Paradise Guard Station
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 17 of the next 17 nights read 16:46 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Paradise Guard Station is located on the Ashley National Forest, approximately 25 air miles northwest of Vernal, in eastern Utah. Folklore states the district ranger built the cabin in his spare time in 1922 and it has changed very little since then. In 1929, the Bartlett Sawmill was built just 75 yards south. It burned down in 1940, but some remnants of the old facility still remain. The Ashley National Forest Vernal Ranger District has chosen to rent this guard station to the public so visitors can enjoy a rustic experience similar to that of the first rangers. Guests enjoy canoeing and fishing on Paradise Park Reservoir, and exploring local hiking, biking and off-road vehicle trails. Keep reading
Recreation
Paradise Park Reservoir is nearby, covering just less than 60 acres. Canoeing and fishing for rainbow and cutthroat trout are popular activities. Dead Lake, Mill Pond and Julius Park Reservoir are within a short distance. The Ashley-Karst National Geologic Recreation Area offers dramatic canyons, densely forested backcountry areas, and vast networks of caves. A variety of hiking, biking, horseback riding and off-road vehicle trails crisscross the surrounding area, including the 8.4-mile Deadman Lake Trail, which begins at Paradise Campground.
Facilities
The guard station complex can sleep four to eight. The cabin contains two, twin-size bunk beds for four people, though no linens, bedding or pillows are provided. Level parking is provided for a maximum of one RV/camp trailer. Ample room for tent camping is available outside. Please note that this cabin is RUSTIC. There is no sink, stove, oven or refrigerator. The cabin has no water or plumbing, however there is a vault toilet outside for year-round use. A wood-burning stove is supplied for heat. A combination campfire ring and grill is located outside. The cabin remains locked; call the Vernal Ranger District office, at (435) 789-1181, three business days prior to arrival, to confirm the combination lock code. COMBINATION CODE REQUIRED to enter cabin. (Some combination locks used have off-set entry lines. If code is not working, try off-setting entry line).
Natural Features
The small white cabin sits at the edge of a grassy meadow surrounded by a dense spruce-fir forest, at an elevation of 10,000 feet. Paradise Creek, a tributary of the Whiterocks River, flows lazily through the meadow in front of the cabin. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (435) 789-1181.
What the agency tells you
Call the District Office at (435) 789-1181 three business days prior to a reserved visit to confirm lock combination. District Office closed Saturday and Sunday. COMBINATION REQUIRED to enter guard station. (some combo locks used have an off-set number entry line. if code does not work first time try off-setting combination)
Wheeled vehicle traffic is allowed access to Paradise Guard Station from approximately June 1 to October 31; snowmobile is the only viable access from approximately December 1 to March 31.
Off-road vehicles are allowed only on authorized roads, trails and routes as identified on the Ashley National Forest Vernal Ranger District Travel Map
Everything else this campground posts · 1
Click here for more information on the Ashley National Forest, or call (435) 789-1181
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…no water or plumbing, however there is a vault toilet outside for year-round use. A wood-burning stove is…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…oven or refrigerator. The cabin has no water or plumbing, however there is a vault toilet…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Picnicking
- Scenic drives
- Stargazing
- Wildlife viewing
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 38 km away
- Peak color
1 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:46 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:46 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.
| PAGS | 001 | cabin nonelectric | 18 ft | 496 ft | $50 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Carter Military Trail YurtAshley Karst National Recreation And Geologic Area National Recreation Area · 12 mi
Uinta River Group12 miFollow the mileage indications below and look for signs on the ground when traveling to Paradise Guard Station. Leave with plenty of time to arrive at the guard station before dark.
From Vernal, travel west on Highway 121/Maeser-Lapoint Highway, toward Lapoint. After passing the landfill and descending the hill along the curved road, some houses come into view. While approaching Deep Creek Road, look for brown signs to Paradise Park Reservoir. Turn right (north) at Deep Creek Road (approximately 12.5 miles west of the Dry Fork Canyon Road junction with Highway 121). Continue north on Deep Creek Road for nearly 7 miles and watch for a fork in the road. Turn left (northwest) onto Paradise Park Road and continue approximately 8.5 miles, reaching the Ashley National Forest boundary. The paved road ends and turns to an unsurfaced road at the cattle guard. Paradise Park Road becomes Forest Road 104. Follow the road along the switchbacks and continue northwest for approximately 9.5 miles. The guard station will be visible on the left side, at the junction with Paradise Park Campground. Travel may require skiing or snowshoeing during winter months.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Whiterocks, UT
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
Paradise Guard Station is in Utah’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Kennedy (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →