Tucannon Guard Station
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 11 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 16:33 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
The historic Tucannon Guard Station is a charming saltbox-style cabin constructed in 1909. It was inhabited by the first ranger in the Tucannon area, William Kendell, and his family. By 1916, the guard house became headquarters for the district for two years, and then continued on as a standard guard station. Staying here is like stepping back in time. The rooms inside are nicely decorated and cozy. Touches like curtains on the windows and modern furniture add to the destination experience. Beyond the cabin is plenty of photogenic scenery, plus options for prime fishing and hiking. Keep reading
Recreation
Just a few miles south are trailheads to wilderness hiking trails. Plus the road along the Tucannon River is a notable scenic drive, ideal for viewing flora and fauna.
Facilities
The Tucannon is a two-story wood frame structure with wood siding and a shake shingle roof. The upstairs is divided into two sleeping areas, one furnished with two single beds and the other with a queen bed. The ground floor has spare room with a single bed and a living room furnished with a futon that sleeps two. The downstairs bathroom is equipped with a flush toilet and shower/tub with hot water. Electricity and propane are included for heating and cooking. The kitchen and dining area boast a cook stove, microwave, and refrigerator, plus a table and chairs. The cabin has potable running water year-round. A picnic table beneath the trees & firepit sit outside. Most cleaning supplies, dishes, pots, pans, and utensils are provided, but visitors are encouraged to bring their own. Guests should also bring bedding or sleeping bags, and basic camping gear like flashlights, dish soap and matches. General cleaning is expected before departure. Mop, bucket, broom, and cleaning supplies provided. Cleaning service is not always available between guests, please leave the cabin as you would like to find it. The Tucannon Guard Station is located near the Lower Tucannon Campground. This area can see heavy use during the holidays.
Natural Features
The cabin is at 2600 ft elevation on a shady, gently rolling site at the base of a hillside in Tucannon Valley. The rugged landscape stretches across the northern Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. Visitors may spot local inhabitants like wild turkey, pheasant, deer, elk and even an occasional moose in the area.
Nearby Attractions
A convenience store, gas station and RV park is located about 9 miles, or 15 minutes, north of the cabin. River access and opportunities for hunting and mushroom picking are also within 10 miles of the cabin.
Charges & Cancellations
For Changes & Cancellation Fees, please see Rules & Reservation Policies.
What the agency tells you
Entry to the cabin is by combination lock; please call the Pomeroy Ranger District one week prior to arrival at (509) 843-1891 Monday-Friday 7:30-4:30 Closed weekends & holidays, for lock combination and to check on weather and road conditions
We will no longer authorize refunds for inaccessibility due to inclement weather conditions.
This facility may have mouse poison (Decon) around the perimeter; beware of exposure to children and pets
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Please bring garbage bags; this is a 'pack in-pack out' facility. Cabin should be cleaned before departure. Mop, bucket, broom & cleaning supplies provided.
No off-road vehicles around cabin; they may only be used on designated trails
One dog is allowed at this facility, no other pets are permitted.
For current news and events of Pacific Northwest Region National Forests, click here
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
- 1 electric
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
- 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
- DRINKING WATER on 1 of 1 campsite records
Full this Saturdayread 16:33 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday. 1 is free on Wed, Oct 21. read 16:33 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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
“For Changes & Cancellation Fees, please see Rules & Reservation Policies.” · 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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:33 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
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.
| TUCANNON GUARD STATION | Tucannon Guard Station | cabin electric | 322 ft | $100 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Clearwater Lookout CabinUmatilla National Forest · 5.9 mi
Clearwater Big HouseUmatilla National Forest · 6.3 miFrom Pomeroy, take Highway 12 west for about 4 miles. Turn left on Tatman Mt. Road and continue (road changes to Linville Gulch after a couple of miles) for about 6.5 miles (sharp right turn at top of hill) where pavement ends at Blind Grade. Continue on gravel road (Blind Grade) with hairpin turns to stop sign. Turn left onto Tucannon Road and continue for about 8.5 miles. Guard station is on the right.
From Dayton, take Highway 12 east about 11.5 miles, and turn right on Tucannon Road. Continue about 24 miles. The guard station is on the right. This route is best for large RVs and is the best route in winter, especially for those with two-wheel drive vehicles. Please contact the Columbia County Road Department in Dayton for winter road condition reports.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Dayton, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 61°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 26°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
Tucannon Guard Station is in Washington’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Michael Baumgartner (R), 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 moneyMichael BaumgartnerU.S. Representative · Washington’s 5th district
- 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 Tucannon Guard Station, Umatilla National Forest, Washington
Dear Michael Baumgartner, I’m a constituent in Washington’s 5th district. I tried to camp at Tucannon Guard Station, Umatilla National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Tucannon Guard 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 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Tucannon Guard Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Tucannon Guard 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 Tucannon Guard Station (Umatilla 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 Tucannon Guard Station, Umatilla National Forest, Washington
Dear Maria Cantwell, I’m a constituent in Washington. I tried to camp at Tucannon Guard Station, Umatilla National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Tucannon Guard 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 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Tucannon Guard Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Tucannon Guard 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 Tucannon Guard Station (Umatilla 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 Tucannon Guard Station, Umatilla National Forest, Washington
Dear Patty Murray, I’m a constituent in Washington. I tried to camp at Tucannon Guard Station, Umatilla National Forest, Washington, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Tucannon Guard 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 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Tucannon Guard Station keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Tucannon Guard 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 Tucannon Guard Station (Umatilla National Forest, Washington) via campanac.com