Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Bates Canyon
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 34.95324, -119.90796
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 — Bates Canyon · Los Padres National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 11N01.3, 10 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 11N01.3, 10 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 1 – Nov 1. That season ends after Nov 1.
MVUM record for FR 11N01.3: “05/01-11/01” 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 Bates Canyon
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,873 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Bates CanyonNIFC · 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 Bates Canyon · Los Padres National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel12 mi
- @Mail23 mi
- GGrocery23 mi
- EVEV fast charger23 mi
- HHardware26 mi
- ShShower26 mi
- WWater26 mi
- DDump26 mi
- +Urgent care26 mi
- RxPharmacy27 mi
- MMechanic28 mi
- PPropane30 mi
- LLaundry30 mi
- AAir-up36 mi
- OOutfitter37 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 26-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 12 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 — Bates Canyon
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
2,873 ft
Ground slope
18.5% · steep
State
CA
Coordinates
34.95324, -119.90796
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Bates Canyon · Los Padres National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurenone named within 1 mi (USGS NHD)
- Nearest townNew Cuyama · ~12.8 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~12.2 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~29.6 mi
- Dump station~26.1 mi
- GroceriesLos Olivos Grocery · ~23.2 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~27.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicSanta Ynez Tribal Health Clinic · ~26.3 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~25.6 mi
EV charging — from Bates Canyon · Los Padres National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger23.2 mi straight-line SW — Santa Ynez, CA - Tesla Supercharger (at a grocery store) · 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 reach1 within 25 mi · 68 within 50 · 271 within 100 · 981 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS25.4 mi — Daniel & Ana Thompson The Depot Mall (Los Alamos, CA), Los Alamos
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO26.4 mi — El Rancho MarketPlace, Solvang
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)12.8 mi — CSB Sta 27 New Cuyama (at a fire station) · POWERFLEX · J1772 · 5 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-11-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Cuyama Buckhorn - Tesla Destination, New Cuyama, 12.3 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 354677 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Bates Canyon · Los Padres National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletBates Canyon · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAliso Park · ~8.5 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMiranda Pines · ~9.0 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCarrizo -Selby Cg -Vault Toilet · ~12.7 mi N · BLM
Coming out here — Bates Canyon · Los Padres National Forest · CA
- No named surface water mapped within 1 mi of the pin in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset (data refreshed October 2022), and none within about a mile and a half in our OpenStreetMap pull — which is not proof there is none, only that neither map has one. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 18.5% — steep. 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 Bates Canyon elsewhere
Other camps near Bates Canyon
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Water Canyon Campground~8.0 mi
- Aliso Park~8.5 mi · fee
- Miranda Pines~9.0 mi · fee
- Abel Canyon Campground~9.4 mi
The unit that manages Bates Canyon
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Bates Canyon are set by Los Padres National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Bates Canyon
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. | Fee 2026-08-20: no nightly camping rate is published. Los Padres NF says an Adventure Pass -- $5 per vehicle per day or $30 per year -- or an Interagency pass is required for Bates Canyon Campground. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/lospadres/recreation/bates-canyon-campground.
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 Bates Canyon
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 — Bates Canyon
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →