Fish Lake Remount Depot Cabins
1Heads up1 fire 7.5 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 2All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Fish Lake Remount Depot Cabins sit at an altitude of 3,200 feet near the Santiam Pass Winter Recreation Area of the Willamette National Forest. These cabins were built in 1924 and are rustic, historic wood structures that include a dispatcher's cabin, a springhouse shed, a garage/woodshed and a fire hose shelter. The commissary cabin and a supervisor's cabin, known as the Hall House, are available as rentals either separately or together. The compound was once used to house firefighters and corral horses. It is still used as a rest and resupply station by the Forest Service horse packer heading in and out of Wilderness areas. Guests must walk, cross-country ski or snowshoe approximately one mile to access the cabins from Lava Lake Sno-Park. Keep reading
Recreation
Seven Sno-Parks are within the Santiam Pass Recreation Area, a 15-minute drive from the the cabins, including Lava Lake Sno-Park and Ray Benson Sno-Park. These Sno-Parks offer access to both motorized and non-motorized trail opportunities.
Facilities
Two cabins are available for rental at this site from winter through early spring. The Hall House is a 3-room cabin featuring 1 bedroom, a shared common room with a hideaway bed, and a kitchen. The Commissary Cabin features a bedroom and kitchen. Both cabins have the same amenities, which include a full-size bed with mattress, table with chairs, sofa, propane heating and cooking stoves, solar-powered lighting, basic cookware and kitchen utensils. An outhouse with pit toilet is located nearby. Neither cabin has water or electricity. Guests must bring their own water for drinking, cooking and washing. Items such as bedding, lanterns or flashlights, 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
The compound is accessed by a trail that traverses through dense evergreen forest. From the cabins, guests can enjoy the view of Fish Lake and its forested shoreline. The lake is shallow in winter, but will dry up and turn into meadow in the late summer. Willamette National Forest offers prime habitat for such species as Roosevelt elk, black bear, bald eagles, black tail deer and bobcats, among other wildlife. Nearby Attractions
What the agency tells you
Entry to cabin is by key. The key is located in a combination lock box mounted next to the door. The combination can be found in your confirmation letter under Access Info.
There is no water at this site; guests must bring plenty of water for drinking, cooking and washing
Oregon Sno-Park Permits are required between November 1 and April 30
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Guests must pack out all trash and clean cabin before departure
No tent, trailer or RV camping on this site
Livestock and pets are not allowed
Guests should 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 their visit
Learn more about the Willamette 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 and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
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.
Fish Lake Day Use Area located at approximately mile post 1.5 on Highway 126 (approximately 1.5 miles South of Highway 126/20 junction) is available for unloading supplies for transport to the cabins. This pull out is approximately 1/8 mile from the cabins. Please note that overnight parking or long term parking is not permitted here and access to this parking area may vary depending on snow levels and plowing frequency. Overnight parking is provided at Lava Lake Sno-Park (see directions section). To access cabins from the Fish Lake Day Use parking area walk past the gate and into the day use area and continue north past the restrooms and through the wooden gate. Proceed north through a second wooden gate, go past the interpretive kiosk on the left and continue to the cabins.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 2 · 2 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Pit Toilets
- “…and kitchen utensils. An outhouse with pit toilet is located nearby. Neither cabin has water or…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…has water or electricity. Guests must bring their own water for drinking, cooking and washing. Items such as…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach, Meadow
- Birding
- Cross Country Skiing
- Hiking
- Historic Sites
- Snowmobile Trails
- Snowshoeing
- 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
2 sites · the site map
All 2 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. 2 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA FISH LAKE REMOUNT DEPOT CABINS | C01 | cabin nonelectric | 2,142 ft | $85–$95 |
| AREA FISH LAKE REMOUNT DEPOT CABINS | H01 | cabin nonelectric | 1,816 ft | $85–$95 |
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
Cold Water Cove - Willamette NF (OR)Willamette National Forest · 2.9 miCold Water Cove CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 3.0 mi
Lost Prairie Group SiteWillamette National Forest · 3.4 mi
Ice Cap CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 4.4 miLost Lake CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 5.0 mi
Lost Lake - Willamette (OR)Willamette National Forest · 5.0 miFrom Salem, take Highway 20 east through Sweet Home. Approximately 45 miles east of Sweet Home, Lava Lake Sno-Park will be on the north (left) side of the highway.
From Eugene, take Highway 126 east to Highway 20 (approximately 70 miles). At the intersection, turn west (left) and drive about a quarter mile. You will see Lava Lake Sno-Park on the north (left) side of the highway.
From Bend, take Highway 20 towards Sweet Home. Traveling west, a quarter mile past the intersection of Highways 20 and 126, Lava Lake Sno-Park will be on the north (right) side of the highway.
You must park your vehicle(s) at Lava Lake Sno-Park. Oregon State Sno-Park permits are required for parking November 1-April 30. From Lava Lake Sno-Park, cross the highway and follow the blue diamond trail markers. You may hike, cross-country ski, or snowshoe (approximately one mile) to the cabin.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Black Butte Ranch, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 60°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 27°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
Fish Lake Remount Depot Cabins is in Oregon’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Janelle Bynum (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →