Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: closed (MVUM)
Big Creek Cg
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · WA · 46.73611, -121.97039
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 — Big Creek Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 5200029 (Big Creek Campground), 170 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as asphalt surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: closed (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 5200029 (Big Creek Campground), 170 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 15 – Sep 15; today is outside that window. Opens May 15.
MVUM record for FR 5200029 (Big Creek Campground): “05/15-09/15” 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 Creek Cg
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,821 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Big Creek CgNIFC · 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 Creek Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery2 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- LLaundry3 mi
- OOutfitter4 mi
- EVEV fast charger4 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- WWater8 mi
- DDump9 mi
- +Urgent care14 mi
- ShShower16 mi
- MMechanic16 mi
- HHardware16 mi
- RxPharmacy17 mi
- AAir-up29 mi
- PPropane30 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 2 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 Creek Cg
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
1,821 ft
Ground slope
4.8% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~8.0 mi · main line
State
WA
Coordinates
46.73611, -121.97039
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Big Creek Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBig Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townAshford · ~2.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.0 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~7.5 mi
- FuelFlying K · ~3.7 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~30.5 mi
- Dump station~8.7 mi
- GroceriesGateway Inn · ~2.4 mi
- PharmacyKirk's Pharmacy · ~16.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicRandle Medical Clinic · ~14.1 mi
- HardwareArrow Lumber & Hardware · ~16.4 mi
EV charging — from Big Creek Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger3.5 mi straight-line NW — Rainier Basecamp LLC, Ashford, WA · EVCS · CHAdeMO, J1772, CCS · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach9 within 25 mi · 105 within 50 · 500 within 100 · 645 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)19.3 mi — LC TRANSIT MORTON E-T 2, Morton
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.5 mi — Rainier Basecamp LLC, Ashford, WA · EVCS · CHAdeMO, J1772, CCS · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Alexander's Lodge & Restaurant - Tesla Destination, Ashford, 1.9 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 461760 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Big Creek Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletBig Creek Cg · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomBLDG L164 Kautz Creek (Comfort Station) · ~5.4 mi E · NPS
- RestroomBLDG BC SW N110 Tahoma Vista (Comfort Station) · ~5.8 mi NE · NPS
- RestroomBLDG L305 Longmire (Comfort Station) Campground 3rd · ~7.4 mi E · NPS
Coming out here — Big Creek Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Big 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 4.8% — gentle. 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 ~8.0 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. 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.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Big Creek Cg elsewhere
Other camps near Big Creek Cg
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Evans Creek~14.2 mi · fee
- Carbon River Dispersed Roadside Camping~18.0 mi
- La Wis Wis Cg~18.6 mi · fee
- Dispersed Camping~18.6 mi
The unit that manages Big Creek Cg
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Big Creek Cg are set by Gifford Pinchot National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Big Creek Cg
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 2026-08-24: $25 per night, single site; double site $45, additional vehicle $8 per vehicle per night. The campground's recreation.gov listing publishes the same $25 and $45 for the 2026 season (May 15 - Sep 19). Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/giffordpinchot/recreation/campground-big-creek and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234086.
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 Creek Cg
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 Creek Cg
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Reading your camp page →All field notes →