American River Guard Station
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 26 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:37 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
American River Guard Station is located about 40 miles west of Naches, Washington on the banks of the American River in the eastern Cascade Mountains. The rustic cabin and outhouse were built by the men of the 932nd Camp Naches Civilian Conservation Corps crew in 1941 as a summer residence and work site for fire patrol and recreation management personnel. In the 1970s, volunteers and permit holders sporadically used the cabin, until it was found eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Today, the cabin offers visitors a wonderful setting for year-round recreation and relaxation. Keep reading
Recreation
The cabin setting provides ready access to Bumping Lake, where boating and fishing are popular. Hiking and horseback riding trails extend into the William O. Douglas and Norse Peak Wilderness areas, and off-road vehicle and snowmobile access draws visitors to the Little Naches drainage. In winter, snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing are popular in the American River area. The cabin is also conveniently located 30 minutes below the summit of Chinook Pass and Mt. Rainer National Park . A trip along the scenic Mather Parkway is a fantastic outing. The American River, adjacent to the cabin, offers a scenic backdrop for anglers. Its cold, clear waters sustain populations of rainbow and brown trout. Whitewater enthusiasts may enjoy a paddle on the American River or one of its tributaries.
Facilities
The Depression-era rustic cabin has a small kitchen, a living/sleeping area, one bedroom and a full-sized sleeping loft and storage room. There is a queen-size sleeper sofa in the living room, a full-size bed and mattress in the bedroom and four twin size beds with mattresses in the upstairs loft. Sleeping bags and sleeping pads are not provided. The cabin is furnished with a dining table and chairs for four people (with hidden leaf to expand for eight people), a small refrigerator and an electric range. There is a wood stove, electric light fixtures and a living room electric baseboard heater. Guests should be aware that open flame devises such as propane stoves, gas lanterns, and candles are prohibited indoors. The kitchen is equipped with a coffee maker, pots, dishes and glassware, but guests must bring several of their own supplies including food, cooking utensils, dish soap, towels, matches, garbage bags and a first aid kit. Outside, near the cabin, there is a picnic table and campfire ring. The original two-seater outhouse has been restored. Wood may be available, but the supply cannot be guaranteed. There is no water at the cabin, therefore visitors must bring plenty for drinking, cooking and washing. In the summer, drinking water can be obtained from the nearby Cedar Spring Campground. The cabin contains a variety of cleaning supplies. Visitors must remove all food and garbage and clean the cabin prior to departure. In the summer, visitors can dispose of their waste in a dumpster in the nearby American Forks Campground. When the campground is closed for the season, visitors must "pack it in and pack it out." Natural Features The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is defined by its diverse landscapes, boasting high, glaciated alpine peaks, lush valleys of old growth forest, and rugged shrub-steppe country. The American River Guard Station is nestled in an old-growth forest of Douglas fir, western hemlock, and a cedar understory with grassy areas, ferns and mosses. With the William O. Douglas and Norse Peak Wilderness areas nearby, the location is home to abundant wildlife, including deer, porcupine, native fish, and migratory birds. Endangered and threatened species, including the Northern Spotted Owl, gray wolves and grizzly bears also find havens in local ecosystems. Summer temperatures are generally sunny and warm with little precipitation, and winters boast mostly clear skies, but plenty of snow.
Nearby Attractions
Boulder Cave Trail is one of the most popular places in the Naches District. Visitors can walk the accessible trail along the river or explore Boulder Cave. Interpretive signs along the trail explain the geology, plants, animals and history of the area. Other nearby activities include trails for horseback riding, biking, a lake with motorized and non-motorized access and a boat ramp, and winter opportunities for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Hikers may want to traverse a portion of the spectacular Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), one of the world's premier National Scenic Trails. Enjoy some of North America's most fantastic scenery, as the trail winds from Mexico to Canada through Washington state.
What the agency tells you
For questions, call the Naches Ranger District at 509-653-1401, between the hours of 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. If you would like to leave a voicemail after hours, call 509-653-1401
The combination to the gate lock will be included in your confirmation letter. This same combination will open a security box by the main cabin door, which contains the cabin key.
Doors and windows should be locked and all personal items removed upon departure
Everything else this campground posts · 10
There is no trash collection. Pack out all food and garbage
Keep the building and grounds clean to deter squirrel, mice, rats, bears, and other wildlife from area
Please do not let pets roam freely, as they may endanger wildlife and plants
Livestock is not allowed
The cabin is a no-smoking facility
Propane stoves, candles, or other open flame devices are not allowed in the cabin
There are no utility hookups
The cabin is part of a group site with a capacity of 8 people and up to 4 passenger vehicles.
Learn more about Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Longest rig
- 15 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “There is no water at the cabin, therefore visitors must bring plenty for drinking, cooking and washing.”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Birding
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 261st darkest of 400 in WA
- Bortle 3
Full this Saturdayread 16:37 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday. 1 is free on Wed, Oct 21. read 16:37 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 11
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 · 4
recreation.gov availability, read 16:37 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| AREA AMERICAN RIVER GUARD STATION | 001 | cabin electric | 15 ft | 470 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
American Forks CampgroundSnoqualmie National Forest · 0.0 mi
Cedar Springs Campground (WA)Snoqualmie National Forest · 0.3 mi
American Ridge LodgeSnoqualmie National Forest · 0.4 mi
Indian Flat Group SiteSnoqualmie National Forest · 0.9 mi
Pine Needle Group SiteSnoqualmie National Forest · 2.1 mi
Kaner Flat Group SiteSnoqualmie National Forest · 2.9 miLocated off State Route (SR) 410 near milepost 88.
For security purposes, access to the cabin is through a locked gate; Doors to the cabin are also locked. The combination to the gate lock will be included in your confirmation letter. This same combination will open a security box by the main cabin door, which contains the cabin key. Please contact the Ranger District at 509-653-1401 prior to your arrival at the cabin for current restrictions or conditions, such as fire or road closures, or weather that may affect the quality of your visit.
From Naches, travel west on US Highway 12 for 4.4 miles. Continue straight onto SR 410 W for 27.5 miles. Turn left onto Bumping River Rd / Forest Road 1800. Cross the bridge over American River, then turn left onto the American Forks Campground Road.
From Enumclaw, depart SR 164/Griffin Ave toward Wells St. After ½ mile turn left onto SR 410/Roosevelt Ave. Follow SR 410 approximately 66 miles east to the intersection with Bumping River Road (FR 1800). Turn right onto the American Forks Campground Road. The cabin and access road will be on the left shortly after turning onto the campground road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cliffdell, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 55°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 25°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
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
American River Guard Station is in Washington’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Dan Newhouse (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyDan NewhouseU.S. Representative · Washington’s 4th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMaria CantwellU.S. Senator · Washington
- Your senator, on the same appropriationPatty MurrayU.S. Senator · Washington
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at American River Guard Station, Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington
Dear Dan Newhouse, I’m a constituent in Washington’s 4th district. I tried to camp at American River Guard Station, Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at American River Guard Station are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. American River Guard Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run American River Guard Station. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about American River Guard Station (Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at American River Guard Station, Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington
Dear Maria Cantwell, I’m a constituent in Washington. I tried to camp at American River Guard Station, Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at American River Guard Station are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. American River Guard Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run American River Guard Station. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about American River Guard Station (Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at American River Guard Station, Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington
Dear Patty Murray, I’m a constituent in Washington. I tried to camp at American River Guard Station, Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at American River Guard Station are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. American River Guard Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run American River Guard Station. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about American River Guard Station (Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington) via campanac.com