Christmas Tree Farms
Real Christmas tree farms in the USA · u-cut and pre-cut · est. 2016

Cutting your tree in a national forest

In much of the Mountain West there are few tree farms, and the traditional way to get a real tree is a personal-use cutting permit from the US Forest Service. Over 100 national forests and grasslands sell them, mostly online at recreation.gov/tree-permits. It is cheap, legal, and the agency frames it as forest management: thinning dense stands reduces wildfire fuel. We list the permit-selling forests with 2025 prices on each state page (19 states have them): for example Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Two special cases: Alaska's Tongass and Chugach forests allow one free tree per household with no permit at all, and Idaho's Salmon-Challis NF issues free permits.

How it works

  • Buy the permit online (a $2.50 recreation.gov service fee applies) or at a ranger district office. Permits are non-refundable.
  • Typical price: $5 to $20 per tree, with household limits of 1 to 5 trees. Examples: Mt. Hood NF (OR) $5; Boise NF (ID) $10, limit 3; Coconino NF (AZ) $15 with a quota that sells out; Arapaho & Roosevelt NF (CO) $20, up to 5.
  • Sales usually open early-to-mid November; cutting runs from mid/late November to late December.
  • Print the permit, display it on the dashboard, and tag the tree as instructed.
  • Fourth graders cut free at participating forests through the Every Kid Outdoors pass (the $2.50 online fee still applies).

The rules that get people fined

  • Cut the whole tree. Topping a tall tree (cutting just the upper half) is prohibited.
  • Leave a stump of 6 inches or less, cut below the lowest live limb.
  • Height and trunk limits are common (often max 10–15 ft, trunk up to 6 in), and some forests restrict species.
  • No cutting in wilderness areas, campgrounds, plantations, active timber sales, or within posted buffers of roads, trails and streams (75–300 ft depending on the forest).

Practical advice

  • Winter mountain roads close fast: check the forest's road status the morning you go, carry chains, and tell someone your route.
  • Wild trees are not sheared: expect an open, natural silhouette, not a dense farm cone.
  • Everything in the farm visit guide about measuring, transport and same-day watering applies doubly here.
  • The Bureau of Land Management runs a parallel permit program in some western states (Idaho districts: $5–$10), sold at forestproducts.blm.gov.

Sources: recreation.gov tree permits · Mt. Hood NF · Arapaho & Roosevelt NF · BLM Idaho