Rent a Forest Service Cabin for the Weekend

There are times when you want to get away from it all.  Leave the hustle of the city, and get away from people.  But often, when the weather starts to cool, you are not too interested in going on a camping trip.  There are options to get away and not have to worry about freezing your limbs off.  The US Forest Service (via recreation.gov) offers their cabins for anyone to rent, at a very reasonable rate.

 

Throughout national forests in our state there are these small cabins.  Regardless of where you want to go, the chances are there is a cabin that you can rent.  The reservation process is easy, and can all be done online, you simply find the cabin you want, and book the dates you want.  With many of them open year round (although not always accessible), you should be able to find one that fits your needs.  Most of these cabins are heated with a wood burning stove, but they also have electricity and come equipped with an oven and a refrigerator.  Despite the convenience of modern electricity, they are still quite rustic.

 

Before you plan your next kegger at one of these cabins, there are a few things you need to be aware of.  First, these are quiet get-aways.  While you can have a group up there and have some fun, most cabins are limited in the number they sleep from between 4 and 8.  The cabin can be used as a hunting outpost, however, be aware that there is no shooting allowed near the cabin.  Use it to sleep and cook your meals, then head into the woods in search of game.  When using the cabin, make sure to respect other people’s property.  One person in our group took time to build a nice shelving unit/gun rack.  It lasted about two years until someone stole it.  If you burn wood to keep warm, chop some more and restock the barrel when you are done.  Before you leave the cabin, clean it up.  Make sure it is cleaner than when you arrived so that these resources will always be around for the general public to use.

If you do go, make sure to take a sleeping bag and a sleeping pad.  Some of the cabins have cots and mattresses, but you never know until you get there.  The cabins are pack-it-in/pack-it-out.  So any food you need, take it all away with you.  Nobody wants to show up to a cabin where mice have raided the cupboards to get the last of a few crackers.  The cabins generally do not have running water (although certain times during the summer they do), so you will need to take your own water, or be prepared to filter some from a nearby creek.  There should be plenty of dishes to use, but just in case bring some paper plates and dish soap to wash the pots and pans.  The cabin will run you $35 per night and each time you reserve it there is a $12 booking fee.  So if you have a group of 4, that’s less than $12 per person for a one night getaway.  Not a bad deal to be able to get away for a little while.

 

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