Palisades Ranger Residence Cabin

What a great time of year for a visit! We were at the cabin the first week of April. The mornings/ evenings were chilly, but the days were perfect for hiking. There was a bit of snow still left on the ground, it was beautiful. The cabin is perfectly located next to the visitors center and great hikes. The best hike was the Bigelow Trail, what a view from the top.

What a great time of year for a visit! We were at the cabin the first week of April. The mornings/ evenings were chilly, but the days were perfect for hiking. There was a bit of snow still left on the ground, it was beautiful. The cabin is perfectly located next to the visitors center and great hikes. The best hike was the Bigelow Trail, what a view from the top.

What a great time of year for a visit! We were at the cabin the first week of April. The mornings/ evenings were chilly, but the days were perfect for hiking. There was a bit of snow still left on the ground, it was beautiful. The cabin is perfectly located next to the visitors center and great hikes. The best hike was the Bigelow Trail, what a view from the top.

My family and i had a good time. Pretty nice accommodations.

My family and i had a good time. Pretty nice accommodations.

My family and i had a good time. Pretty nice accommodations.

My family of four had a great time here! Enough snow on the ground to have fun, but since the nearby visitor center was closed the cabin felt more secluded than it actually is (I imagine it feels very "in the thick of it" in summer when the nearby Boy Scouts of America camp is active). Lots of nearby hikes and beautiful scenery, lots of room for kids to play outdoors near the cabin. A few minor issues: 1) the shower drained very poorly. It looks like it should double as a bath, but there's no bath faucet; 2) The wood stove was out of service (I see that a few of the previous reviews mentioned this) but the central heating worked great and we didn't even need the space heaters provided; 3) There's a busted window, and we were worried when we arrived, but the cardboard and plastic temporary fix that someone has done is more effective than we thought: as I said before, the central heat was enough, and we were quite warm at night. I really appreciated that all the switches were labeled, even the ones that don't seem to do anything. The presence of a "Mud Room" was very effective at helping us (and the kids) confine our muddy/ snowy footprints to that room, which made clean up a lot easier than it could have been. It would be nice to have coat hooks in the mud room, though. All in all, a great visit. I even caught a glimpse of a fox when it set off the motion activated flood lights outside on our second night.

My family of four had a great time here! Enough snow on the ground to have fun, but since the nearby visitor center was closed the cabin felt more secluded than it actually is (I imagine it feels very "in the thick of it" in summer when the nearby Boy Scouts of America camp is active). Lots of nearby hikes and beautiful scenery, lots of room for kids to play outdoors near the cabin. A few minor issues: 1) the shower drained very poorly. It looks like it should double as a bath, but there's no bath faucet; 2) The wood stove was out of service (I see that a few of the previous reviews mentioned this) but the central heating worked great and we didn't even need the space heaters provided; 3) There's a busted window, and we were worried when we arrived, but the cardboard and plastic temporary fix that someone has done is more effective than we thought: as I said before, the central heat was enough, and we were quite warm at night. I really appreciated that all the switches were labeled, even the ones that don't seem to do anything. The presence of a "Mud Room" was very effective at helping us (and the kids) confine our muddy/ snowy footprints to that room, which made clean up a lot easier than it could have been. It would be nice to have coat hooks in the mud room, though. All in all, a great visit. I even caught a glimpse of a fox when it set off the motion activated flood lights outside on our second night.

My family of four had a great time here! Enough snow on the ground to have fun, but since the nearby visitor center was closed the cabin felt more secluded than it actually is (I imagine it feels very "in the thick of it" in summer when the nearby Boy Scouts of America camp is active). Lots of nearby hikes and beautiful scenery, lots of room for kids to play outdoors near the cabin. A few minor issues: 1) the shower drained very poorly. It looks like it should double as a bath, but there's no bath faucet; 2) The wood stove was out of service (I see that a few of the previous reviews mentioned this) but the central heating worked great and we didn't even need the space heaters provided; 3) There's a busted window, and we were worried when we arrived, but the cardboard and plastic temporary fix that someone has done is more effective than we thought: as I said before, the central heat was enough, and we were quite warm at night. I really appreciated that all the switches were labeled, even the ones that don't seem to do anything. The presence of a "Mud Room" was very effective at helping us (and the kids) confine our muddy/ snowy footprints to that room, which made clean up a lot easier than it could have been. It would be nice to have coat hooks in the mud room, though. All in all, a great visit. I even caught a glimpse of a fox when it set off the motion activated flood lights outside on our second night.

It is a nice location. But the house needs a lot of work. And people need to take responsibility for cleaning up their mess. Too many dirty utensils.