How this works
79 national forests list a 2026 Christmas tree permit on Recreation.gov, and 65 Bureau of Land Management offices list one in BLM's permit store. We read both on Nov 12, 2026 and print what they say: the dates, the price, the limit and the rules, each with its source. Sale times are in each place's own time zone. Recreation.gov prints them in Eastern, and we convert. A permit is the agency's to sell, and the rules on it are the agency's. We quote them and link them. We don't sell permits, and nothing here is one.
2 forests have pages on Recreation.gov with no permit type named and no dates on them. We print what the page says and no date. 53 more Forest Service units and 50 BLM field offices don't list a permit in either store. We say "not posted yet" for those, never "no program": some sell at the office and never post one online. Distances are straight lines to a forest's boundary, not to the cutting area and not by road. The forest's own map shows where you can cut. How we read the agencies · Not a permit, not the agency
Read from the agencies Nov 12, 2026
Christmas tree permits near Fort Collins 10 places within 100 miles
7 of them sell a permit today. The nearest national forest is the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, about 7 miles from Fort Collins in a straight line, and it's on sale today. The nearest that publishes its own cutting-area map is BLM's Royal Gorge Field Office.
National forests, nearest first
- Arapaho and Roosevelt National ForestsAbout 7 milesOn sale nowNov 7 to Jan 6cutting days$20 per tree
- Medicine Bow-Routt National ForestAbout 40 milesOn sale nowOct 13 to Dec 31cutting daysOn the permit pageRecreation.gov's records disagree
- Pike and San Isabel National ForestAbout 70 milesOn sale nowNov 27 to Dec 18cutting days$20 per tree
BLM offices, nearest first
- BLM Royal Gorge Field OfficeIts area takes in Fort CollinsSales open Nov 24Nov 24 to Dec 25cutting daysOn the permit page
- BLM Kremmling Field OfficeIts area starts about 30 miles outOn sale nowNov 5 to Dec 25cutting daysOn the permit page
- BLM Little Snake Field OfficeIts area starts about 85 miles outSales open Nov 17Nov 17 to Dec 25cutting daysOn the permit page
- BLM Colorado River Valley Field OfficeIts area starts about 85 miles outSales open Nov 17Nov 17 to Dec 24cutting daysOn the permit page
Not posted yet
- Pawnee National GrasslandAbout 20 milesNot posted yet
Opening next near Fort Collins
BLM's Little Snake Field Office opens sales Nov 17.
Ranger districts nearest Fort Collins
Both permits the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests list on Recreation.gov are for the Canyon Lakes and Sulphur Ranger Districts. The Canyon Lakes district is the one nearest Fort Collins.
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests
Canyon Lakes Ranger District, about 2 miles. Office: (970) 295-6600.
Pawnee Ranger District, about 20 miles. No office listed.
Boulder Ranger District, about 25 miles. No office listed.
Sulphur Ranger District, about 40 miles. Office: (970) 295-6600.
Clear Creek Ranger District, about 50 miles. No office listed.
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest
Parks Ranger District, about 40 miles. Office in Walden: (970) 723-8204.
Laramie Ranger District, about 45 miles. Office in Laramie: (307) 745-2300.
Pike and San Isabel National Forest
South Platte Ranger District, about 70 miles. Office in Conifer: (303) 275-5610.
Districts from the Forest Service's ranger district layer, read Nov 11, 2026. Offices from each permit's listing on Recreation.gov, read Nov 12, 2026.
Every distance here is a straight line from the Census Bureau's point for Fort Collins city (read Nov 11, 2026) to a boundary, not road miles and not to the trees. The forest's own map shows where you can cut.
What locals say
Up toward Red Feather Lakes on the Canyon Lakes district, the Mount Margaret trailhead is a family favorite. One family walked about two miles in all with a three-year-old.
From r/FortCollins, "Christmas Tree hunting" (2023) and r/FortCollins, "Christmas trees? Anyone got a good spot?" (2024), read Nov 11, 2026.
Manhattan Road between Highway 14 and the Poudre Canyon worked for a family with a toddler and a baby. Pingree Park gave another family a tree too thin to hold an ornament.
From r/FortCollins, "Christmas trees? Anyone got a good spot?" (2024) and r/FortCollins, "best US Forest Service area to find a Christmas tree?" (2023), read Nov 11, 2026.
And a local tip for the drive home: load the tree with the stump facing forward.
From r/FortCollins, "PSA ... load your Christmas tree with the stump facing forward" (2023), read Nov 11, 2026.

