Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Blacksmith Bayou Access
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MI · 44.25862, -86.03306
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 — Blacksmith Bayou Access · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 5555 (Blacksmith Bayou), 30 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as improved native material surface and maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 5555 (Blacksmith Bayou), 30 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 5555 (Blacksmith Bayou): “01/01-12/31” 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 Blacksmith Bayou Access
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 639 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Blacksmith Bayou AccessNIFC · 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 Blacksmith Bayou Access · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- +Urgent care2 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- OOutfitter3 mi
- WWater5 mi
- DDump7 mi
- HHardware7 mi
- MMechanic9 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- ShShower11 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- RxPharmacy14 mi
- AAir-up16 mi
- PPropane39 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, 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 — Blacksmith Bayou Access
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
639 ft
Ground slope
5.2% · gentle
State
MI
Coordinates
44.25862, -86.03306
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Blacksmith Bayou Access · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureManistee River · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial river
- Nearest townBrethren · ~3.3 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~4.6 mi
- FuelBP · ~3.3 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~7.3 mi
- GroceriesBretheren EZ Mart · ~3.3 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~13.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicWellston Medical Center · ~2.3 mi
- HardwareDublin General Store · ~7.3 mi
EV charging — from Blacksmith Bayou Access · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger11.5 mi straight-line E — CORNER EXPRESS Wellston MI (at a public site) · RED_E · CCS · 2 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 · 39 within 50 · 144 within 100 · 366 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)12.8 mi — Saddle Up - Bear Lake, Bear Lake
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO12.4 mi — BLARNEY CASTLE MANISTERY 1, Manistee
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)14.0 mi — Orchard Beach State Park, Manistee, MI (at a public site) · RIVIAN_WAYPOINTS · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveLevel 2, restricted access — Little River Casino Resort, Manistee, 10.8 mi · J1772 · hours: 24 hours daily; Customer use only
- 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 351314 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Blacksmith Bayou Access · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletBlacksmith Bayou Access · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHighbridge Access · ~1.1 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletUdell Rollways Day Use Area · ~2.3 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletUdell Nct Trailhead · ~2.8 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Blacksmith Bayou Access · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Manistee River as a perennial river, ~0.2 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 5.2% — 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.
- 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 Blacksmith Bayou Access elsewhere
Other camps near Blacksmith Bayou Access
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Blacksmith Bayou Campground~0.3 mi
- Sawdust Hole River Access~4.1 mi
- Pine Lake Recreation Area~4.5 mi
- Marzinski Horse Campground~6.6 mi
The unit that manages Blacksmith Bayou Access
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Blacksmith Bayou Access are set by Huron-Manistee National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Blacksmith Bayou Access
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: no nightly rate published by the agency -- and on the evidence there is not one to publish. The Huron-Manistee's own page for this site describes a river access on an oxbow of the Pine River and gives only a DAY USE fee: $5 per vehicle per day, or $15 per seven days, payable on site with cash or check or bought on recreation.gov. The Forest Service's own site record agrees, and files the charge as a STANDARD AMENITY FEE -- the day-use category -- not as the expanded amenity fee it uses for overnight camping everywhere else on this forest. Season of use is April 1 - November 30. Budget the per-vehicle day fee; do not expect a posted per-site nightly price. Checked https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/huron-manistee/recreation/blacksmith-bayou-river-access.
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 Blacksmith Bayou Access
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 — Blacksmith Bayou Access
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Cold-weather camping →Off-grid communication →All field notes →