Box Canyon Guard Station Cabin
1Heads up1 fire 39 mi away
- 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 · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Box Canyon Guard Station sits beneath a canopy of Douglas fir at an altitude of 3,620 feet on the West Cascades National Scenic Byway. It is located approximately 75 miles southeast of Eugene, Oregon in the Willamette National Forest. The guard station was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 and used as a dwelling for fire guards. They were the smoke chasers, often riding on horseback through the tall timbers to the location spotted by the lookout tower guards. The first on the scene, they often tried to put out any fires they may have found on their own, or reported back for additional help. The guard station is open from early May through the end of October and is easily accessible by car. Some creature comforts are provided, but guests should be prepared to pack in most of their own supplies and gear. Keep reading
Recreation
Trailheads into the Three Sisters Wilderness and the Chucksney Mountain Roadless Area are adjacent to the Guard Station. The nearby Box Canyon Trail Area offers a variety of multi-use trails for mountain bikers, equestrians and hikers.
Facilities
The 16x24-ft. cabin sleeps 4 and comes furnished with 2 twin beds with mattresses, a desk, a sofa bed, a table with chairs, wood stove and cleaning supplies. An outhouse, fire ring and picnic table are located nearby. A horse corral that measures approximately 45 feet in diameter is provided. Electricity, firewood and potable water are not provided. Guests must bring plenty of water for drinking, cooking and washing. Water is available from a nearby stream, but it should be treated before using. Items such as bedding, lanterns or flashlights, dishes and cookware, matches, extra toilet paper, first aid supplies, trash bags, dish soap, towels and an ice chest are not available. Guests are expected to pack out their trash and clean the cabin before leaving.
Natural Features
Box Canyon Guard Station sits at the doorstep of the Three Sisters Wilderness, a range of major peaks. The North, Middle and South Sisters all tower 10,000 feet above sea level. The surrounding landscape features alpine meadows, waterfalls, lava fields, glaciers and glacial lakes abundant with trout. The forest is dense and varied, with Douglas fir, silver fir, sub-alpine fir, mountain hemlock, true fir, lodgepole pine and ponderosa pine. Willamette National Forest offers prime habitat for such species as Roosevelt elk, black bear, bald eagles, blacktail deer and bobcats, among other wildlife.
Nearby Attractions
The guard station is located along the West Cascades National Scenic Byway, a 220-mile stretch of road that spans 3 national forests and a variety of landscapes. Travelers can enjoy seeing snow-capped mountains, old-growth forests, whitewater rivers, cascading waterfalls and quiet lakes.
What the agency tells you
Entry to the cabin is by combination keyless entry. The combination is provided in the Reservation confirmation letter. Call (541) 822-3381 at least 72 hours prior to arrival to confirm combination code and for updates.
The McKenzie River Ranger District office is open Monday-Friday. Please call 541-822-3381 for information at least 72 hours prior to arrival for updates or other information.
There is no water in the cabin; guests must bring plenty of water for drinking, cooking and washing
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Guests must pack out all trash and recyclables and clean cabin before leaving
No camping allowed at the cabin, additional camping is available at the adjacent Box Canyon Horse Camp, an 11-site campground
Pets and livestock must remain outside the cabin
Please contact the Ranger District prior to arriving to check on any restrictions or conditions, such as fire or road closures, weather or storms, etc., that may affect your visit
Learn more about the Willamette National Forest
This campground does not accept walk-ins
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 and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “Electricity, firewood and potable water are not provided.”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Birding
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Mountain biking
- Wildlife viewing
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 Sep 10, 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.
| AREA BOX CANYON GUARD STATION CABIN | C1 | cabin nonelectric | 785 ft | $70 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Roaring River (Group)Willamette National Forest · 3.2 mi
Skookum Creek CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 3.5 mi
Frissell Crossing CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 3.9 mi
Red Diamond CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 8.1 miKiahanieWillamette National Forest · 8.8 mi
Blair Lake CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 9.4 miFrom Blue River, OR, travel approximately 4 miles east on Highway 126 to Aufderheide Drive/Forest Service (FSR) 19. Turn right and proceed south for approximately 17 miles on Auderheide Drive past Cougar Reservoir to Box Canyon Guard Station.
From I-5 in Eugene, OR, take exit 158 for Highway 58 toward Klamath Falls/Oakridge. Travel 31.4 miles on Highway 58, then turn left at the Westfir-Oakridge road. After 1/2 mile turn left on North Fork Road. Stay right to continue on Aufderheide Drive/FSR 19. Box Canyon Guard Station is approximately 32.5 miles from Highway 58.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Oakridge, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 31°F, day 62°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 21°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
Box Canyon Guard Station Cabin is in Oregon’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Val Hoyle (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →