Snyder Guard Station (ID)
3Heads up3 fires, nearest 20 mi
- 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 · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Snyder Guard station, located on the banks of the scenic Moyie River, has been listed on the National Register for Historic places since 1982. The complex of seven buildings includes a residence, two log cabins, a cookhouse, warehouse, corrals, a machinery shed and a garage. The facility is spread across 10 lovely acres and is perfect for large groups of up to 70 people or small family getaways. The buildings on the property were constructed from 1906 to 1936, and most structures are available for rent. Keep reading
A group picnic and camping area provide additional campsites and amenities for six RVs, plenty of room for tent camping, pathways to the river, and more. Snyder was originally constructed as a remote work station for early Forest Service employees. As roads were constructed and transportation improved, the site no longer required live-in crews, so visitors can now use these buildings as recreation rentals.
Recreation
Outdoor recreational opportunities abound on the Moyie River and nearby lakes. Fishing, whitewater rafting, canoeing and kayaking are all popular pastimes. Over 70 miles of trails are open to hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and motorcyclists. The Copper Falls viewpoint trail is just a few miles from the Snyder Guard Station on copper Falls Road #2517. Hunting, huckleberry picking, cross country skiing and snowmobiling are enjoyed in season.
Facilities
Historic Site buildings include the main ranger house, two small log cabins, a cookhouse, a horse pole barn, and several administrative buildings. Camping Loop buildings include a 50' x 30' covered picnic shelter, a camping loop with six sites with picnic tables and fire rings, a vault toilet, and additional parking for 10 vehicles. Additionally, two horse corrals, vault toilets, drinking water faucets, campfire rings, picnic tables, and a mowed grassy playing field are available for use. The ranger house has three bedrooms, a bathroom with a flush toilet and hot shower (low capacity, only for groups under 25 people, outdoor screened shower areas are also available), a living room, dining room, and a fully stocked kitchen with enough utensils for 12 guests. The small cabins come with three to four beds and a table and chair. These cabins have no electricity. Most facilities and furnishings are 80-110 years old, please use them gently and treat them with respect. To protect the historic features, pets are not allowed at Snyder Guard Station. The cookhouse is furnished with benches and tables to seat 30, plus cookware and place settings. Outdoor amenities include picnic tables and campfire rings at six sites and a large picnic shelter with a fireplace and grills. Campers should bring basic camping gear like bedding or sleeping bags, flashlights, food, matches, garbage bags, towels and dish soap. ( Click here for more cabin details. )
Natural Features
Snyder Guard Station is located within the Lower Kootenai River Area (Bonners Ferry District) of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. The area is bordered by the Purcell and Cabinet Ranges and the Montana Line on the east, the rugged Selkirk Range on the west, and the Canadian border to the north. The Kootenai River meanders north and west through the District, and the Moyie River joins it from the north. The Guard Station sits at an elevation of 2,500 feet along the Moyie River, 8 miles south of the Canadian border. Terrain in the river valley is relatively flat, and is bordered by Queen Mountain to the West and Ruby Mountain to the east. The mixed conifer forest include Douglas fir and spruce. Wildlife sightings include elk, deer, black bears, moose and bald eagles.
Nearby Attractions
A restaurant, gas station and convenience store are less than 10 miles down the road.
What the agency tells you
Entry is by combination lock; contact the ranger district at (208) 267-5561 for combination 10-14 days prior to arrival
NO PETS ALLOWED at Snyder Guard Station.
No candles, open flames, or smoking in any building
Everything else this campground posts · 12
Tent camping is available in the camping loop only, no tents on the historic site.
There is no telephone or cell service at the site.
No firewood cutting on Snyder grounds; please bring firewood or cut on adjacent Forest Service lands
RVs are welcome but must be self-contained; no hookups or dump stations
Forest Service employees still use the site and may be present during business hours
Volunteer hosts are on hand to answer questions; however, they do not provide cleaning service
Please bring garbage bags; this is a 'pack it in-pack it out' facility
Check in and check out times are strictly enforced
Horses must stay in corrals; they are not allowed on mowed lawns. Please bring certified weed free hay only.
Click here for more information on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Groups of 75 individuals or larger will be required to have a special use permit by the Forest Service. Please call the district at (208) 267-5561 to inquire about your permit and responsibilites after making the reservation.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets
- “…with picnic tables and fire rings, a vault toilet, and additional parking for 10 vehicles.… / …has three bedrooms, a bathroom with a flush toilet and hot shower (low capacity, only for groups under…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- Shower/Bath Type states a shower on all 1 of this campground's campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…two horse corrals, vault toilets, drinking water faucets, campfire rings, picnic tables, and a mowed…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Boating
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Night sky · 305th darkest of 523 in ID
- Bortle 2
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 · 11
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 · 4
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| SNYDER GUARD STATION (ID) | 001 | cabin electric | 60 ft | 208 ft |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Deer Ridge LookoutKaniksu National Forest · 4.1 miMeadow Creek CampgroundKaniksu National Forest · 4.6 miRobinson Lake Campground6.4 miSolomon Lake FishingKaniksu National Forest · 6.8 miCopper Creek CampgroundKaniksu National Forest · 6.9 miSmith Lake CampgroundKaniksu National Forest · 8.5 miSnyder Guard Station is located 36 road miles northeast of Bonners Ferry, ID and takes 50 minutes to drive from point to point.
From the Bonners Ferry Ranger Station, drive north on US 95 for 29.5 miles to Moyie River Road. Turn right (south) onto Moyie River Road (at Good Grief Cafe) and travel south for 5.5 miles. Snyder Guard Station is on the right and is marked with a sign. Travel time is 50 minutes from the Bonners Ferry Ranger District.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Moyie Springs, ID
Typical weather
Typical October night 36°F, day 56°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°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
Snyder Guard Station (ID) is in Idaho’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Russ Fulcher (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →