Agency-listedUSFSUnpriced · confirm
Bad Medicine Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 48.22066, -115.85685
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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Bad Medicine Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,351 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Bad Medicine 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 Bad Medicine Campground · Kootenai National Forest · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- GGrocery2 mi
- @Mail12 mi
- FFuel16 mi
- MMechanic16 mi
- HHardware16 mi
- RxPharmacy18 mi
- LLaundry18 mi
- +Urgent care18 mi
- OOutfitter32 mi
- EVEV fast charger32 mi
- WWater36 mi
- DDump38 mi
- ShShower55 mi
- PPropane57 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 36-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 2 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 32-mi run (and back).
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 — Bad Medicine Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
2,351 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
48.22066, -115.85685
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go
Nearby & resupply — around Bad Medicine Campground · Kootenai National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureNoggle Creek (stream) · nearby
- Nearest townHeron · ~12.2 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelChevron · ~15.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesHalfway House · ~1.9 mi
- PharmacyNorthwest CHC Pharmacy (Highway 2) · ~18.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicFamily Health and Wellness · ~18.1 mi
- HardwareTrue Value · ~16.5 mi
EV charging — from Bad Medicine Campground · Kootenai National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger32.2 mi straight-line W — TAYLOR & SONS CHEVROLET, Ponderay, ID · EV Connect · CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 5 within 50 · 59 within 100 · 90 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)48.3 mi — 76 Station - Tesla Supercharger, Kellogg
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO38.9 mi — V.C. STATION BF FAST CHARGER, Bonners Ferry
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)32.4 mi — Best Western Plus, Ponderay, ID (at a hotel) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-11-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — City of Sandpoint - Tesla Destination, Sandpoint, 31.8 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
Level 2, restricted access — Kootenai River Outfitters Lodge and Cabins, Troy, 4.9 mi · J1772 · hours: 24 hours daily; for guests use 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 302440 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Bad Medicine Campground · Kootenai National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletBad Medicine Day Use · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBad Medicine Boating · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBad Medicine · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRoss Creek Cedars · ~2.8 mi W · USFS
Open Bad Medicine Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Bad Medicine Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Dorr Skeels Campground~3.3 mi · fee
- Rd 1118A Site 2~4.1 mi
- Rd 1118A Site 1~4.7 mi
- USFS dispersed camp — MT #39~4.8 mi
The unit that manages Bad Medicine Campground
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Bad Medicine Campground are set by Kootenai National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Bear Mountain at 5,460 ft, about 12 miles away. It sits about 3,109 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 — Bad Medicine Campground
Source
OpenStreetMap contributors
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.
Agency page
fs.usda.gov — the land manager's own page for this site. Fees, seasons and closures are stated there first; if it disagrees with this page, it wins.
How it was placed
auto: drive (road/trail right there)
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 Bad Medicine 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.
- 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 — Bad Medicine Campground
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Reading the aerial →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 →