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San Carlos Ranger District

The San Carlos Ranger District manages the southern half of the San Isabel National Forest. The District is 50 miles wide and 110 miles long with about 400,000 acres of National Forest in Fremont, Custer, Huerfano, Pueblo and Las Animas counties. Mountain ranges include the Wet Mountains, the Sangre de Cristos and the Spanish Peaks.

It is home to the one of the first Forest Service Campgrounds designed by Arthur Carhart, the first landscape architect of the Forest Service. Prior to Carhart being hired in 1919, the agency focused primarily on timber uses of the forest. Carhart envisioned what we now know as sustainable recreation. His recreation plan for the San Isabel National Forest was the first for the agency. He went on to work with conservationist Aldo Leopold in creating the wilderness concept. The picnic shelters and fire hearths at Davenport Campground were reconstructed in 2006 using Carhart's original designs. 

There are 11 campgrounds with 210 fee campsites plus two group sites which are reservation only. These campgrounds are operated by a concessionaire (contractor hired by the United States Forest Service), as well as a picnic area at Lake Isabel Recreational Area and four small sites in the Cuchara Creek Recreational Area.

General Information

Open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays.

Special use permits are required for groups of 75 or more persons and all commercial activities including outfitting and guiding. 
America the Beautiful Federal Recreational Lands Passes

Facility and Amenity Information

Accessibility

Restrooms

Restrooms are not available at this site.

Water

Potable water is not available at this site.

Last updated February 18th, 2025