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Fitton Guard Station is a small cabin located in a high elevation meadow at 10,600 feet on Burro Creek near an off-highway vehicle trail. The barn was renovated in 2010 and a vault toilet was installed.
Visitors may reserve the cabin for a maximum of 14 days to allow others the opportunity to rent the cabin. The combination to the cabin is provided in the confirmation letter.
The surrounding area offers many recreation opportunities, including hunting, hiking, off-highway vehicle riding, mountain biking, snowmobiling, backcountry skiing, horseback riding and fishing.
The small, rustic cabin sleeps four (two bunk beds). There is a wood burning cook stove,outhouse, barn for horses, fire ring, table, chairs and a small covered porch. There is no potable water. Natural sources of water should be treated before use.Firewood not provided. Firewood can be gathered near the cabin.
**There are meadows, aspen groves and spruce/fir forests near the cabin. At 13, 200 feet, Bennett Peak sits southeast of the cabin. Off Cow Camp is located 400 yards downstream from Fitton Guard Station and is available as a rental cabin to the public.**
The Burro Creek off-highway vehicle (OHV) trails connect to many miles of OHV trails and forest roads in the area. The trails are also used by motorcycles, mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders. During the winter, snowmobilers and backcountry skiers use the area near the cabin.
There are several ways to access the cabin from the upper and lower trailheads of the Burro Creek OHV Trail. From the west side of the town of Del Norte, head south on County Road 14 for 12 miles to the lower Burro Creek Trailhead. The cabin is 6 miles upstream from this trailhead and 1.5 miles from the upper trailhead. The upper trailhead is located 28 miles from the town of Del Norte and is accessed by Forest Service Roads 329 and 329.1C.
We love coming to this cabin! First time we hiked in! Hiking in was easy, but hiking out was hard. It snowed a foot so my 3 yr old had a hard time with the snow above his knees. The second time we drove a side by side in since there was more snow. The cabin is stocked really nice with supplies.
This is a great hike in Forest service cabin for a somewhat primitive experience. I mean, a cookstove is pretty luxurious in my book. If you don't know how to operate one, better check out some YouTube before heading out.
We had a family group and used both cabins in this picturesque valley.
The park service generally stocks firewood for visitors and they do repairs on equipment when possible so don't take the other reviews for Gospel.
There is a spring nearby but we had water we packed in.
We stayed two nights - Dad and two teenage boys - and this was our fifth primitive camping trip to go on so we're relatively experienced at this. Overall, the trip was a success but there were some surprises.
Things to know before you go: Unless you have an ATV (and I mean four-wheeler not side-by-side - certainly no 4x4 pickup) you CANNOT drive to this cabin. I should say, you are not allowed to drive to this cabin. We saw a couple of two seat side-by-side ATVs on the trail, but there really is no way to get a 4x4 on the trail even if you wanted to. So be prepared to hike-in everything you need. The drive-in from Del Norte takes about an hour - about half of it on gravel road and you park in a meadow at the Burro Creek south trailhead. We used the 4 wheel drive just once on the drive in due to mud on the road, but in good weather I imagine a Prius could make it. From the parking area, it is about a 1.5 mile hike downhill most of the way. Two things I wasn't expecting on the trail - lots of cow pies and mosquitoes! We were there during the monsoon season so everyday rain was common. There was plenty of mud on the trail and a few damp spots (one creek crossing) so bring dry socks. Once there, the cabin was plenty roomy and comfortable - three bunks and a futon that makes into a double bed. No linens or pillows. Note that the adjacent Off Cabin is pretty close - close enough to hear kids playing - so if you're looking for peace and quiet you had better hope your neighbors are looking for the same thing. The cabin has some frying pans and pots along with some basic cooking utensils, plates, and flatware. Most important, the coffee pot is missing the inner basket and there is only one coffee cup so plan accordingly. We arrived to very little firewood in the tub and it rained all night so there was no dry firewood to scavenge the next day. We ended up driving into town (four-hour round trip including the hike-in and out) just to get a bag of firewood for the stove. You might consider bringing one with you just in case you need to draw from it. There's an outdoor fire-ring that has one broken weld on it so it requires some jerry-rigging to work right. The indoor stove works pretty well but it will heat up the cabin so use it sparingly in the heat of the day. The view from the cabin is gorgeous - best we've ever had! We saw no wildlife except a few Mule deer on the road in and out. I don't consider the huge marmot couple and accompanying chipmunks who all live under the cabin to be wildlife - more like family after spending a day or two with them! There are a few mice that will keep you awake at night; make sure to keep a clean cabin and set the trap. The privy is ... well it's a privy - better than nothing. Bring your own toilet paper. We didn't have horses but I'm not sure how we'd use the barn if we did - it was full of fencing and construction supplies (that might be a temporary thing though). We expected to hear a lot of ATV traffic on the Burro Creek Trail - especially since it runs right next to the cabin, but we only saw a couple over Sat-Mon period. We were there in mid-July and temps fluctuated from mid 40s during rain storms to around 80 during the sunny day. A good bet is subtract about fifteen degrees from whatever the temp is in Del Norte. The altitude was somewhat of a surprise - if you're not used to hiking above 10K feet, the hike in (and especially hike out since it's almost all uphill) might be a challenge for you. Burro Creek runs nearby the cabin and can provide water as long as you filter it well. It's cold, so be prepared to wait a while for it boil. All in all it's a pretty good place to be and we enjoyed it.
It was difficult to get to by foot. Our group was three relatively in shape former military and it took an hour plus with gear and we had to make two trips. There are a lot of supplies in the cabin already. All cookware is provided. Just bring clothes, sleeping bag, food and water and you should be set. Ax and saw is provided. Previous guests have left a lot of supplies behind from other trips. Anyways, just know going into it that if you are trying to walk in from the road that is directly south of the cabins, it will be a difficult hike.
Our family stayed here June 1st, 2019. It was a great experience. We took 2 ATV's from the Burro Creek trailhead South to the cabin. It was quite the experience to even get to the cabin!
That winter there were record snows in the mountains so there was still a lot of snow and ice covering parts of the trail. Also, there were many downed trees blocking the trail. However, we came prepared with a saw, axe, and we had winches on the ATV's that allowed us to cut and move several trees out of the way. When we encountered a large ice shelf covering the trail (that portion of trail travels through the stream) we had to break a path through the ice shelf to get our ATV's through. I spent a considerable amount of time on this. After getting through, we were on a muddy trail the rest of the way to the cabin. We were the first motorized vehicles to get to the cabin that year which made it a little exciting.
The cabin is old and rustic but it has quite a few supplies. We had brought our own way of heating up water for camp meals, but we could have used the wood burning stove. Our family of 4 fit perfectly inside and each had a separate bunk to sleep on. There is a fire ring outside and a pit toilet.
Overall, it was one of my favorite memories yet as a trip in Colorado due to how hard we had to work just to get there. The views are amazing, the ATV trail is fun and the cabin fit our style of "roughing it" perfectly. We'll be back!
