Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Blue River
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 39.72523, -106.13102
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 — Blue River · White River National Forest · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 1877.1 (Blue River Campground), 10 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 1877.1 (Blue River Campground), 10 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 21 – Oct 3. That season ends after Oct 3.
MVUM record for FR 1877.1 (Blue River Campground): “05/21-10/03” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; 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 Blue River
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,483 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Blue RiverNIFC · 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 Blue River · White River National Forest · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- AAir-up6 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- HHardware6 mi
- @Mail7 mi
- WWater7 mi
- PPropane7 mi
- RxPharmacy8 mi
- LLaundry8 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- MMechanic17 mi
- ShShower21 mi
- DDump25 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 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 — Blue River
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
8,483 ft
Ground slope
7.4% · gentle
Nearest highway
~7.4 mi · Interstate 70
State
CO
Coordinates
39.72523, -106.13102
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Blue River · White River National Forest · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBlue River · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial river
- Nearest townSilverthorne · ~5.0 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~7.4 mi · Interstate 70
- Drinking waterWater · ~7.2 mi
- FuelMaverik · ~6.1 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~7.4 mi
- Dump station~25.0 mi
- GroceriesMaverik · ~6.1 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~7.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicThe Steadman Clinic & Steadman Philippon Research Institute · ~9.6 mi
- HardwareBighorn · ~6.3 mi
EV charging — from Blue River · White River National Forest · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger6.1 mi straight-line SE — Silverthorne, CO - Ruby Ranch Rd - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach29 within 25 mi · 62 within 50 · 380 within 100 · 461 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS6.7 mi — VOLVO CAR USA SILVERTHORN PL3, Silverthorne
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO6.7 mi — VOLVO CAR USA SILVERTHORN PL3, Silverthorne
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)6.1 mi — BLUE RIVER EV BR 1, Silverthorne, CO · 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 194064 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Blue River · White River National Forest · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletBlue River · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletColumbine Landing · ~2.4 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSugarloaf · ~7.2 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWilliams Fork Boardwalk Th · ~7.3 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Blue River · White River National Forest · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Blue River as a perennial river, ~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 7.4% — 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 is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) — abandoned, lifted and out-of-service track excluded, so a rail-trail does not count as one.
- Interstate 70 is mapped ~7.4 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 Blue River elsewhere
Other camps near Blue River
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Sugarloaf~7.2 mi · fee
- South Fork~7.3 mi · fee
- Heaton Bay Pa~8.9 mi · fee
- Heaton Bay Cg~8.9 mi · fee
The unit that manages Blue River
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Blue River are set by White River National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Summit Ranch at 9,350 ft, about 2 miles away. It sits about 867 ft higher than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. We do not repeat a depth here, because any number we stored would be stale by the time you read it — the station publishes today's.
How we know this — Blue River
Stay limit
14 nights (Stay limit is 14 days.)
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 2026-08-22: the two agency sources disagree: the White River NF campground page, updated Apr 27 2026, says $27 per single site per night, while recreation.gov charges $25 for a standard non-electric site across the whole 2026 season (May 20 to Oct 1). Budget $27 and expect to be pleasantly surprised. Dillon Ranger District. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/whiteriver/recreation/blue-river-campground and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/10122661.
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 Blue River
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 — Blue River
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Finding water out here →Off-grid communication →All field notes →