Medicine Bow - Routt National Forests
Thunder Basin National Grassland

USDA Forest Service
Medicine Bow-Routt
National Forests,
Thunder Basin
National Grassland
2468 Jackson Street
Laramie, WY 82070
307-745-2300

Telephone for the
Hearing Impaired
307-745-2307

The Brush Creek Barracks is a bi-level modern facility with electric lights and heat with running water and a full kitchen. The Barracks has four bedrooms with 2 single beds in each. The full kitchen includes refrigerator, stove with oven, microwave and a freezer. The facility includes two bathrooms with showers and a cozy living room. It is available December through April with the current rate of $200 per night. You can stay for fourteen nights at the barracks. The Forest Service uses the barracks for crew quarters during the summer months. The barracks is a non-smoking facility.

Access

To reach the Brush Creek Barracks from Saratoga, Wyoming, follow Highway 130/230 south for 8 miles to the junction of Highway 130, and travel east on Highway 130. It will be on your left approximately 11 miles from the junction on the Brush Creek Visitor Center compound. From Encampment, Wyoming, travel 10 miles north on Highway 230 to the junction with Highway 130, then travel east approximately 11 miles. Parking is located behind the Brush Creek Visitor’s Center.

Attractions & Considerations

The Brush Creek Barracks are located on the Snowy Range (Medicine Bow Mountains) in Southeastern Wyoming. The Wyoming Department of State Parks & Cultural Resources grooms snowmobile trails on the Snowy Range. The groomed “U” snowmobile trail is located about 50 yards south of the barracks. This trail connects the user into 315 miles of snowmobile trails with 194 miles of them being groomed trails. The Brush Creek X-country ski trail head is located on the compound. There are 6 miles of groomed x-country ski trails located out the back door of the barracks.

Items that should be brought along include bedding/sleeping bag, food, dish soap and sponge, trash bags, paper towels, warm clothing, first aid kit, flashlight, towels and washcloths, personal hygiene items and other personal items. Basic cooking and eating utensils, plates, knives, forks, spoons, cups, and basic pots and pans are furnished. If you use these, they need to be cleaned and put up after use. The garbage is pack it in, pack it out.

Narrative

The Brush Creek Barracks is seasonal housing at the Brush Creek Work Center, which is an enlargement of the Brush Creek Ranger Station. The original Ranger Station was approximately ½ mile west of the present location. The historic buildings at the Brush Creek Ranger Station were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and completed in 1938.

This portion of the Forest was declared the Medicine Bow Forest Reserve in 1902 and included forest lands in Colorado. This area was divided at the state line in 1908 and was named the Cheyenne National Forest. In 1910 this area was renamed the Medicine Bow National Forest. The Brush Creek Ranger District is one of the original districts of the forest, though it has been combined with several districts, it has retained the name.

The barracks is of frame construction and was completed in 1981. The building is used in summer and fall for seasonal housing and is available for the public to rent in the winter. Instead of closing it down for the winter months, the District decided to make it available to the public for rental use. The location makes it ideal for the snowmachiners and also for the cross-country skiers. The crew quarter is available for rent to the public under the Recreation Fee Demo authority.