The Imnaha Guard Station is a rustic cabin located in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in western Oregon, United States.
It was originally built to house fire crews assigned to patrol the surrounding National Forest.
In the 1990s, the United States Forest Service began renting the Imnaha Guard Station to recreational visitors.
Since the forest road networks were not well developed, getting to a job site meant a long trek, carrying all the equipment need to perform the field work.
To finance the preservation effort, the Forest Service started renting guard stations and unused fire lookouts to the public.
[6] During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Forest Service volunteer campground hosts stayed in the cabin during the summer.
[3][5][7] The Imnaha Guard Station is located in a remote area of the Butte Falls Ranger District on the western slope of the Cascade Mountains, at about 3,800 feet (1,200 m) elevation.
[3] Compared to other Forest Service guard stations the Imnaha cabin is extremely well equipped.
However, visitors that need to accommodate more than six people can set up camping tents in the adjacent Imnaha Campground.
The spring covers a relatively wide area, forming numerous rivulets that flow along a scenic path through yellow monkeyflower and moss before joining together to create Imnaha Creek.
There are several trailheads leading into the Sky Lakes Wilderness within a few miles from the Imnaha Guard Station.
[10] The Imnaha Guard Station is available for public reservations from mid-May to mid-October at a rate of $40 per night.
In the winter, the road to the guard station is closed to vehicles traffic due to the area's heavy snowfall.
Additional information on travel routes and seasonal road condition is available during normal business hours from the Butte Falls Ranger Station office in Butte Falls or the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest headquarters in Medford, Oregon.