Agency-listedUSFSUnpriced · confirm
Big Elk Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · OR · 44.54381, -123.72250
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 Elk Campground · U.S. Forest Service · OR
No MVUM road within a quarter mile of the pin; the nearest mapped segment is FR 3100126, 0.6 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 Elk Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 215 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Big Elk 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 Big Elk Campground · U.S. Forest Service · OR
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- ShShower7 mi
- @Mail7 mi
- GGrocery11 mi
- FFuel12 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- MMechanic12 mi
- LLaundry14 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- RxPharmacy16 mi
- WWater16 mi
- DDump17 mi
- EVEV fast charger18 mi
- OOutfitter18 mi
- PPropane22 mi
- AAir-up33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 11 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 Elk Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
215 ft
Ground slope
1% · flat
Nearest rail line
~6.8 mi · passing siding
State
OR
Coordinates
44.54381, -123.72250
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go
Nearby & resupply — around Big Elk Campground · U.S. Forest Service · OR (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBig Elk Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Also mapped (OSM)Little Wolf Creek (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townHarlan · ~1.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~6.8 mi · passing siding
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelSafeway · ~20.4 mi
- Propane / LPGFerrellgas · ~22.5 mi
- Dump station~17.2 mi
- GroceriesJC Thriftway Toledo · ~11.7 mi
- PharmacyPhilomath Pharmacy · ~17.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicSamaritan Pacific Communities Hospital · ~17.6 mi
- HardwareDo it Best · ~12.3 mi
EV charging — from Big Elk Campground · U.S. Forest Service · OR — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger17.5 mi straight-line W — WCEH Newport · EVCS · CHAdeMO, J1772, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach6 within 25 mi · 58 within 50 · 228 within 100 · 321 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)17.9 mi — Newport, OR - Tesla Supercharger, Newport
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)11.8 mi — MARINA 1 MARINA, Toledo, OR · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · 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 65867 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Big Elk Campground · U.S. Forest Service · OR — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomBig Elk · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMarys Peak Campground · ~8.3 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMeadow Edge · ~8.4 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMarys Peak Observation Site / Trailhead · ~8.8 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Big Elk Campground · U.S. Forest Service · OR
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Big Elk 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 1% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (3 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 ~6.8 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a passing siding. 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 Elk Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Big Elk Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Marys Peak Campground~8.3 mi
- River Edge Group Campground~12.1 mi
- Blackberry Campground~13.1 mi · fee
- Siuslaw National Forest~14.3 mi
Who holds the land at Big Elk Campground
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Siuslaw National Forest, manager on record: Forest Service (federal). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Big Elk 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)
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 Elk 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 — Big Elk Campground
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Fire rules & restrictions →Picking a spot →All field notes →