Rio Grande National Forest · Colorado
Overview Carnero Guard Station is situated in a high open meadow surrounded by forest at an elevation of 9,840 feet. The high-elevation cabin is located in the north-central area of the San Luis Valley in the Rio Grande National Forest. The guard station was first proposed in 1907 by the Cochetopa National Forest, and was originally named the John Smith Ranger Station after a homesteader who built a cabin near the site, but never filed on the land.
Sites at Carnero Guard Station are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 1 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Cabin |
| Location | Saguache, CO |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
itOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Carnero Guard Station around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Big Meadows Reservoir Campground (South Central CO) | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Mogote | Cancellation alerts available |
| Elk Creek Campground (Rio Grande Nf) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Thirty Mile | Cancellation alerts available |
| Aspen Glade (Rio Grande National Forest, CO) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Cathedral | Cancellation alerts available |
| Lake Fork(Rio Grande Natl Fore | Cancellation alerts available |
| River Hill | Cancellation alerts available |
| Marshall Park | Cancellation alerts available |
| Rock Creek (Rio Grande National Forest) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Rio Grande | Cancellation alerts available |
| Comstock | Cancellation alerts available |
| Rio Grande Off-Season Campgrounds | Cancellation alerts available |
| Ivy Creek | Cancellation alerts available |
| Alder Guard Station | Cancellation alerts available |
| Brewery Creek Guard Station | Cancellation alerts available |
| Duncan Cabin | Cancellation alerts available |
| Elwood Cabin | Cancellation alerts available |
| Fitton Guard Station Cabin | Cancellation alerts available |
| Off Cow Camp Cabin | Cancellation alerts available |
| Platoro Cabin 1 | Cancellation alerts available |
| Platoro Cabin 2 | Cancellation alerts available |
| Stone Cellar Guard Station | Cancellation alerts available |
| Upper Crossing Guard Station | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Carnero Guard Station; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.