Forest Glen Guard Station
1Heads up1 fire 42 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 · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
This historic guard station offers a unique stay in the oldest Forest Service building on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This charming two-story structure was built in 1916 under the direction of John T. Grey, District Ranger of the Mad River Ranger District on the old Trinity National Forest. Visitors can relax on the front porch and enjoy the tranquil surroundings from mid-April to the beginning of December. Keep reading
Recreation
The South Fork National Recreational Trail can be accessed one and a half miles up the road from the cabin, or from the Scott Flat Campground when conditions permit crossing the swinging footbridge. The trail is 21 miles long, but the first 7.2-miles that parallel the South Fork Trinity River are the most traversed. The trail offers numerous scenic views. Visitors may also want to drive to Ruth Lake for a picnic and additional hiking, which is about a 45 minute drive west of the cabin. Visitors can find a few excellent swimming holes on the South Fork Trinity River.
Facilities
The cabin has electricity. The lower level has a living area with two barrel chairs and a double futon, along with a large kitchen area equipped with a cook stove and refrigerator, dining table, and chairs. The kitchen is fully stocked with dishes, pots, pans, and utensils. There is an indoor bathroom with flush toilet. There are 4 twin beds, and a double futon, and sleeping bags can be placed on the floor to accommodate a total of eight people in the cabin. Visitors should bring all bed linens (e.g., sheets, blankets, sleeping bags and/or blankets, pillows), kitchen linens, and bath towels. A fire pit, Adirondak chairs, and picnic table are provided outside. Space heaters are in the cabin.
Natural Features
Forest Glen Guard Station is located in the Hayfork Area, an area rich in natural beauty. One of its three major watersheds is the South Fork Trinity River, which is adjacent to the guard station and considered to be one of wildest and most scenic waterways in northern California. Glen Creek flows year round right next to the cabin. The surrounding area is forested with ponderosa pine, Douglas Fir, and oak. There are many numerous open meadows in the area.
Nearby Attractions
South Fork National Recreation Trail, South Fork Trinity River, South Fork Mountain Ridge, Ruth Lake.
What the agency tells you
Please call the Weaverville Ranger Station at (530) 623-2121 to confirm lock combination 4 days prior to arrival.
Smoking is prohibited inside the cabin; smoking must be done within enclosed vehicles during extreme fire conditions.
Please keep cabin clean.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Guests should fuel up and get their supplies (including wood for the fire ring) on the way to the cabin as accessibility to stores and fuel is limited once at the cabin. The nearest place to purchase groceries or fuel is in Hayfork, approximately 30 minutes from the cabin. Grocery stores have limited hours. The nearest town for supplies traveling west from I-5 is Red Bluff; the nearest place traveling east from US-101 is Fortuna.
Guests should be aware that there is a risk of exposure to Hanta Virus when visiting remote cabins; click here to learn more. Hanta Virus Information
Click here for more information about Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
A California campfire permit can be obtained at any Forest Service or California Department of Forestry Office or online at California Campfire Permit. California Campfire Permit
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…pans, and utensils. There is an indoor bathroom with flush toilet. There are 4 twin beds, and a double futon, and…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- Shower/Bath Type states a shower on all 1 of this campground's campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Backpacking
- Biking
- Fire Lookouts/Cabins Overnight
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Hunting
- Swimming
- Tubing
- 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
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
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 FOREST GLEN GUARD STATION | 001 | cabin electric | 87 ft | 662 ft | $75 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Fir Cove CampgroundSix Rivers National Forest · 4.8 mi
Mad River CampgroundSix Rivers National Forest · 8.3 miPlease note: Do NOT rely on GPS systems, particularly those on phones, as this can result in you being led off track onto Forest roads that cannot be traversed with all vehicle types. The cabin is off of a major Northern California Highway; there is no appropriate or direct route via gravel or dirt forest roads, except for the very short traverse to the cabin on the 1S26 Road directly off of CA-36.
Coming from the south on I-5, take California State Highway 36 West at Red Bluff. Continue on CA-36 West for approximately 75 miles to Forest Glen. Pass Forest Glen Campground on the north (right), cross the South Fork Trinity River Bridge and turn south (left) directly after crossing the bridge onto Forest Road 1S26.
Coming from the north on I-5, take either California State Highway 36 West (directions above) or California State Highway 299 West (follow signs from I-5). Once on CA-299, go west for approximately 37 miles. Turn south (left) on CA-3 directly before Douglas City. Follow CA-3 South for approximately 35 miles (passing through Hayfork) to the junction of CA-3 and CA-36. Turn west (right) on CA-36 and continue to Forest Glen. Pass Forest Glen Campground on the north (right), cross the South Fork Trinity River Bridge and turn south (left) directly after crossing the bridge onto Forest Road 1S26.
Coming from the west on US-101, take California State Highway 36 East. Continue on CA-36 East for approximately 60 miles toward Forest Glen. Turn south (right) on Forest Road 1S26 directly before crossing the South Fork Trinity River Bridge.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Ruth, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 36°F, day 75°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 31°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
Forest Glen Guard Station is in California’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Jared Huffman (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →