Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Big Branch Shelter
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · VT · 43.36421, -72.94644
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 Branch Shelter · Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests · VT
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 10 (Danby), 0.2 mi from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 10 (Danby), 0.2 mi from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 1 – Dec 15. That season ends after Dec 15.
MVUM record for FR 10 (Danby): “05/01-12/15” 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 Big Branch Shelter
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,488 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Big Branch ShelterNIFC · 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 Branch Shelter · Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests · VT
▲ 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
- @Mail3 mi
- EVEV fast charger9 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- LLaundry12 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- OOutfitter14 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- AAir-up14 mi
- ShShower15 mi
- DDump16 mi
- WWater18 mi
- PPropane41 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Big Branch Shelter
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
1,488 ft
Ground slope
18.4% · steep
Nearest rail line
~2.2 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~9.7 mi · US Hwy 7
State
VT
Coordinates
43.36421, -72.94644
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Big Branch Shelter · Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests · VT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBig Branch · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Also mapped (OSM)Big Black Branch (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townMount Tabor · ~2.0 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.2 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~9.7 mi · US Hwy 7
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelCitgo · ~2.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~15.6 mi
- GroceriesLondonderry Village Market · ~11.5 mi
- PharmacyGreen Mountain Pharmacy · ~11.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicLudlow Health Center · ~12.7 mi
- HardwareLondonderry Hardware · ~11.5 mi
EV charging — from Big Branch Shelter · Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests · VT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.3 mi straight-line SE — WESTON STORE CPE250-2 · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach16 within 25 mi · 78 within 50 · 468 within 100 · 1160 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)15.6 mi — Winhall / Stratton Resort - Cellerate Power, Winhall
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)10.0 mi — Long Trail School, Dorset, VT (at a school) · EVMATCH · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-05-12 · 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 434763 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Big Branch Shelter · Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests · VT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomBig Branch Shelter · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomGMC Big Branch Shelter Privy · at this camp · NPS
- Vault / pit toiletAt/Lt Little Rock Pond · ~1.0 mi NW · USFS
- RestroomOld Job Shelter · ~1.1 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Big Branch Shelter · Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests · VT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Big Branch 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 18.4% — 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.
- Rail line mapped ~2.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- US Hwy 7 is mapped ~9.7 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 Branch Shelter elsewhere
Other camps near Big Branch Shelter
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Old Job Shelter~1.1 mi
- Lost Pond Shelter~1.2 mi
- Little Rock Pond Shelter & Tent Area~2.4 mi
- Griffith Lake Tent Area~4.2 mi
The unit that manages Big Branch Shelter
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Big Branch Shelter are set by Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Big Branch Shelter
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
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 Branch Shelter
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 — Big Branch Shelter
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Camping with a dog →All field notes →