Tilly Jane Guard Station
4Heads up4 fires, nearest 12 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 · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Tilly Jane Guard Station is an ideal getaway for individuals and families who enjoy the great outdoors in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. It is one of the oldest structures on Mt. Hood and provides shelter for warmth and an escape from the elements while participating in a variety of activities, specifically winter-related recreation. During the winter months it serves as a winter retreat for visitors hardy enough to access the cabin from the Tilly Jane Sno-Park. The Guard Station can usually only be accessed by skis or snowshoes, as the Cloud Cap road is closed from late October until early July. Keep reading
Guests can access the cabin following a 9-mile, gently sloping road, or via the historic Tilly Jane Ski Trail, which is roughly 2.7 miles with an elevation gain of 1,900 feet. Skis with skins or snowshoes are highly recommended and travelers should be prepared for extreme weather conditions. The TJ Ski Trail is poorly marked due to the 2008 Gnarl Ridge Fire so be on notice. Guests should be experienced in backcountry travel and survival skills. Guests must also bring several of their own amenities.
Recreation
Visitors to the Guard Station enjoy a variety of recreational activities, including hiking, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing, which can be done most of the year due to high levels of snowfall in the area. Many trails exist in the area, prompting exploration. Most trails are not marked so visitors should be familiar with the area. Above the tree line, visitors can catch a glimpse of Mt. Adams, St Helens, Mt. Rainier and the Hood River Valley flanked by the dry high desert of eastern Oregon.
Facilities
The cabin accommodates up to 8 people. It includes a full kitchen (no running water) and a second story sleeping loft with 8 sleeping pads. It has propane lighting and a cooking stove/oven, as well as all cooking pots and utensils. A variety of seating is available, as well as a table and chairs. A fireplace and woodstove with firewood are also provided. An on-site pit toilet is located within the wood room of the cabin. Water is obtained by melting snow or by digging an access hole to Tilly Jane Creek. We recommend all water be treated. Guests will need to bring their own bedding, clothing, food, and garbage bags. A variety of house rules exist, including proper closure of the cabin, which involves shutting off the gas, reinstalling the shutters and locking the cabin up. The cabin will need to be cleaned prior to leaving, dishes washed and everything in its place. Guests will also need to replenish a supply of wood and kindling for the next group. All food and garbage must be removed from the cabin.
Natural Features
The Guard Station is located high on the northeast side of Mt. Hood at an elevation of 5,700 feet. It was built in 1934 and initially received seasonal use for back country access and fire protection. The cabin is one of five structures in the area built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is part of the Cloud Cap/Tilly Jane Historic District. The facility is operated and maintained by the volunteer organization, Oregon Nordic Club, under a permit from the U.S. Forest Service. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (877) 444-6777.
Charges & Cancellations
Standard Rec.gov change/cancellation policies apply. Cancellations with less than 14 days notice will pay a $10 service fee AND forfeit the first night's reservation fee and $6 booking fee.
What the agency tells you
Contact hello@fotjc.org if there are any issues. Visit fotjc.org for more information including answers to common questions and other useful information.
Please review your reservation confirmation document for the cabin access code. Access is via a second story locked snow door. You will need a headlamp and may be required to dig out the front door before fully opening the cabin. Any questions should be directed to hello@fotjc.org. (Checked daily.)
No dogs are allowed. People melt snow for drinking water, rodent poison is in use at the Guard Station.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Poison is used to control the rodent population. You may encounter rodent droppings and other rodent evidence.
Detailed check in/check out procedures are located in the kitchen and welcome booklet.
The Guard Station can usually only be accessed by skis or snowshoes.
Tent camping is not allowed at the facility.
This is the Tilly Jane Guard Station, not the Tilly Jane A-Frame.
Drinking water is not available; melt snow or access water via Tilly Jane Creek. (All water should be treated).
Guest access is via the historic Tilly Jane Trail, a 3 mile climb with a 1,900 foot elevation gain. There is also the 9-mile Cloud Cap Road which is not marked and not maintained in the winter.
Be prepared for extreme winter weather conditions; guests should be experienced in backcountry travel and survival skills.
An Oregon Sno-Park permit is required to park at Tilly Jane Sno-Park; these can be purchased online or at the Hood River Ranger Station during open hours.
Learn more about the Mt. Hood National Forest
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Pit Toilets
- PIT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…to 8 people. It includes a full kitchen (no running water) and a second story sleeping loft with 8 sleeping…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Ice Climbing
- Mountain Climbing
- Skiing
- Sledding
- Wilderness access
- Winter sports
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 · 13
What you actually pay
“Cancellations with less than 14 days notice will pay a $10 service fee AND forfeit the first night's reservation fee and $6 booking fee.” · this campground’s own 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
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.
| Loop A | Guard Station | cabin nonelectric | 112 ft | 2,074 ft | $200 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Sherwood CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 3.8 miPolallie CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 4.0 mi
Kinnikinnick (Laurance Lake) CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 4.1 mi
Nottingham CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 4.5 mi
Alpine CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 6.1 miFrom Hood River, OR: South on Hwy 35 for 23 miles, well past the Hood River Ranger Station. Look for the Cooper Spur Inn sign and turn right off Hwy 35 onto Cooper Spur Rd. (Just north of/before Olallie trailhead). Drive Cooper Spur Rd. for 2.4 miles to Cooper Spur Inn. Turn left onto the Cloud Cap/Tilly Jane Road #3512. The trailhead is Tilly Jane Sno-park, just past the intersection with Cooper Spur ski area, with parking on the right and the trailhead in the woods on the left side of the road. This is the trailhead used for winter travel (usually between October-June). Cloud Cap/Tilly Jane Road #3512 is gated/locked and not plowed in winter. The second option is to follow the Cloud Cap Road (FS Road 3512). This is the 9 mile gently sloping road.
The safest way to ski down is the Cloud Cap Road (FS Road 3512). This can be a long (9 mile), extremely difficult slog if there is soft snow. The Old Wagon Road shortens this distance by about 4 to 5 miles, but involves steep slopes in the upper section of the road. The shortest route and probably the safest in poor snow conditions is to ski or walk down the Tilly Jane Ski Trail, a distance of 2.7 miles.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Parkdale, OR
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Tilly Jane Guard Station is in Oregon’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Maxine Dexter (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →