U.S. Forest Service · White Mountain National Forest · NH

Doublehead Cabin

Reservable, and full this SaturdayThe one site on offer is taken this Saturday, and the record lists no site held back for a walk-up. read 16:26 UTC

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 16:26 UTC
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
3,040 ftElevation
4,640 ftWater · East Branch Saco River
6.3 miN of North Conway, NH
76%Tree cover
Bortle 3Night sky · 20th darkest of 28 in NH

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices

In the agency’s own words

Doublehead Backcountry Cabin is accessible only by hiking, snowshoeing or skiing the 1.8-mile Doublehead Ski Trail. Guests should be prepared to transport all their gear and supplies on foot over an elevation of 1,500 feet. Doublehead Backcountry Cabin and Doublehead Ski Trail were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of a larger project to develop ski runs for the nearby resort town of Jackson. The cabin was used as a warming hut and shelter for skiers traveling on the trail. Some of the other ski trails nearby were developed and commercialized, but Doublehead Ski Trail and the cabin retain their rustic, backcountry ambiance. Keep reading

Recreation

Guests at Doublehead Backcountry Cabin can expect to see other cross country skiers and snowshoers on the Doublehead Ski Trail. Hikers will find a trail that leads to the south peak of Doublehead Mountain.

Facilities

The cabin is very rustic with minimal amenities that include 8 wooden bunks, 2 small tables, benches and a wood stove. An outhouse is located a short distance away with a composting toilet. A broom is provided for tidying up the cabin. Water and electricity are not available. Any water taken from the natural sources should be treated or boiled, but it is recommended that guests bring their own water. Bedding and sleeping pads are not provided. Recommended items include matches, food, cooking utensils, trash bags, toilet paper, a camp stove, first aid kit, flashlight or lantern, extra batteries, firewood and/or a cutting tool for dead and down wood. The amount of available firewood in the area cannot be guaranteed. The cabin is not insulated, so winter guests should be prepared for temperatures inside to be almost the same as the outside, even when the wood stove is in use ( more cabin details )

Natural Features

This log cabin sits atop the north summit of Doublehead Mountain at 3,053 feet. This mountain has 2 peaks, and the south peak is 2,939 feet. This vantage point offers views of Mount Washington (6,288 feet), the tallest mountain in the northeastern United States, and other peaks in the Presidential Range. White Mountain National Forest is home to 237 species of birds. Other inhabitants of the forest include moose and black bears ( bear safety information ).

What the agency tells you

Rule

Please be aware that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is not cleaning this rental cabin between user visits. To protect health and safety for all cabin visitors, we recommend you clean all "high touch surfaces" when you arrive and before you leave. Cleaning supplies are not provided; you are expected to bring your own.

Rule

Water is not available at the cabin

Rule

No outside camping or fires within 1/4 mile of Doublehead Mountain Cabin

Everything else this campground posts · 6
Rule

Please carry out all trash and excess food

Rule

Please sweep the floor before leaving with the broom provided

Rule

Please close and lock all doors and windows when leaving

Rule

The trails and parking cross private land; please stay on the trail and respect the rights of private landowners

Rule

Click here for more information about White Mountain National Forest

Rule

Don't move firewood: To limit the spread of invasive tree-killing pests, firewood from outside the area is not permitted. Some states have quarantines and may confiscate your firewood. Please help protect our forests from invasive species by obtaining your firewood at or near your camping destination and burning it on-site. Visit dontmovefirewood.org for more information.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 cabin
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Composting Toilets
“…is located a short distance away with a composting toilet. A broom is provided for tidying up the cabin.…”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…but it is recommended that guests bring their own water. Bedding and sleeping pads are not provided.…”
Firewood
Mentioned
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

Hiking
Hunting
Wildlife viewing
Winter sports
Fall color · reported 5 days ago, 14 km away
Minimal color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (14 km) · Oct 12, 2026

Full this Saturdayread 16:26 UTC

How full the weekend is nationally.

OpenBooked

The one site on offer is taken this Saturday, and on four midweek nights after it as well. read 16:26 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t

Booking window6 months outBookable now through April 16, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
Max stay14 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$40From 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
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov ↗

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$40
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$40
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Jan 1, 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.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
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 · 5

recreation.gov availability, read 16:26 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.

DOUBLEHEAD CABIN001cabin nonelectric4,544 ft$40

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
Coordinate44.16750, -71.13028
The phone603-447-5448
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From NH Route 16 in Jackson, turn onto Route 16A. Take Route 16B (Black Mountain Road) and follow for about 2 miles. Just past Black Mountain Ski Area, Rt 16B turns into Dundee Road. Continue on Dundee Road to the trailhead 1 mile on the left with space for 3-5 vehicles. The ski trail reaches the cabin in 1.8 miles via a steep grade.

The weather

the next four days

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight35°Chance Rain Showers then Slight Chance Rain And Snow Showers48% rain
Saturday35°Slight Chance Snow Showers then Mostly Sunny15% rain
Saturday Night21°Mostly Clear1% rain
Sunday45°Sunny

NWS forecast for North Conway, NH

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send

What threatens this place

Roadless
Kearsarge4,554 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Presidential - Dry River Ext10,555 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Wild River46,878 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Maggie Goodlander, official portrait

Doublehead Cabin is in New Hampshire’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Maggie Goodlander (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Who can change it · 3
Write to somebody who can change it

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.

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.

To Maggie Goodlander

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 Doublehead Cabin, White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire

Dear Maggie Goodlander,

I’m a constituent in New Hampshire’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Doublehead Cabin, White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, and couldn’t.

All 1 sites at Doublehead Cabin 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. Doublehead Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Doublehead Cabin. 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 Doublehead Cabin (White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire) via campanac.com
To Jeanne Shaheen

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 Doublehead Cabin, White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire

Dear Jeanne Shaheen,

I’m a constituent in New Hampshire. I tried to camp at Doublehead Cabin, White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, and couldn’t.

All 1 sites at Doublehead Cabin 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. Doublehead Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Doublehead Cabin. 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 Doublehead Cabin (White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire) via campanac.com
To Margaret Wood Hassan

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 Doublehead Cabin, White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire

Dear Margaret Wood Hassan,

I’m a constituent in New Hampshire. I tried to camp at Doublehead Cabin, White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, and couldn’t.

All 1 sites at Doublehead Cabin 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. Doublehead Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Doublehead Cabin. 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 Doublehead Cabin (White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
The figures in these drafts: Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report RS20643) · Updated December 4, 2025 · “The ship’s final procurement cost was $13,316.5 million (i.e., about $13.3 billion) in then-year dollars.”
The figures in these drafts: Salary Table 2026-GS, Incorporating the 1% General Schedule Increase, Effective January 2026 (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) · Effective January 2026 · “Grade 5, Step 1: $34,799 (annual rate, before locality pay).”
The figures in these drafts: Update to Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost Factor, Federal Pay Raise Assumptions, and Inflation Factors used in OMB Circular No. A-76 (OMB Memorandum M-08-13) · March 11, 2008 · “the civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor needs to be adjusted downward, from 36.45 percent to 36.25 percent”

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 30 of the next 30 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (14 km) · Oct 12, 2026
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.