Redfeather Ranger Station
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 27 of the next 30 nights read 15:41 UTC
- Sites
- 2All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Redfeather Ranger Station has two cabins, and an office with a visitor's center. The Ranger Cabin and the Assistant Ranger Cabin are available for lodging. Guests must provide linens, bedding, pillows, towels and toiletries. The Ranger Station is situated in a ponderosa pine forest at an elevation of 8,200 feet. Afternoon thunderstorms can be expected during spring and summer months. This site is located off the east side of Dowdy Lake Road in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. Keep reading
The Forest Service access road into the station is approximately 1/4 mile north of the intersection of Dowdy Lake Road and West County Road 74E/Red Feather Lakes Road. The Red Feather Lakes community, located about 46 miles northwest of Fort Collins, is known for its recreational opportunities and remote scenic beauty. The Ranger Cabin is a spacious (1,660 square foot), three-room log cabin, that can accommodate six to eight people. It has one queen bed and four twin beds. The fully-equipped kitchen includes two stoves, two refrigerators, microwave, toaster, coffee pot, pots, pans, dishes and utensils. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 from adapted architectural plans from the Sunlight Ranger Cabin near Cody, Wyoming. The Assistant Ranger Cabin is a two-bedroom log cabin that can accommodate four to six people. There is a small fully-equipped kitchen with a small table. There is a log bed frame with a queen size bed in one bedroom and two twin beds in the second bedroom.
Recreation
Canoeing, paddle boarding and fishing are popular activities on the 115-acre, Dowdy Lake nearby and 25-acre, West Lake. Motorized boats are allowed on the lakes, but a 10 mph speed limit is enforced with no wake. Anglers cast for brown, brook, cutthroat and lake trout. Several additional lakes are in the vicinity. Many hiking, biking and horseback riding trails are nearby, including the Mount Margaret Trail, Lady Moon Trail, Elkhorn, Dowdy Lake Trail and others. Several off-road vehicle trails are located within five miles of the cabins. Other popular activities include viewing wildlife and visiting the Redfeather Visitor Center. The Poudre River is located 10 miles to the south (about a 30-minute drive) and offers whitewater rafting and kayaking, fishing, hiking trails, and other recreation opportunities.
Facilities
The Redfeather Ranger Station has two cabins and an office with a visitor's center. The cabins include propane grills, picnic tables, a campfire ring, and horseshoe game outside the Ranger Cabin. The Ranger Cabin is a spacious (1,660 square foot), three-room log cabin, that can accommodate six to eight people. It has eight twin beds. The fully-equipped kitchen includes two stoves, two refrigerators, microwave, toaster, coffee pot, pots, pans, dishes and utensils. The dining room has seating for eight. A fireplace is located in the living room; firwood is not provided. An indoor bathroom is available. The Assistant Ranger Cabin is a two-bedroom log cabin that can accommodate four to six people. There is a small fully-equipped kitchen with a small table and an indoor bathroom. There is a log bed frame with a queen size bed in one bedroom and two twin beds in the second bedroom.
Natural Features
The Ranger Station is located in a small meadow between West Lake and Dowdy Lake and ten miles north of the Poudre River. Bald Mountain is located to the southwest and Deadman Mountain is located to the west.
Nearby Attractions
The small village of Red Feather Lakes is nearby, offering limited dining options, gift shops, general stores, a library, post office and a golf course.
What the agency tells you
The cabins remain locked, and a combination will be provided upon booking. You can also call the Forest Service office at 970-295-6600, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MST, Monday through Friday, to obtain a combination code.
Elevation can pose a hazard; learn more about altitude illness
Pets (including dogs) and livestock are not allowed at the cabin
Everything else this campground posts · 4
The number of guests is limited; additional camping on-site is prohibited.
Click here to learn more about the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland
This is black bear country. Dispose of waste properly in a bear proof dumpster outside and provided trash cans inside the cabin.
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing organisms by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 2 · 2 cabin
- Hookups
- 2 electric
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 2 of 2 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- SHOWERS on 2 of 2 campsite records, Shower/Bath Type states a shower on all 2 of this campground's campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 2 of 2 campsite records
- Store
- Nearby
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Meadow
- Auto Touring
- Backpacking
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Climbing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Information Site
- Kayaking
- Mountain biking
- Mountain Climbing
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- Yes
Full this Saturdayread 15:41 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:13 UTC. See them
OpenBookedClosed
The one site on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 1 is free on Thu, Oct 22. read 15:41 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 16:13 UTC
- Rocky Mountain National Park Moraine Park CampgroundRocky Mountain National Park · 30 mi · 4 of 472 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:41 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 sites · the site map
All 2 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 2 of the 2 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. 2 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Red Feather | Red Feather Assistant Ranger Cabin | cabin electric | 536 ftSnake Lake | 1,182 ft | $175–$200 |
| Red Feather | Red Feather Ranger Cabin | cabin electric | 362 ft | 979 ft | $175–$200 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
West LakeRoosevelt National Forest · 0.3 mi
Dowdy LakeRoosevelt National Forest · 0.4 mi
Bellaire Lake CampgroundRoosevelt National Forest · 2.9 mi
North Fork Poudre CampgroundRoosevelt National Forest · 7.5 mi
Kelly Flats CampgroundRoosevelt National Forest · 9.0 mi
Mountain ParkRoosevelt National Forest · 9.3 miThe Redfeather Ranger Cabin is located off the west side of Dowdy Lake Road in the unincorporated town of Red Feather Lakes in Larimer County, Colorado and about 46 miles northwest of Fort Collins, CO. The Forest Service access road into the station is approximately 1/4 mile north of the intersection of Dowdy Lake Road and W County Road 74E / Red Feather Lakes Road (just past the Red Feather Supermarket and Rock Shop).
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Red Feather Lakes, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 29°F, day 56°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 15°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
Redfeather Ranger Station is in Colorado’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Joe Neguse (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 moneyJoe NeguseU.S. Representative · Colorado’s 2nd 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 Redfeather Ranger Station, Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado
Dear Joe Neguse, I’m a constituent in Colorado’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Redfeather Ranger Station, Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 2 sites at Redfeather Ranger Station 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 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Redfeather Ranger Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Redfeather Ranger Station. 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 Redfeather Ranger Station (Roosevelt 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 Redfeather Ranger Station, Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado
Dear John W. Hickenlooper, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I tried to camp at Redfeather Ranger Station, Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 2 sites at Redfeather Ranger Station 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 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Redfeather Ranger Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Redfeather Ranger Station. 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 Redfeather Ranger Station (Roosevelt 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 Redfeather Ranger Station, Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado
Dear Michael F. Bennet, I’m a constituent in Colorado. I tried to camp at Redfeather Ranger Station, Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado, and couldn’t. All 2 sites at Redfeather Ranger Station 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 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Redfeather Ranger Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Redfeather Ranger Station. 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 Redfeather Ranger Station (Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“the agency's own site records list "CELL PHONE SERVICE" on 2 of 2 campsites here”