Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Big Bass Island - W68
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MN · 46.99850, -94.61121
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Big Bass Island - W68 · Chippewa National Forest · MN
No MVUM road within a quarter mile of the pin; the nearest mapped segment is FR 2805B (Bass Lake Dispersed Boat Acces), 0.4 mi away. Access may be a county road or unmapped.
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 Big Bass Island - W68
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,386 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Big Bass Island - W68NIFC · 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 Big Bass Island - W68 · Chippewa National Forest · MN
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel5 mi
- GGrocery5 mi
- MMechanic5 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- LLaundry6 mi
- OOutfitter6 mi
- HHardware6 mi
- +Urgent care6 mi
- RxPharmacy7 mi
- WWater11 mi
- ShShower17 mi
- EVEV fast charger34 mi
- DDump34 mi
- PPropane34 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 34-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 — Big Bass Island - W68
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
1,386 ft
State
MN
Coordinates
46.99850, -94.61121
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Big Bass Island - W68 · Chippewa National Forest · MN (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBig Bass Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Also mapped (OSM)Scoffner Lake (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townAkeley · ~5.5 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelBenedict Outpost · ~11.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesMark's Market · ~6.2 mi
- PharmacyThrifty White Pharmacy · ~7.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~21.8 mi
- HardwareHackensack Lumber & Hardware · ~6.3 mi
EV charging — from Big Bass Island - W68 · Chippewa National Forest · MN — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger34.1 mi straight-line N — Bemidji · CHARGELAB · CHAdeMO, J1772, CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 6 within 50 · 29 within 100 · 142 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)36.8 mi — Bemidji, MN - Tesla Supercharger, Bemidji
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)6.3 mi — Hackensack Municipal Parking Lot (at a parking lot) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-02-12 · 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 455704 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Big Bass Island - W68 · Chippewa National Forest · MN — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomBig Bass Island - W68 · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletShingobee - Nct W50 · ~2.9 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletShingobee River · ~3.0 mi NW · USFS
- RestroomWoodtick Impoundment - Nct W90 · ~4.6 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Big Bass Island - W68 · Chippewa National Forest · MN
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Big Bass Lake as a perennial lake or pond, 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.
- 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.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- 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 Big Bass Island - W68 elsewhere
Other camps near Big Bass Island - W68
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Gadbolt~1.3 mi
- Little Bass Island - W13~1.5 mi
- Shingobee - Nct W50~2.9 mi
- Woodtick Impoundment - Nct W90~4.6 mi
The unit that manages Big Bass Island - W68
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Big Bass Island - W68 are set by Chippewa National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Big Bass Island - W68
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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Big Bass Island - W68
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 — Big Bass Island - W68
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Forest road numbers →How to read this page →All field notes →