610. In the past, this trail was used by stockmen taking livestock up to the high country towards Blue Park and Long Park. In the fall, visitors use this trail to hunt elk and deer as this area is considered winter range for both. The 6.5 mile trail is also open for off-road single track riding, horse and foot travel, and mountain biking, but can be very rocky and steep in places. Anglers will enjoy the scenic backdrop of Alder Creek when casting lines for a variety of trout.
Facilities
The two story cabin is furnished with 2 beds in each bedroom (2 bedrooms), and a futon on the first floor. The kitchen is equipped with a table and chairs, electric stove, refrigerator, cooking utensils and some pots and pans. The bathroom has hot water and a flush toilet. A wood stove is the only source of heat for the guard station. Picnic tables are also on site. Firewood is not provided; please bring all the firewood you will need for your stay. Although the cabin has several amenities, guests do need to provide their own sleeping bags, linens, towels, dish soap, matches, cooking gear, first aid kit, toilet paper and garbage bags. Lighting is available, however guests are advised to bring an additional light source in case of emergency. Occasionally the water well overflows due to ground water pressures. The water then may not test safely. To avoid this you are encouraged to bring spare drinking/cooking water.
Natural Features
The Rio Grande National Forest encompasses of a myriad of ecosystems ranging from high elevation desert to the craggy peaks of the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Alder Guard Station, located in the Divide Ranger District, is surrounded by mixed conifer forests, aspen groves, and wilderness areas, though its immediate vicinity is manicured, with a fenced lawn.
What the agency tells you
The combination to the cabin is provided in your confirmation letter. If you have any questions, please call the Divide Ranger District at (719) 657-3321. Office hours are 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., Monday- Friday.
Pets are only allowed outside the guard station; please clean up after your pet
Do not leave food or trash outside the guard station; bears have been spotted in the area
Everything else this campground posts · 10
All garbage and food must be packed out; do not burn garbage in the fire pit or wood stove
Do not place tents or vehicles on the lawn
The guard station is a no-smoking facility
Please clean guard station upon departure
Make sure guard station is locked upon departure
Horses are restricted to the corral area near the barn; only weed free hay/feed for the horses - no grazing allowed; if you bring horses, please contact the District office at (719) 657-3321
Forest Service employees use the horse pasture adjacent to the guard station for official duties
Learn more about theRio Grande National Forest.
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing organisms by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Occasionally the water well overflows due to ground water pressures. The water then may not test safely. To avoid this you are encouraged to bring spare drinking/cooking water.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…pans. The bathroom has hot water and a flush toilet. A wood stove is the only source of heat for the…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- Shower/Bath Type states a shower on all 1 of this campground's campsite records
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 234th darkest of 522 in CO
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 28 km away
- Peak color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
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.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
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 make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
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.
| ALDER GUARD STATION | Alder Guard Station | cabin electric | 35 ft | 93 ft | $50 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
From South Fork, Colorado: Travel approximately .5 miles on Highway 149 towards Creede. After crossing the Rio Grande River bridge, turn east (right) on County Road 15 (North River Road) and go approximately 1 mile to Forest Road 610. Turn north (left) on Forest Road 610 and go 2 miles. Alder Guard Station is on the left less than 50 yards from Forest Road 610.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for South Fork, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 26°F, day 61°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 6°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Alder Guard Station is in Colorado’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Jeff Hurd (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →