Agency-listedPA DCNR Bureau of Forestry - Buchanan State Forest · dispersedFee

Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail

Drive-up · public land · PA · 39.92731, -77.95276
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The land manager lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.

DCNR records: no listed amenities.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail
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Weather outlook — at Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,221 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln TrailNIFC · 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 Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail · public land · PA

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 11 miWDump · 28 miDSheetz · Propane · 17 miPCitgo · Fuel · 2 miFGrocery · 2 miGPharmacy · 2 miRxAce Hardware · Hardware · 11 miHPensinger's Service Station · Mechanic · 2 miMCountryside Coin Laundry · Laundry · 12 miLSouth Showers · Shower · 11 miShAir-up · 26 miAGreencastle Family Practice PC · Urgent care · 16 mi+Keystone Outdoors · Outfitter · 2 miOMail · 2 mi@Fort Littleton, PA - Tesla Supercharger · EV fast charger · 9 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel2 mi
  • GGrocery2 mi
  • RxPharmacy2 mi
  • MMechanic2 mi
  • OOutfitter2 mi
  • @Mail2 mi
  • EVEV fast charger9 mi
  • WWater11 mi
  • ShShower11 mi
  • HHardware11 mi
  • LLaundry12 mi
  • +Urgent care16 mi
  • PPropane17 mi
  • AAir-up26 mi
  • DDump28 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 — Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail

Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
2,221 ft
State
PA
Coordinates
39.92731, -77.95276
Cost
Fee

Nearby & resupply — around Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail · public land · PA (OpenStreetMap)

  • Nearest townMercersburg · ~7.1 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelCitgo · ~1.9 mi
  • Propane / LPGSheetz · ~16.9 mi
  • Dump station~28.2 mi
  • GroceriesGrocery · ~1.9 mi
  • PharmacyPharmacy · ~1.9 mi
  • Hospital / clinicGreencastle Family Practice PC · ~16.0 mi
  • HardwareAce Hardware · ~11.3 mi

EV charging — from Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail · public land · PA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail · public land · PA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail elsewhere

Other camps near Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail

Stay limit
7 nights (no more than seven consecutive nights)
Permit
You must have a valid camping permit and be at a designated campsite when roadside camping. A camping permit will not be issued to anyone under the age of 18. The permit holder must occupy the site listed on the camping permit within 24 hours of the arrival date listed on the camping permit. Most campsites in Pennsylvania state forests can be reserved 11 months in advance to noon of the day of arrival.
Area rules
Individuals must vacate a site for at least 48 hours before reapplying.
Source
public land records
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry designated campsite, Buchanan State Forest (district 2), DCNR type "Motorized". Coordinate is DCNR's own, from its public Designated Campsites layer read 2026-08-15: https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/agsprod/rest/services/BOF/Camping/MapServer/0 (the layer behind https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/bof/camping/). DCNR records the positional source for this point as "GPS". FEE. DCNR (read 2026-08-15 at https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/what-to-do/stay-overnight/overnight-prices-and-policies): "Motorized roadside, hike-in roadside, equestrian, and rustic campsites can be reserved for a fee of $10.00 a night for Pennsylvania residents and $15.00 a night for non-residents. Additional taxes and fees may apply. These prices are effective as of November 3, 2022." Reserve through the PA State Parks and Forests reservation system (888-727-2757); this site carries a reservation system ID in DCNR's layer. Stay limit: DCNR (https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/what-to-do/stay-overnight/motorized-roadside-camping) - "A camping permit will be valid for no more than seven consecutive nights." and "Individuals must vacate a site for at least 48 hours before reapplying." "Roadside camping is required to be done at designated campsites that are identified by a name or number." Fire: DCNR (https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/what-to-do/stay-overnight/backpacking-and-primitive-camping) - "No campfires are permitted when the state forest district forester determines the forest fire danger to be high, very high, or extreme." From March 1 through May 25 you must have the district's permission to have a campfire at all. Check with the district before you go. DCNR Permit field: Yes. DCNR description: "Buchanan State Forest. Hike-in only. 0.20-mile hike from Tower Road parking area, access is road walking, partial uphill hike out, log landing. Visit the PA State Parks and Forests Reservation System to reserve and view additional details." Not field-checked by us. Seasonal road closures and district-level restrictions are not in this layer - check with the district office. Nearest USGS GNIS populated place: Buchanan Summit, about 0.7 mi straight-line. --- NIGHT-SHIFT REVIEW 2026-08-18 (reviewer nightshift-verified): APPROVED. Re-read DCNR's Designated Campsites layer today at https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/agsprod/rest/services/BOF/Camping/MapServer/0 : OBJECTID 14841 is still present, Name "BV013 Lincoln Trail", Type "Motorized", Water "None", Permit "Yes", ShowOnPublicMap "Yes", positional Source "GPS", DCNR LastEditedDate 2022.12.20 07:37 - every one of those unchanged from the 2026-08-15 read, and the live geometry is 0.9 m from the coordinate this row holds. All 801 OBJECTIDs we ingested from this layer are still in it today; none were dropped. Independent check 1 - the coordinate falls inside DCNR's own State Forest boundary polygon (https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/agsprod/rest/services/BOF/StateForests/MapServer/0, read 2026-08-18): DistrictNumber 2 (Buchanan), LandManager BOF. That is state forest land in the same district the campsite record claims. Independent check 2 - nearest drivable OpenStreetMap way is 7 m away (highway=track "Lincoln Trail"), measured point-to-segment against way geometry pulled from Overpass on 2026-08-18. Consistent with a DCNR "Motorized" site. The fee, seven-night stay limit and campfire quotes above were re-read verbatim on pa.gov today (overnight-prices-and-policies, motorized-roadside-camping, backpacking-and-primitive-camping) and all three still match word for word. Duplicate check done on coordinates, not name: no approved or published camp anywhere in the DB within 250 m. Still not field-checked by us; nobody from this project has stood on this 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 Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail

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.

Before you go — Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite BV013 Lincoln Trail

Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →