Peterson Prairie Cabin
3Heads up3 fires, nearest 23 mi
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 16:31 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Peterson Cabin is located on the Mt. Adams Ranger District, is powered by propane, and wood heat and can sleep six people. The cabin was salvaged from demolition in 2014 and moved into place of a cabin that was razed by fire in 2012. The cabin has been meticulously restored and is open year round. Between December 1st and April 1st the road to the cabin is closed. Parking at Atkisson Sno-Park is required between these dates and a Washington State Sno-Park Pass is required. Ski, snowshoe or snowmobilers can access the cabin from Atkisson Sno-Park. Keep reading
Recreation
Many recreational opportunities are within close proximity of the cabin. Hiking, biking, fishing, hunting and mushroom and huckleberry picking are popular during the snow-free months. Guests can enjoy cross-country skiing and snowshoeing during winter. The Pacific Crest Trail, Indian Heaven Wilderness and Mt. Adams Wilderness are all within easy driving distance and boast scenic vistas. Atkisson Sno-Park is approximately 2.5 miles from the cabin and serves as a portal to the forest's network of 95 miles of groomed snowmobile trails. Three signed, ungroomed cross-country ski loops also depart from the Atkisson Sno-Park, offering loop opportunities of 4 to 11 miles. Portions of these loops overlap with each other and the snowmobile trail network.
Facilities
Peterson Cabin accommodates up to six guests. The rustic cabin's lower floor has an accessible bedroom with a double bed, a kitchen area and living/dining room with two loveseats and a fireplace/wood stove insert. Propane lighting and heating are provided throughout. The kitchen is equipped with a propane cook top, stove, and refrigerator, pots and pans, dishes and utensils, as well as a dining table and four chairs. An outdoor picnic table and vault toilet are on-site. Firewood is provided. No water is available during from October through Spring; guests must bring plenty for drinking, cooking and washing. In the summer months potable water is available. Although the cabin has several amenities, guests do need to provide their own sleeping bags, linens, towels, dish soap, matches, first aid kit, toilet paper and garbage bags. Bringing an additional light source in case of emergencies is also advised.
Natural Features
A dense canopy of Douglas fir towers over the cabin and huckleberry bushes are thick in the understory. Nearby Mt. Adams Wilderness is dominated by its namesake peak. At an elevation of 12,276 feet, Mount Adams looms over at least ten glaciers, forested slopes and subalpine meadows. Wildlife in the area is abundant, including spotted owls, black tail deer, Roosevelt elk and black bear. The more elusive cougar, bobcat and pine marten are seen occasionally.
Nearby Attractions
Guler Ice Cave is one mile west of the cabin. It is filled with spectacular ice formations that resemble stalactites, stalagmites, columns, fans and boxwork. The ice is believed to form because the cave acts as a trap, retaining the heavy cold air that settles into the cave in winter. As the snow melts above, moisture dripping into the cave forms into ice columns and masses. The cave is about 650 feet long, with four sections separated by three ceiling collapses. The Forest Service has built a stairway down to the cave, but the steps can be slippery during winter. When exploring the cave, wear warm clothing, boots and a helmet. Use crampons if you have them. Have three sources of light. Winter access requires cross-country skis, snowshoes or snowmobile. Many of the ice formations are just inside the cave entrance, so it's not necessary to explore deep inside.
What the agency tells you
No potable water at this site October through Mid-June.
Entry to the cabin is by a combination lock; the combination is given in your confirmation letter. Check in time is 2pm, Check out time is 11am.
In the event of a heavy snowfall, guests may not be able to access the Cabin or could get stranded; the road from the Sno-Park to the cabin is not plowed; those with existing reservations are advised to check weather conditions close to their reservation date and plan accordingly; refund requests will be honored if the Sno-Park is inaccessible. Please know that in the winter months, access to the cabin is on skis, snowmobiles, snowshoes or other legal over the snow equipment.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
During the winter months, the weather can change abruptly; guests should come prepared with extra provisions for an extended stay in case the weather delays their departure; two feet of snow falling overnight is not uncommon
Please contact the Ranger District at (509) 395-3400 prior to arriving at the cabin to check on any restrictions or conditions, such as fire or road closures, weather or storms that may affect the quality of your visit
Pets are not allowed at this facility
Camping is prohibited at the cabin
Pack out all food and garbage and clean the facility before you leave
Doors and windows should be locked and all personal items removed upon departure
The cabin is a non-smoking facility
Learn more about Gifford-Pinchot 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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- WATER (SEASONAL) on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Meadow
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Hunting
- Visitor center
- Wildlife viewing
- Winter sports
- Fall color · reported 9 days ago, 24 km away
- Patchy color
Full this Saturdayread 16:31 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:26 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday, and on four midweek nights after it as well. read 16:31 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.
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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 1
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:26 UTC
- Govt Mineral Springs Guard StaGifford Pinchot National Forest · 17 mi · 2 of 2 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:31 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.
| AREA PETERSON PRAIRIE GUARD STATION | 001 | cabin nonelectric | yes | 1.3 mi | 204 ft | $100 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Peterson Prairie CampgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 0.0 mi
Atkisson Group camp2.5 mi
Forlorn Lakes CampgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 4.7 mi
Goose Lake CampgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 5.1 miCat Creek CampgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 5.8 miCody HorsecampGifford Pinchot National Forest · 5.8 miFrom Vancouver take Highway 14 East to Highway 141, then go North to Trout Lake WA. Peterson Prairie Cabin is located 7 miles from Trout Lake, Washington, along Forest Road 24. At Trout Lake go 4 Miles past the Mt. Adams Ranger Station at the end of Highway 141. Continue West on Forest Road 24 for 2.5 miles, the site will be on your left. During the snow-free months (typically June-October), guest can drive directly to the cabin. The road to the cabin is closed to wheeled vehicles December through April. Cabin renters park their vehicles at the Atkisson Sno-Park and ski, snowshoe or snowmobile an 2.5 miles to the cabin. A Washington Sno-Park permit is required December 1 through April 1 for each parked vehicle.
Guests may call the Mt. Adams Ranger District at (509) 395- 3400 to obtain current conditions close to their reservation date. Refunds will not be given due to limited access caused by snow.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Trout Lake, WA
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Peterson Prairie Cabin is in Washington’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. 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 moneyMarie Gluesenkamp PerezU.S. Representative · Washington’s 3rd district
No contact form we could verify, so that link is their own site. Contact is inside it. Washington office: 202-225-3536.
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMaria CantwellU.S. Senator · Washington
- Your senator, on the same appropriationPatty MurrayU.S. Senator · Washington
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 Peterson Prairie Cabin, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington
Dear Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, I’m a constituent in Washington’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at Peterson Prairie Cabin, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Peterson Prairie 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. Peterson Prairie Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Peterson Prairie 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 Peterson Prairie Cabin (Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington) 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 Peterson Prairie Cabin, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington
Dear Maria Cantwell, I’m a constituent in Washington. I tried to camp at Peterson Prairie Cabin, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Peterson Prairie 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. Peterson Prairie Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Peterson Prairie 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 Peterson Prairie Cabin (Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington) 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 Peterson Prairie Cabin, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington
Dear Patty Murray, I’m a constituent in Washington. I tried to camp at Peterson Prairie Cabin, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Peterson Prairie 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. Peterson Prairie Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Peterson Prairie 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 Peterson Prairie Cabin (Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington) via campanac.com