Harvey West Cabin
1Heads up1 fire 44 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 · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Harvey West Cabin is located on the Silver Fork of the American River. The cabin is easily access from Silver Fork Road. The cabin has beds for 12 and can accommodate an additional eight on the floor or on the large front deck. Harvey West Cabin provides a cozy mountain cabin getaway experience while also providing a few modern conveniences. The Harvey West Cabin was constructed in the early 1930s by the Sacramento Box and Lumber Company. The building was used as an office and recreational facility until it was purchased in 1936 by Harvey West. West, a prominent local businessman and philanthropist, used the cabin as a summer retreat for his famiy until the early 1970s. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing for brown and rainbow trout is a popular activity on the river. Other pleasant pastimes include bird watching, hiking and wading in the river. The walking distance China Flat Day Use Area offers picnic tables and a beach on the riverbank.
Facilities
The 2,000 sq. ft.two level cabin has a large, open great room, kitchen, two downstairs bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, and two large lofts that overlook the great room. The cabin has beds for 12 (one queen, two double, four sinlge, two cots) and can accommodate an additional 8 on the floor of the great room or on the large deck that overlooks the river. The cabin contains a dining table and chairs, two couches, and other assorted furniture. The cabin has two flush toilets and hot and cold running water in the kitchen, bathrooms, and shower. There is a limited assortment of pots, pans, dishes, utensils, cookware, and other kitchen items. The kitchen provides a propane stove/oven and propane refrigerator. No open flames, backpacking or Coleman type cooking stoves are permitted inside the cabin. The cabin does not have electricity. Propane lights are placed throughout the cabin but guests are encouraged to bring their own flashlights. The great room contains a propane heating stove and large stone fireplace. Firewood is not provided. Guests are required to bring their own food (in sealed containers) toilet paper, sunscreen, matches, clothing, towels, bedding, and any other items they will need for their stay. Limited cleaning supplies are provided. Guests are requred to bring their own trash bags and to remove all trash when they leave.
Natural Features
The cabin sits among Ponderosa pine and cedar trees along the Silver Fork of the South Fork American River, at an elevation of 4,720 feet. The region's climate is similar to that of the Mediterranean with warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters.
Nearby Attractions
The town of Kyburz is 2 miles away and has limited services.
What the agency tells you
Campers will receive rental packet by email prior to reservation. Call (530) 644-2324 for current conditions information and fire restrictions.
In order to provide an enjoyable and memorable experience to all visitors, a stay limit is now in effect. Use of any Eldorado National Forest cabin is limited to 6 nights per recreation rental facility and a combined total of 12 nights per calendar year for all rental facilities. This stay limit includes any combination of stays at Harvey West Cabin, Loon Lake Chalet, Robbs Hut, Sly Guard Cabin, and Van Vleck Bunkhouse.
Be prepared for emergencies; notify family or friends of trip details and expected return date
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Please bring garbage bags; this is a 'pack it in, pack it out' facility
Nearest phone is 2 miles northwest at the Kyburz store; there is no cell service at the cabin
Off-road vehicles may only be used on designated trails
This cabin sits on public forest land. While use of the cabin is exclusive for the permit holder, the surrounding property is still open for the public's enjoyment. This includes beaches along the river adjacent to the cabin.
No pets allowed in building; please pick up after outdoor pets
Bears frequent the area; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating
For current weather conditions and fire restriction status, click here
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.
Mice have been a problem in the recent past at Harvey West Cabin. Clean up crumbs, spills immediately. Do not leave food out on any surfaces. Cleaning up thoroughly when you leave is essential to keeping Harvey West mouse-free.
Propane stove has four working burners on the surface, but the oven is currently not working.
There is no interior heating available at this time. The cabin is at 4,900' elevation, in the shade, adjacent to the river. It can get cold in the area at night and during thunderstorms. Bring warm clothes and cold weather bedding for your comfort.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 12 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…assorted furniture. The cabin has two flush toilets and hot and cold running water in the kitchen,…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- Shower/Bath Type states a shower on all 1 of this campground's campsite records
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Beach
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 656th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 7 days ago, 25 km away
- No change
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 HARVEY WEST CABIN | 001 | cabin nonelectric | 12 ft | 302 ft | $105 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Wrights Lake Equestrian CampgroundEldorado National Forest · 6.4 mi
Ice HouseEldorado National Forest · 6.5 miFrom Highway 50: Go approximately 32 miles east of Placerville or 25 miles west of South Lake Tahoe. Turn south on to Silver Fork Road 11N40. Travel approximately 2 miles on Silver Fork Road. Turn right into the China Flat Day Use parking area approximately 300' feet past the China Flat Campground entrance. The Harvey West Cabin is located on the other side of the Silverfork American River. The combination for the bridge and the cabin will be given to you when you pick up your permit at the Placerville Ranger Station.
The Placerville Ranger Station is on Highway 50 in Camino (8 miles east of Placerville). Take Exit 54 and go south on Eight Mile Road. The Ranger Station is the first driveway on your right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Kirkwood, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 31°F, day 71°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 19°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
Harvey West Cabin is in California’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Kevin Kiley (I), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →