Kaibab Christmas Tree Permits Near Parks, AZ: Your 2026 Guide

If you've already put the woodpile off until the holidays, how many trips into the Kaibab are left before New Year's? Around Parks the answer this year comes down to one stretch of calendar. The Williams Ranger District's personal-use fuelwood season ends December 31, 2026. The Christmas tree cutting season doesn't start until November 1 and ends that same December 31.

So for about eight and a half weeks, both permits apply to the same forest at once. Each one also comes with something you have to carry into the forest: a printed permit and load tags for wood, and the district cutting map for a tree.

October is for buying permits and breathing smoke

Right now the forest around Parks is busier with crews than with cutters. On October 7, Kaibab National Forest announced prescribed fire ignitions on more than 3,200 acres of the Williams Ranger District, with noticeable smoke forecast in and around Pumpkin Center and the Kendrick Mountain Wilderness, and south of Bill Williams Mountain. The release noted that areas near the burns could close to the public for several days.

A week later, a Kaibab alert scheduled pile burns starting October 15 on 1,650 acres in the Government Prairie, Klostermyer and Walker Hill projects. It forecast very light smoke that would settle overnight in low-lying areas, and the alert ran through October 21.

Two practical points carry into the next few weeks. Burn schedules can change or be canceled at the last minute if conditions don't meet the plan, and the Forest Service posts its updates on InciWeb. The forest also advises drivers to slow down and turn on their headlights when smoke drifts across a road. A gravel forest road you plan to use for a firewood run in late October may have warning signs at its entrance.

Permits went on sale during this same smoky stretch. Kaibab Christmas tree permits became available on Recreation.gov on October 8, three weeks before anyone is allowed to cut a tree. Use those three weeks to study the map.

On November 1 the two seasons overlap

Once tree cutting opens, both permits cover Williams District forest, but you buy them in different places and their rules differ in useful ways.

The fuelwood season has run all year, but its last eight weeks are the only time you can cut wood and a tree on the same weekend. A household with both items on its list has from the first Sunday in November until New Year's Eve.

Each tree permit is tied to one district. A Williams District permit covers Williams District ground, which includes the forest around Parks, and Tusayan and the North Kaibab sell their own. All three list the same November 1 to December 31 season and the same $15 price. For families with a fourth grader, an Every Kid Outdoors pass qualifies for a free tree permit. You enter the pass or voucher number when you buy, and a $2.50 reservation fee still applies.

The rules that decide whether the trip counts

Most of what can go wrong on a permit trip happens at home before you leave. For fuelwood, the Kaibab's personal-use firewood page puts it this way:

"Permits issued online MUST BE PRINTED and carried in the field."

According to the same page, a digital fuelwood permit shown on a phone isn't valid. It also calls the e-permit system new, so anyone who bought a permit at the counter in past years may not expect the printing step. Firewood loads also need tags attached to each quarter cord, placed where they can be seen from the rear of the vehicle.

For trees, the item to carry is the map. The Forest Service tells cutters to download or print the district cutting-area map and take it with them. The Williams Ranger District map shows pinyon and juniper woodlands, spruce and fir, and ponderosa pine areas. It labels Parks, Kaibab Estates West and the Kendrick Mountain Wilderness, and cutting isn't allowed in the wilderness.

Here is the checklist for a tree, in the order it matters in the field:

1. Location. No cutting on private land, in wilderness, in active timber sales, in newly planted areas, or within 200 feet of a designated campground or recreation area.
2. Distance from the road. Recreation.gov's general instructions say to stay at least 200 feet from main roads, while the Williams District map sets 300 feet from paved roads. Around Parks, plan on 300.
3. Size. Any species is allowed if it stands no taller than 10 feet and the trunk is six inches or less in diameter.
4. Stump. Cut no more than six inches above the ground.

The size limits serve a purpose. The Kaibab says its permit program thins dense stands of small-diameter trees in places local forest health specialists have picked, which helps the remaining trees grow larger and can open up forage for wildlife. In practice, the tree a permit allows is a thinning cut, smaller than a lot-grown tree on a sales lot.

These are the Forest Service's rules as published for 2026, offered here as general information and not legal advice. The Kaibab and Recreation.gov pages are the final word on your permit.

Kaibab Pit makes the free wood easier to plan

The overlap matters most for the free wood. The Williams District's no-cost permit covers 10 cords of down ponderosa pine at Kaibab Pit, which sits west of State Route 64 and south of Kaibab Lake, off Forest Road 47. The Forest Service describes the wood there as seasoned ponderosa pine. Every piece you haul out has to be shorter than eight feet, and the same load-tag rule applies.

Seasoned wood from a known site with a December 31 deadline is a simpler errand than searching the forest for down timber. You can pair a Kaibab Pit run with a tree cut on the Williams map and fit both into one November weekend.

If you'd rather buy the permit in person, the 2026 permit page lists Williams District office hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Those are hours for buying permits, not the hours Kaibab Pit is open. The Forest Service doesn't publish separate gate hours for the pit, so call the office with any site questions. On the forest alerts page this month, the Kaibab listed no fire restrictions in effect.

Spring Valley Road and the town dates around the season

For many Parks households, any forest trip starts on Spring Valley Road, which has had a construction season of its own. Coconino County's contractor, Fann Contracting, has been rebuilding the pavement between Old Route 66 and Lillie J. Ranch Road. The county's notice to residents warned of flaggers and delays, mostly weekday daylight work with some night or weekend work possible, and completion "this fall," subject to weather. In its report for the week of September 21, the county said base-layer work was still underway and paving was slated for the week of October 5. The same week, county crews were also scheduled to grade Garland Prairie Road and Spring Valley Road.

The county posts updates on its road projects page, and you can get email updates by writing to [email protected] with "Add Me to the Spring Valley Road Project E-mail List" in the subject line. It's worth checking before you head out with a trailer.

Williams sets a few dates around the forest season, according to the Williams-Grand Canyon News community calendar. This Saturday, October 24, a Halloween craft show runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sultan Theater and benefits Williams youth football and cheer. Through the end of October, Williams Veterinary Wellness is collecting unopened dog and cat food for the St. John's Episcopal-Lutheran Church community pantry. On November 28, the Christmas Light Parade starts at 5:30 p.m., followed by the community Christmas tree lighting. That puts the town tree lighting in the middle of the cutting season, with about a month left to bring your own tree home.

If you're working out whether a parcel near Parks has room to stack 10 cords, or how a home on Spring Valley Road holds up through the first real cold snap, I'm glad to talk it over. Judy Ivicek is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.