Agency-listedUSFSFree
Ashley Lake South Cg
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 48.21171, -114.56811
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →U.S. Forest Service lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Ashley Lake South Cg
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,989 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Ashley Lake South CgNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Ashley Lake South Cg · Flathead National Forest · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- FFuel7 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- GGrocery9 mi
- MMechanic11 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- HHardware11 mi
- OOutfitter11 mi
- RxPharmacy11 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- EVEV fast charger11 mi
- WWater17 mi
- ShShower24 mi
- DDump35 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Ashley Lake South Cg
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
3,989 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
48.21171, -114.56811
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Ashley Lake South Cg · Flathead National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureWater · nearby
- Nearest townRhodes · ~6.4 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelConoco · ~7.2 mi
- Propane / LPGAmeriGas · ~11.3 mi
- GroceriesBitterroot Quick Stop · ~8.6 mi
- PharmacyOsco · ~11.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicKalispell Oral Surgery · ~10.6 mi
- HardwareHarbor Freight Tools · ~10.9 mi
EV charging — from Ashley Lake South Cg · Flathead National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger11.3 mi straight-line E — Kalispell, MT - Tesla Supercharger (at a rest stop) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach8 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 23 within 100 · 65 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS11.4 mi — Kalispell Ford - Front Lot - 2000 Rose Crossing, Kalispell
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO13.4 mi — CLARK HYUNDAI SALES CUSTOMER, Kalispell
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)15.8 mi — TOWN PUMP WF#2 STA 5, Whitefish, MT · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Red Lion Hotel Kalispell - Tesla Destination, Kalispell, 11.7 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 355555 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Ashley Lake South Cg · Flathead National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletAshley Lake South Cg · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAshley Lake Boat · ~2.2 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAshley Lake North · ~2.5 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletStar Meadows Guard Station · ~13.5 mi NW · USFS
Coming out here — Ashley Lake South Cg · Flathead National Forest · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: Water. That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Dave gets service credit if you sign up through it. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Ashley Lake South Cg elsewhere
Other camps near Ashley Lake South Cg
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Million Dollar Lot -2~0.6 mi
- Ashley Lake North~2.5 mi
- Ashley-2~2.7 mi
- Bedroom-1~2.8 mi
The unit that manages Ashley Lake South Cg
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Ashley Lake South Cg are set by Flathead National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Hand Creek at 5,030 ft, about 14 miles away. It sits about 1,041 ft higher than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. We do not repeat a depth here, because any number we stored would be stale by the time you read it — the station publishes today's.
How we know this — Ashley Lake South Cg
Source
U.S. Forest Service recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review || Water 2026-08-24 (nightshift fire 120): USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse Recreation Sites layer (apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_RecInfraRecreationSites_02/MapServer/0), extract cached locally as data\_mt_water_edw.json, objectid 2353796, site "ASHLEY LAKE SOUTH CG" (recreation area "Ashley Lake South Cg"), WATER_AVAILABILITY = "No drinking water is available". Matched to this camp on coordinates (0.0008 mi from the agency point). Agency record only -- not field-verified, and no natural water here is claimed to be potable.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Ashley Lake South Cg
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Ashley Lake South Cg
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Picking a spot →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →