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 Keystone Ranger Station once served as the district headquarters for the historic Keystone Ranger District.

The building is available through the Forest Service Recreational Cabin Program (Granger-Thye Act of April 24, 1960). Each permit tee may rent the Keystone Cabin for no more than five (5) consecutive nights and no more than thirty (30) nights in a calendar year.

There is a non-refundable maintenance fee of $120.00 per night (2003 rates). The Keystone Ranger Station is available for rental by the public year round.

Permit tees should bring bedding or sleeping bags, all weather clothes, towels, personal hygiene items, matches, flashlight, and a first aid kit.

Access

The cabin is located 8 miles west of Albany, Wyoming on Forest Road 542.

Attractions & Considerations

Only one cabin is currently available of the three major structures on the site. It has: Electricity complete indoor plumbing, including toilet, sink, tub, shower and hot water
wood heat: a large “octopus” - type wood–burning furnace, supplemented by electric heat and a fireplace insert, combination wood/electric range refrigerator dishes, tableware, pots and pans firewood & wood-splitting tools

There is no telephone or cell service available at present, another good reason to use care in all your activities while using the cabin. In the event of a fire or medical emergency first responders may take an hour or more to arrive at Keystone.

As many as eight people may occupy the cabin at one time. We furnish a bunk bed and a single bed in each of two bedrooms and a sofa bed in the living room. Each permit tee may rent the Keystone cabin for no more than five (5) consecutive nights and no more than thirty (30) nights in a calendar year.

There are no stores of any type in the Keystone area, so be certain you bring what you need.

Narrative

Before the advent of modern travel, the present-day Laramie Ranger District consisted of seven separate ranger districts. The Keystone Ranger District was one of these. Created in 1913, a few years before automobiles started rolling their way into Keystone, the District Ranger Station has undergone a few incarnations. It was located south and east of it’s current location, at two different sites, before it was moved to where it is now situated. The grand old structures at the current site were built in the late 1930s.

The building the district offers for rent is in very good condition. All three of the structures at Keystone are listed as historic with the State Historic Preservation Office and it is the responsibility of the users of the cabin to assure they leave it in as good a condition as they found it. Please read the user’s manual in the cabin.

The Ranger’s dwelling is available for rental to the public under authority of the Granger – Thye Act of 1950 (16USC580d). It is used as an administrative site during the summer months, primarily for housing of seasonal employees. It is available for rental by the public year round. In the winter, access is principally by snow machine or cross - country skis, unless the snow comes later than usual. The Forest Service does not provide any means of travel to Keystone, but both snow machines and skis are available in Laramie.

It is a pleasure to be able to offer this facility to the public. At a time of shrinking Federal budgets, this program should enable the Laramie Ranger District to continue to maintain the Keystone Ranger Station as it is now. But this requires the help of all users. Please respect the history behind the cabin and use care in your enjoyment of this unique recreational opportunity.