Black Bear Cabin at Mesa Lakes

The gate at the Sunset Lake spillway

The road to Black Bear Cabin leaves Colorado State Highway 65 at the Mesa Lakes Recreation Area, takes the second right, and follows the shore of Sunset Lake. Near the lake’s spillway it stops at a gate with a combination lock. Past the gate a single-lane road runs about 100 yards to a signpost and a parking space in front of the cabin. The Grand Valley Ranger District gives out the lock code by telephone five to seven days before a stay.

The cabin stands at 9,500 feet on the north side of the Grand Mesa National Forest, about 45 minutes by car from Grand Junction. It sits on a grassy lawn partly shaded by large pines, with spruce, fir, and aspen around it. Mesa Creek runs nearby, and Waterdog and Jumbo reservoirs are close. Deer, elk, and moose come through the area. Bears also frequent it, and the rules ask that food be kept out of sight in approved containers or locked in a vehicle. There is no cell service. According to the Forest Service, the large grass yard in front of the cabin serves for family gatherings and weddings. The Forest Service lists the cabin as open from June to September 26, and heavy snow can cancel a rental. From mid-August through October the aspen stands around it turn gold.

A semi-rustic log cabin

Recreation.gov calls it a semi-rustic log cabin. The main floor holds a living area and a bedroom. The bathroom, with a flush toilet and shower, is down the stair in the basement. Electricity runs the lights and the heat. Three twin beds and a queen sofa sleeper sleep five, and cots or air mattresses bring the count to eight.

The inventory on the cabin’s site page lists an electric stove, a refrigerator, a microwave, a four-slice toaster, and a coffee maker with filters. It also lists a five-quart covered Dutch oven, one large yellow bowl and strainer, twelve large plastic drinking glasses, ten saucers, two church-key bottle openers, two brooms, two mops, and one fork, beside a seven-piece cutlery set and a knife set. Guests bring their own bedding, towels, food, and dish soap. They carry out their own garbage and clean the cabin before leaving. The Forest Service page lists no potable water at the site. Firewood may not be gathered, so it comes from home or from Jumbo Campground. Arriving guests check in with the host at Mesa Lakes Site #2 for information on the cabin and the area.

West Bench Trail #501, used by mountain bikers and riders on horseback, connects the seven lakes of the recreation area. A carry-down boat ramp for canoes and kayaks is within walking distance. The Grand Mesa Scenic Byway passes near the cabin on its 63 miles from the canyon floor to mesa tops at 11,000 feet. The Grand Mesa Visitor Center, at Island Lake, keeps a high-altitude wildflower garden of more than 50 native species. Cedaredge, 26 miles off, has Pioneer Town, a 19th-century village of more than 20 structures, among them a schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, saloon, and jail. The town holds its Applefest each October.

Rangers’ quarters on the Grand Mesa

Black Bear belongs to the Mesa Lakes Ranger Station Complex, which the Forest Service’s heritage list calls the Mesa Lakes Guard Station. Its buildings stand in aspen and mixed conifer forest overlooking green wetland meadows. The original Black Bear cabin was built in the 1930s, and rangers worked there for years overseeing the forest. The heritage page says the station keeps “the special character of the quiet retreat that welcomed rangers of long-ago home after a long day in the forest.” Two of its cabins are rented to the public, Moose Manor and Black Bear.