Lake Isabel Cabin
1Heads up1 fire 2.9 mi away
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 16:25 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lake Isabel Cabin is ideal for guests who wish to experience camping in the Pike and San Isabel National Forest, yet sleep in a bed with a roof overhead. The modern cabin is full-service and can accommodate up to six guests, with convenient access to Lake Isabel, just three minutes away. Lake Isabel is one of the few lakes in Colorado developed purely for recreation. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the lake attracts many campers who come to hike, canoe, fish and spend time bird watching. St. Charles Creek flows near the cabin and offers an extra option for fishing. Keep reading
Recreation
Lake Isabel welcomes non-motorized boating and fishing. Brown, brook, and Rainbow trout are stocked in the lake and the St. Charles headwaters also reaps brook trout. Hiking is available on two nearby trails, the Snow Slide Trail and the Cisneros Trail. The 15-mile Cisneros Trail leads to the heart of the Wet Mountains, through forests and open, wildflower speckled valleys. Along the way, the trail connects to St. Charles Trail, which heads to St. Charles Peak. The Cisneros trail is also a 50" motorized trail, open to ATV'S and UTV's. Both the Snow Slide and St Charles are single track mortorcycle trails. Winter activities are also offered, with everything from ice fishing to sledding, tubing and cross country skiing.
Facilities
The one-bedroom hideaway with three bunk beds has modern conveniences; tub & shower, flush toilet, washer and dryer, full kitchen, outside picnic table & campfire ring; inside wood fireplace. Fire wood is not provided. Parking for up to four cars. Bring your own bedding, pillows, towels. No sewer or water hook ups. Click here for more cabin details. )
Natural Features
The cabin sits on the uphill portion of a grassy meadow, offering spectacular mountain views and a chance to see abundant wildlife. Shady pine and aspen trees dot the area. Across the road is the 40-acre Lake Isabel, with a beautiful shoreline that meets the base of rocky mountains.
Nearby Attractions
The cabin is five minutes from the Lake Isabel Recreation Area offering summer hiking, fishing and picnicing, in winter sledding, cross country skiing, ice fishing. A nearby summer lodge provides paddle and rowboat rentals, groceries and a restaurant. A golf course is about 15 minutes away.
Charges & Cancellations
Change and Cancellation Policies: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed outside the 6 or 12 month booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping/Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. Cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777.Late Cancellations: Late cancellations are in most cases, those cancelled after 12:00 midnight (Eastern Time) two days before arrival. Individual Campsites: A $10.00 service fee plus the first night’s use fee will be charged (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation) when a reservation is cancelled the day before or the day of arrival, except when the reservation is for a single night, then no service fee applies. Cabins/Lookouts: A $10.00 service fee plus the first night’s cabin or lookout use fee will be charged when a reservation for a cabin or lookout is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for single night’s use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Overnight and Day Use Facility: A $10.00 service will be charged plus the first night’s use fee when a reservation for a group overnight facility is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night’s use will not be assessed a service fee. Customers cancelling a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date will forfeit the total day use fee (but will not pay a service fee). No Shows:Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date.Cabins, Lookouts, and Group Day Use Facilities: No shows, early departures, or cancellations after the scheduled arrival date are not entitled to a refund. Campsites and Group Overnight Facilities: If you do not arrive at the campground or group overnight facility and do not cancel your reservation by check out time on the day after your scheduled arrival date, you are considered a no show. A $20.00 service fee applies and you will forfeit the first night’s use fee. Refunds: Refunds must be requested no later than 14 days after your scheduled departure date. Reservation Fee: Some facilities charge a reservation service fee. This non-refundable fee is $10.00 for call center and online reservations.Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bankcard payments will appear on the original bankcard. Please note the charge on your bankcard statement will read "Recreation.gov 888-448-1474".Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Reservations paid by cash, check or money order will be refunded by check. A refund check will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approvalRefunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, Recreation.gov will attempt to notify customers and offer alternate dates and sites (as appropriate). If this is not possible, Recreation.gov will cancel the reservation and refund all fees paid.To request a refund, please contact our Call Center customer service at 1-888-448-1474 or submit your request online. Senior and Access Pass Discounts: Owners of the Interagency Senior and Access Passes (and the Golden Age and Access Passes) may receive a fifty-percent discount on the use fee for individual campsites. This discount does not apply to fees for cabins, lookouts, or group facilities and it may not apply for specific facility amenities such as electricity, water, sewer, or extra fees charged for prime or premium sites. Pass Verification: The pass number must be provided at the time the reservation is made in order to receive the discount, and the pass and one form of identification must be presented upon arrival. If the proper documentation is not provided, the full recreation use fee must be paid to use the facility. If a customer makes more than one reservation for the same location and date(s), the discount will only apply to the site the pass owner occupies.Changes to the Policies and Procedures: Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. Military Discounts:Day Use Fee WaiverThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall waive day use fees for active service military personnel and their dependents who present the new America the Beautiful (ATB) Military Pass. NOTE: You must have an America the Beautiful Military Pass to receive the day use fee waiver. To get the ATB Military Pass all you need is your Military CAC Card or DOD Form 1173 showing you are an active service military member or dependent. The Military day use fee waiver does NOT apply to DOD (Department of Defense) civilians.Camping Fee WaiverThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall waive camping fees for active service military personnel and their dependents who are on mid- or post- deployment leave orders from a Global War on Terror Overseas Contingency Operations. The Military camping fee waiver does NOT apply to other active military personnel or DOD (Department of Defense) civilians.Camping fees are waived on a walk-up and space available basis as well as reservations made through the Recreation.gov call center at 1-877-444-6777.To qualify for the free Military camping waiver you must present the following on arrival/check-in:America the Beautiful Military Pass or proper ID showing you are an active service military member (CAC Card or DOD Form 1173). NOTE: If you do not have an ATB Military Pass you should have one issued to you for future use. To get the ATB Military Pass all you need is your Military CAC Card or DOD Form 1173 showing you are an active service military member or dependent. Copy of your mid- or post- deployment (reintegration) leave orders from a Global War on Terror to Overseas Contingency Operations.
What the agency tells you
Advanced reservations are ALWAYS required. Walk-ups are not available.
Check-in time is 2:00 p.m. and check-out time is 12:00 p.m.
Entry to the cabin and gate is by combination lock, which is provided in the confirmation letter or email which is sent after a reservation is made. To open the lock, dial in the combination then squeeze top and bottom of the lock together to snap it open. If you do not receive the combination, call 719-431-2150 with your confirmation number and date of arrival.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
No pets allowed
No tent or RV camping at cabin site
Click here for current alerts and notices, or call ranger district
Click here for more information on the Pike and San Isabel National Forest
Visitors must bring their own bedding, pillows and towels. A full kitchen is provided; refrigerator with freezer, microwave, and an oven with cook top.
As a courtesy to the next visitors please leave the cabin clean and tidy, in a condition you would want to find it! Thank you very much!
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric, 1 water, 1 sewer
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…has modern conveniences; tub & shower, flush toilet, washer and dryer, full kitchen, outside picnic…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Meadow
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
Full this Saturdayread 16:25 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
2 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:37 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday. 1 is free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:25 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
“Camping/Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount.” · this campground’s own no-show terms
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 · 6
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 2
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:37 UTC
- Mingus RanchSan Isabel National Forest · 8.4 mi · 1 of 1 site-night open
- Pinon Flats CampgroundGreat Sand Dunes National Park · 30 mi · 3 of 178 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:25 UTC · 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.
| LAKE ISABEL CABIN | LKISCA | cabin electric | 491 ft | 2,441 ft | $130 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Southside Campground - Lake IsabelSan Isabel National Forest · 0.4 mi
La Vista Campground - Lake IsabelSan Isabel National Forest · 0.6 mi
St Charles Campground - Lake IsabelSan Isabel National Forest · 0.8 miPonderosa Group CampgroundSan Isabel National Forest · 1.3 mi
Ponderosa Group - Lake IsabelSan Isabel National Forest · 1.3 mi
Spruce Group - Lake IsabelSan Isabel National Forest · 1.3 miFrom Pueblo, Colorado, take I-25 south to exit #74. Then head west on Highway 165 for about 20 miles. Cabin is directly across from the entrance to Lake Isabel Recreation Area.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Beulah Valley, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 62°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 17°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 · a letter you can send
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
Lake Isabel Cabin is in Colorado’s 7th congressional district. Its representative, Brittany Pettersen (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
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.
- The member who votes the moneyBrittany PettersenU.S. Representative · Colorado’s 7th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJohn W. HickenlooperU.S. Senator · Colorado
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMichael F. BennetU.S. Senator · Colorado
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.
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 Lake Isabel Cabin, San Isabel National Forest, Colorado
Dear Brittany Pettersen, I’m a constituent in Colorado’s 7th district. I tried to camp at Lake Isabel Cabin, San Isabel National Forest, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Lake Isabel 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 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake Isabel Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Isabel 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 Lake Isabel Cabin (San Isabel National Forest, Colorado) via campanac.com
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 Lake Isabel Cabin, San Isabel National Forest, Colorado
Dear John W. Hickenlooper, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I tried to camp at Lake Isabel Cabin, San Isabel National Forest, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Lake Isabel 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 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake Isabel Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Isabel 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 Lake Isabel Cabin (San Isabel National Forest, Colorado) via campanac.com
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 Lake Isabel Cabin, San Isabel National Forest, Colorado
Dear Michael F. Bennet, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I tried to camp at Lake Isabel Cabin, San Isabel National Forest, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Lake Isabel 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 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake Isabel Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Isabel 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 Lake Isabel Cabin (San Isabel National Forest, Colorado) via campanac.com