Pick a site on the map to see its availability calendar.
No detected openings were recorded in the last 90 days. Campsite Sniper monitors Elwood Cabin continuously and will alert you if that changes.
Of the 183 tracked site-nights (Sep 18, 2026 – Mar 19, 2027): 119 open for online reservation · 42 reserved · 22 closed.
Of the open cabin-nights on mapped sites, 62 fall on weekdays and 57 on weekends (Fri–Sun).
September shows no online availability. 0 of 13 tracked site-nights are open there — 11 reserved, 2 closed.
| Window | Night | Sites open | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor Day | SAT Sep 5 | 0 | None open |
| SUN Sep 6 | 0 | None open | |
| MON Sep 7 | 0 | None open | |
| Thanksgiving | THU Nov 26 | 1 | Open |
| FRI Nov 27 | 1 | Open | |
| SAT Nov 28 | 1 | Open | |
| Christmas | THU Dec 24 | 1 | Open |
| FRI Dec 25 | 1 | Open | |
| New Year | THU Dec 31 | 1 | Open |
| FRI Jan 1 | 1 | Open |
Labor Day: no online availability on any tracked night. Thanksgiving: 1 cabin is available for the complete three-night stay. Christmas: 1 cabin is available for the complete two-night stay. New Year: 1 cabin is available for the complete two-night stay.
| Cabin | Open cabin-nights |
|---|---|
| 5106 | 119 |
This cabin currently has 119 cabin-nights available.
The next bookable night is Nov 7; the first open weekend starts Nov 7. Campsite Sniper can watch later dates for you.
Multi-night stays. 8 2-night, 8 3-night, 8 7-night openings where a single site is free for every night, per Campsite Sniper's current snapshot — soonest Nov 7 at site 5106.
RV length. Longest recorded site here is 50 ft. 1 site takes 25 ft, 1 site takes 35 ft, 1 site takes 40 ft.
| Cabin | Max RV | Hookups | Open cabin-nights | Longest run | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5106 | 50 ft | None | 119 | 26 nights | Nov 7, Nov 8, Nov 9, Nov 10, Nov 11, Nov 12, Nov 13, Nov 14, Nov 15, Nov 18, Nov 19, Nov 20 +107 more |
Elwood Cabin sits in a saddle along the San Juan Mountains
overlooking an open meadow, offering guests a unique lodging
opportunity.
The cabin was built in 1911 by the Mountain States Telephone Company as a "line
shack" to support crews maintaining the transcontinental telephone line. Remnants of this
old telephone line are still found along Iron Creek to the southeast. The cabin was also used
as a Forest Service Station from 1950 until 1962, serving as living quarters for Forest Service
employees who worked on numerous projects in the area.
Although the phone line has been abandoned, today the cabin is a high-altitude getaway for
guests seeking relaxation and recreation in south-central Colorado.
During summer months the cabin can
be accessed by motorized travel. During winter months access to the cabin is by
snowmobiles, cross country skiing or snow shoeing.
The area around Elwood cabin offers a variety of recreational opportunities year-round. Summertime brings excellent scenic tour opportunities in and around the Summitville area as well as exploration of several historical mining sites.
Anglers have a spectacular backdrop to fishing streams such as Iron Creek or Treasure Creek. Nearby Platoro Reservoir, which feeds the Conejos River, provides excellent fishing for trout and salmon.
Great hiking can be found around the area, as it spans both the Rio Grande and San Juan National Forests, as well as the South San Juan Wilderness.
In winter, the Elwood cabin area can be blanketed with as much as ten feet of snow, requiring preparation and knowledge of winter travel. Snowmobiling, skiing and snowshoeing are popular activities in the area.
The one room log cabin is furnished with two bunk beds with single beds on the top and on the bottom of each bunk, accommodating up to four individuals total for the cabin. The cabin has a wood stove for heat, propane lighting and a propane stove. The kitchen is equipped with a table and chairs, cooking utensils, pots and pans and a fire extinguisher. Firewood is available in the adjoining shed. An outdoor vault toilet is also on-site.
Guests must provide a sufficient supply of water for cooking, cleaning and washing. Guests are also encouraged to bring an additional light source in case of emergencies.
Although the cabin has some amenities, guests do need to provide their own food, sleeping bags, linens, towels, dish soap, matches, first aid kit, avalanche equipment, toilet paper and garbage bags.
High in the San Juan Mountains at an elevation of 11,000 feet, this cabin provides guests with views of nearby peaks, meadows filled with wildflowers and alpine forests.
While staying at such a high elevation guests will notice how light plays differently on the landscape and stars blanket the sky on clear cold evenings. Elk, deer, and other wildlife are often seen in meadows adjacent to the cabin. Bear, marmot and chipmunks also call the area home.
Summitville is a nearby ghost town where gold was first discovered in 1870, then mined until the early 1990s. When contaminants leaked off-site and flowed into the local watershed the government forced it to shut down. Now a water treatment plant is on the site as part of a federal clean up program.
From Del Norte, take U.S. Highway 160 west to South Fork. Continue west on U.S. Highway 160 for 8 miles to Park Creek Road. Travel 15 miles on Park Creek Road to Summitville Road. Turn right on FSR 380, the cabin is about 2 miles on the left. From the junction of FSR 250 in the Alamosa Canyon and FSR 380, follow FSR 380 about 8 miles, the cabin is on the right. Access to the cabin in the summertime can be accomplished with just about any vehicle; however, when the dirt roads are wet they tend to get slick. In winter, the trail access to the Elwood Cabin is on the unplowed portion of Forest Road 380, which starts southeast from the junction, but makes a bend and continues south-southwest to the cabin. The 2 mile ski to the cabin is generally easy with a 400 foot elevation gain. The Elwood Cabin is visible below the road on a knoll projecting into a large open park. Allow from 1.5 - 2 hours or longer, depending on snow conditions, for the trip.
View on Recreation.gov ↗ Get directions ↗






Reservations for Elwood Cabin are made through Recreation.gov. 119 of 183 tracked site-nights are currently open (65%). Pick a site on the map to see its calendar, or set a free Campsite Sniper alert. You complete the reservation yourself on Recreation.gov.
No. Campsite Sniper sends alerts and direct Recreation.gov links. It never books, pays for, holds, hoards, or resells reservations.
Campsite Sniper re-checks public Recreation.gov availability for this facility every hour and republishes whenever anything changes. This facility's data last changed at Sep 18, 2026 16:19 UTC; an older timestamp means nothing has changed since that time, not that checking stopped. Always confirm final availability on Recreation.gov when you book.
8 three-night openings are showing, counting only runs where the SAME site is free for all three nights. The soonest starts Nov 7 at site 5106. Confirm and book on Recreation.gov.
1 of the 1 site that support RV analysis has a recorded maximum of 35 ft or more; the longest recorded is 50 ft.
January 2027, with 29 open site-nights in the current snapshot of 31.
As of the Sep 18, 2026 snapshot: the next open date is Sat, Nov 7 and the next open weekend starts Sat, Nov 7. Detected openings can add earlier dates at any time; a free Campsite Sniper alert catches those the moment they appear.
Lakefront, hookups, your RV length, weekends only - set it as picky as you want.
We run paced availability checks for Elwood Cabin. One watch covers every matching site.
When a match opens, you get a push with a Recreation.gov link so you can review and book it yourself.