Last updated: February 2, 2024
Place
Historic Cabin District
NPS/Seth Gayner
Quick Facts
Amenities
13 listed
Benches/Seating, Bus/Shuttle Stop, First Aid Kit Available, Gifts/Souvenirs/Books, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Information - Maps Available, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present, Parking - Auto, Picnic Table, Restroom, Trailhead, Trash/Litter Receptacles
Four miles from the main entrance is the park's Cabin District. This cluster of historic log cabins facilitated spring, summer, and fall ranching operations on this land for nearly a century. The location offered the shelter of towering, old-growth conifers, ample spring water, and a vista of Valle Grande—qualities that have attracted human use and occupation here for several thousand years.
Beginning as a land grant in 1860, private ownership was held by a series of four families: the Cabeza de Bacas (1860-1899), the Oteros (1899-1917), the Bonds (1917-1962), and the Dunigans (1962-2000). Throughout this succession of owners, the land was used for sheep grazing, sulfur mining, cattle ranching, logging, geothermal exploration, and tourism. By 1963, logging operations had cut over 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) of timber from the property, and a century of livestock grazing had trampled and compacted the soils beside streams, causing erosion, sedimentation, and unnatural channelization of waterways.
The Cabin District consists of the Historic Ranch Headquarters buildings and includes: the Ranger Station, where you can find a passport stamp, park-related gift items for sale; the Greer Cabin (1951); the Otero Cabin (1915); the Commissary (1941); the Bond Cabin (1918); the Ranch Foreman's Cabin (1918); and the Caretaker's Cabin (1951). Visitors are welcome to take photos, but we ask you to please stay off of the porches and other parts of these structures. The cabins are not available for rent.
Parking and portable toilets can be found behind the Otero Cabin and Commissary. This is also the designated parking area for the Ranger Station and South Mountain Trail.
Beginning as a land grant in 1860, private ownership was held by a series of four families: the Cabeza de Bacas (1860-1899), the Oteros (1899-1917), the Bonds (1917-1962), and the Dunigans (1962-2000). Throughout this succession of owners, the land was used for sheep grazing, sulfur mining, cattle ranching, logging, geothermal exploration, and tourism. By 1963, logging operations had cut over 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) of timber from the property, and a century of livestock grazing had trampled and compacted the soils beside streams, causing erosion, sedimentation, and unnatural channelization of waterways.
The Cabin District consists of the Historic Ranch Headquarters buildings and includes: the Ranger Station, where you can find a passport stamp, park-related gift items for sale; the Greer Cabin (1951); the Otero Cabin (1915); the Commissary (1941); the Bond Cabin (1918); the Ranch Foreman's Cabin (1918); and the Caretaker's Cabin (1951). Visitors are welcome to take photos, but we ask you to please stay off of the porches and other parts of these structures. The cabins are not available for rent.
Parking and portable toilets can be found behind the Otero Cabin and Commissary. This is also the designated parking area for the Ranger Station and South Mountain Trail.