Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Backbone Rock Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · VA · 36.59569, -81.81836
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 as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Backbone Rock Campground · Cherokee National Forest · VA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 295B (Backbone Camping), 10 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as bituminous surface treatment surface and maintenance level 5 – high degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 295B (Backbone Camping), 10 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Apr 21 – Dec 10. That season ends after Dec 10.
MVUM record for FR 295B (Backbone Camping): “04/21-12/10” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
From the Forest Service's own Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW, Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026), straight-line from the pin to the nearest mapped segment. The nearest segment is not necessarily the way in, a maintenance level is the agency's class and not a report on today, and a road's season is the road's — it is not a campground order. What the levels mean → What an MVUM is →
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Backbone Rock Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,130 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Backbone Rock CampgroundNIFC · 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 Backbone Rock Campground · Cherokee National Forest · VA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- OOutfitter3 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- MMechanic8 mi
- HHardware8 mi
- EVEV fast charger9 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- LLaundry14 mi
- WWater23 mi
- DDump25 mi
- ShShower26 mi
- AAir-up29 mi
- PPropane33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 23-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 3 mi out.
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 — Backbone Rock Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
2,130 ft
Ground slope
2.6% · flat
State
VA
Coordinates
36.59569, -81.81836
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Backbone Rock Campground · Cherokee National Forest · VA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBeaverdam Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townDamascus · ~3.0 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelCitgo · ~3.1 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~24.9 mi
- GroceriesCountry Corner · ~3.1 mi
- PharmacyKroger Pharmacy · ~11.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicSavida Health · ~12.0 mi
- HardwareMuse Hardware · ~8.4 mi
EV charging — from Backbone Rock Campground · Cherokee National Forest · VA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger8.9 mi straight-line S — GPM INVESTMENTS 3416 DC 2, Mountain City, TN · ChargePoint Network · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: Mon: 12:00am-11:59pm; Tue: 12:00am-11:59pm; Wed: 12:00am-11:59pm; Thu: 12:00am-11:59pm; Fri: 12:00am-11:59pm; Sat: 12:00am-11:59pm; Sun: 12:00am-11:59pm · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach14 within 25 mi · 38 within 50 · 159 within 100 · 420 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO8.9 mi — GPM INVESTMENTS 3416 DC 1, Mountain City
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)8.5 mi — Mountain City Town Hall (at a municipal building) · EVMATCH · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2023-12-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- 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 449919 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Backbone Rock Campground · Cherokee National Forest · VA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Flush restroomBackbone Rock Campground · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomMRATC Straight Branch Vault Privy · ~5.5 mi NE · NPS
- RestroomMRATC Saunders Shelter Privy · ~6.5 mi NE · NPS
- Vault / pit toiletSaunders A.T. Shelter · ~6.5 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Backbone Rock Campground · Cherokee National Forest · VA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Beaverdam Creek as a perennial stream, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 2.6% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- 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 — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Backbone Rock Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Backbone Rock Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- A.T. Abington Gap Shelter~4.8 mi
- Saunders A.T. Shelter~6.5 mi
- Pond Mountain Game Land camping area #5~7.6 mi
- Sandy Flats Iron Mountain Camping Area~7.8 mi
The unit that manages Backbone Rock Campground
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Backbone Rock Campground are set by Cherokee National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Backbone Rock Campground
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
Developed FEE campground (not free) - review | auto:usfs-fee 2026-08-20: US Forest Service developed campground, agency coordinates, agency states a fee. No dollar amount in the agency record -- expect a charge and confirm the current rate before you go. Not field-verified.
Nearest MVUM road
US Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW_MVUM_01, layer 1), Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026. Straight-line distance from the pin to the nearest mapped segment within 1 mi; surface type, maintenance level and open dates are the agency's own values for that segment, expanded from its codes and otherwise unedited. Nothing here says which road reaches the site.
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 Backbone Rock Campground
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.
- Whether that MVUM road is the way in, and the last stretch beyond it
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- 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 — Backbone Rock Campground
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Picking a spot →All field notes →