Colton Guard Station

Beautiful area but the cabin was not taken care of. It was extremely dirty - as if it hadn't been cleaned or any maintenance done on it since the 1930's. Granted, those who stay here are suppose to take care of it. The 1st hour I was there I tried to clean and sweep. The beds were pretty bad. We were hoping that the futon would be able to be open but it is stuck. We ended up sleeping in the back building. I actually liked it out there. There are numerous bunk beds and they are fairly comfortable. We were hoping for hot water since that is what was said and shown to be available. The water heater had been taken OUT so NO HOT WATER. We were grateful for the stove and the refrigerator though! The toilet in the cabin has no flushing power whatsoever. #1 is fine...but #2 - NO WAY. Thankfully there is an outhouse nearby. The place is a little oasis in a high desert. It's by a stream. The flowers were amazing. Some deer visited us along with lots of chipmunks. =) It was decently located within reasonable distance of the 'mountains' with pine trees, reservoirs and hiking...and then close to a pretty aspen tree area, as well. There are LOTS of cows roaming around and mooing at all hours. I would probably consider this cabin again but it was a pretty far distance from our home [4+ hours] so that will probably not happen. Overall though...pretty nice.

I had planned on a fridge and a stove when I made the reservation. Unfortunately there was an issue a couple days prior to my arival and they did not have a substitute for the fridge however, they did have a back up camping stove. Over all great stay :)

Was given wrong combination to lock, once in no gas available for cooking on range.

we had a wonderful time. We enjoyed exploring the area, fishing at east park, and spending time with family.

Cute cabin! The locked stocked wood storage shed with an axe in it out back leveled up our stay for sure. Nice not having to worry about being cold! The wood stove in combination with the cabin insulation was very effective to keep us warm through the night without having to keep the fire going. The futon doesn't latch open when in bed form. It folded down the middle a few times in a middle of the night. The first night that really bothered me. After giving into it the second night, and just sleeping in the middle fold, I slept fine. We brought our own water since we knew it was turned off. Was surprised the spigot didn't produce water, but we had enough. Love the solar panel! That was another level up! We had plenty enough light until bedtime each night to play cards and hang out.
It was a beautiful area that, apart from several vehicles coming down to see what was at the end of the road, we had it all too ourselves. Really nice to be able to stretch out, breath clean air and yell as loud as we wanted without bugging anyone.
We really enjoyed our time and feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to be able to rent the cute cabin and hope to again in the future. Thank you!

Beautiful winter location. Well stocked with wood and the solar lights were a real treat. Clean. Good 4 burner propane stove. First mile of ski route in mid Feb. held little snow (wind blown), but we were still able to keep skis on the whole way

This was an amazing experience. The drive to the guard station was beautiful and well signed. It was a cozy night stay. The solar was great for getting ready for bed - we didn't rely on it but it was nice to have. The propane stove was a luxury as was the water spout. Take the time to walk the property and explore the buildings. Wish I had more time to stay and explore the area. Don't forget to sign the guest book and read the entries from others! To stay in a piece of living history was awesome.

We stayed here in October. Beautiful area, and beautiful grounds. We had a lot of fun outdoors exploring and hiking. There was enough wood and we were able to finally get the cabin heated up because it was freezing outside! We could not get a fire lighted outside for some reason- tried about ten times. The main issue I had with the place is that our group had 7 people and we were counting on being able to use the beds in the bunkhouse- but it was so dirty and full of rodent droppings (on the beds) that I didn't even want to try to clean it up. The wall is not completely closed to the elements either and it was freezing in there. So we ended up cramming into the main cabin and sharing and it was super tight. So don't plan on utilizing the bunkhouse imo. The cabin was also super filthy when we arrived, there's no way it had been cleaned in like a month. It was gross, we spent an hour cleaning it before we even could set any of our things down.

Dad and 17 year old son from Alabama. Visited for one week in Early June 2022.
The high desert landscapes at Colton Guard Station in the Ashley National Forest are gorgeous beyond description. We enjoyed millions of brightly colored flowers, fragrant sagebrush, the bustle of marmots, grouse, ground squirrels, birds and deer. Driving the forest roads to the canyon rim (within the few miles around the cabin) was genuinely breathtaking. It is as dramatic as seeing the Grand Canyon but you are alone to enjoy it all to yourself! While there, we found and cracked open some geodes. I would highly recommend a 4-wheel drive vehicle with a high ground clearance for exploring the forest roads.
The Colton Spring Guard Station site includes 5 buildings; the main cabin, a large bunkhouse, a cellar (being used as a woodshed), a storage shed formerly used for gasoline, a horse barn, and the vault outhouse. All of the buildings are a fairly well-maintained glimpse of mid-last century with clean, simple, but well-planned functionality in an attractive farmhouse-style architecture. A solar panel upgrade provides limited use electric light to the main cabin. No power outlets are available. There are fireplaces in the cabin and bunkhouse and a large propane stove. No refrigerator on site.
No water for us to use in the kitchen or bathroom this trip since the cabin remained “winterized”. Also no water from Colton Spring due to the remnants of cattle grazing and the source of the spring being not easily accessible. The stream coming from the spring contains black piping used for filling stock tanks further down the valley and while obtrusive, this is public use land, so you are only alone until the next car full of people or horse riders show up to look around the property.
Other activities that are relatively close by are the Red Fleet dinosaur trackway, Moonshine Arch, Flaming gorge, big brush creek cave, the McConkie Ranch petroglyphs, and Dinosaur National Monument.

Nice to have an indoor toilet. Enjoyed the refreshing air and cool nights. Would do this again.