Caldwell Cabin
- 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 · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Caldwell Cabin allows up to six visitors to step back in time to a more rustic and historical era in eastern Arizona. Originally constructed in the 1920s, it was a one-room homestead, but the cabin was expanded around 1940, to include a bathroom, small bedroom and living room with a fireplace. Visitors can relax on the front porch and take in the scenic views, or head out for a day of nearby hiking, mountain biking or fishing. The cabin can be accessed by driving approximately 30 miles southwest of the town of Alpine. Some of the roads are gravel. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
A short drive takes visitors to the Black River Mainstream Trail, which is great for hiking. The Black River is a popular fishing area for trout anglers. From the cabin, guests can watch the sunset from the front porch, dine by the fireplace or walk across the meadow to an overlook of the river.
Facilities
The cabin has many amenities to help visitors feel at home. The kitchen is equipped with a table and chairs, propane stove, propane refrigerator, solar-powered lights, a sink and fold-down bed from the oiginal homestead. Kitchen supplies include pots, pans, utensils, dishes, a perculating coffee pot and can opener. There are two picnic tables and a campfire ring in front of the cabin and two Adirondack chairs on the porch. Lawn chairs are not provided, but are a nice addition if guests would like to bring their own. Visitors must supply their own bedding (including pillows), towels, flashlight, garbage bags, dish washing supplies, toilet paper, food, axe for splitting firewood, and matches and newspaper for starting a fire in the fireplace. Extra warm clothes and rain clothing are suggested. Users must pack out all food and trash and clean the cabin thoroughly, including dishes, floors and counters, prior to checking out of the cabin. Lights and appliances must also be turned off and the door locked. Visitors can explore endless vistas and take part in many outdoor activities in the surrounding Apache National Forest, which encompasses millions of acres of magnificent mountain country in east-central Arizona. Amentities Within the cabin: beds, broom & dust pan, bunkbeds, campfire ring, cooking pots, cooking utensils, drinking water, fireplace, flush toilet, electricity, mattresses, picnic tables, propane cook stove, propane refrigerator, tables and chairs. Things You'll Need: food, toilet paper and paper towels, bedding and towels, map and compass, spare clothing (rain clothing suggested), sunscreen, trash bags, sunglasses, dish soap and towels, flashlight.
Natural Features
The cabin sits at an elevation of 8,000 feet, in the White Mountains of Arizona. It is nestled among tall ponderosa pine trees and overlooks a large grassy meadow. Because of the high elevation, summer temperatures are pleasant and cool, providing a nice respite from the heat of lower deserts.
Nearby Attractions
Activities within 10 miles of the cabin: fFishing, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, wildlife viewing, mountain biking, off-road vehicle riding, river access and birding.
What the agency tells you
No cell phone coverage
Fireplace fires must be completely extinguished and cold to the touch before leaving
Fire restriction information will be posted at the cabin, if applicable; forest closures include the closure of this facility
Everything else this campground posts · 12
Pets are allowed at the cabin, but not on the furniture; please clean up after pets
This facility is in the Mexican Grey Wolf recovery area; keep close watch or restrain your pet
Tread lightly and stay on designated roads complying with regulations applicable to your vehicle
This is a high elevation facility; use caution when traveling from lower elevations
The cabin's water is hauled from a potable water source; please be conservative with water use
Be bear aware; keep all food and trash indoors or out of site and locked inside a hard-sided vehicle
Click here for more information about Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LEAVE THE CABIN AS CLEAN, OR CLEANER THAN WHEN YOU ARRIVED. THE FOREST SERVICE DOES NOT PROVIDE MAID SERVICE
No showers are available
No smoking inside the cabin
Check out is 11:00 am
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…utensils, drinking water, fireplace, flush toilet, electricity, mattresses, picnic tables, propane…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…ring, cooking pots, cooking utensils, drinking water, fireplace, flush toilet, electricity, mattresses,…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Meadow
- Biking
- Birding
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Mountain biking
- Off Road Vehicle Trails
- Other Recreation Concession Site
- Picnicking
- Scenic drives
- Stargazing
- Water access
- Wild Horse Viewing
- Night sky · 11th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 12 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 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.
| CALDWELL | C01 | cabin nonelectric | 40 ft | 282 ft | $110 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Caldwell Cabin is located approximately 30 miles southwest of Alpine, Arizona and is accessible via Forest Service roads 26 or 276.
From Springerville, take U.S. Highway 180/191 to the town of Alpine. Continue south on Highway 180/191 for about 15 miles, towards Hannagan Meadows. Turn right on Forest Service Road 26, at mile marker 240, and continue approximately 11 miles to the intersection. Turn right onto Forest Service Road 24 and go approximately three miles to the junction of Forest Service roads 25 and 276. Turn left and go just over a mile to Forest Road 25H. Turn left and proceed about one mile. At the sign for Caldwell, turn left. Open the gate with the combination padlock provided. The key for the cabin is inside the padlock. Keep the gate closed and locked at all times. All Forest Service roads are gravel.
From Clifton, travel north on U.S. Highway 180/191 for approximately 55 miles. The road is paved and is extremely curvy, gaining 4,500 ft. in elevation; use caution and drive slowly (allow three hours from Clifton to the first turnoff). Vehicles longer than 40 feet are not allowed on the lower portion of 180/191. Turn left on Forest Service Road 26, at mile marker 240 and follow approximately 11 miles to the intersection. Turn right onto Forest Service Road 24 and continue approximately three miles to the junction of Forest Service roads 25 and 276. Turn left and go just over a mile to Forest Road 25H. Turn left and proceed about one mile. At the sign for Caldwell, turn left. Open the gate with the combination provided. The key for cabin is inside the padlock. Keep the gate closed and locked at all times. All Forest Service roads are gravel.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Alpine, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 64°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 15°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
Caldwell Cabin is in Arizona’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Eli Crane (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →