Agency-listedPA DCNR Bureau of Forestry - Buchanan State Forest · dispersedFee
Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C
Drive-up · Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry · PA · 39.95274, -78.17689
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 →Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry 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: trailer access, 3 vehicle(s).
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,017 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road CNIFC · 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 SH004 Bark Road C · Buchanan State Forest · PA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- MMechanic4 mi
- EVEV fast charger4 mi
- LLaundry5 mi
- @Mail7 mi
- RxPharmacy9 mi
- WWater14 mi
- ShShower14 mi
- OOutfitter14 mi
- +Urgent care16 mi
- HHardware17 mi
- PPropane22 mi
- DDump25 mi
- AAir-up35 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 4 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 SH004 Bark Road C
Access
Drive-up
Land
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry · dispersed
Elevation
2,017 ft
Ground slope
11.6% · noticeable
Nearest highway
~2.7 mi · Interstate 70
State
PA
Coordinates
39.95274, -78.17689
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C · Buchanan State Forest · PA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureTonoloway Creek · ~0.5 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townMercersburg · ~16.8 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~2.7 mi · Interstate 70
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelExxon · ~4.4 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~22.5 mi
- Dump station~25.0 mi
- GroceriesTravelers' Oasis · ~4.4 mi
- PharmacyPaul B MacDonald’s Pharmacy · ~9.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~15.9 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~17.2 mi
EV charging — from Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C · Buchanan State Forest · PA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger4.4 mi straight-line NW — Breezewood, PA (at a public site) · RIVIAN_ADVENTURE · CCS · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach12 within 25 mi · 65 within 50 · 478 within 100 · 892 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)4.5 mi — Breezewood, PA - Lincoln Highway - Tesla Supercharger, BREEZEWOOD
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO17.5 mi — POTOMAC EDISON HANCOCK DC 2, Hancock
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)4.4 mi — Breezewood, PA - Gateway Travel Plaza (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
- 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 391377 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C · Buchanan State Forest · PA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 1 · ~3.8 mi SW
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 62 · ~8.9 mi NE
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 45 · ~14.9 mi S
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 25 · ~17.1 mi S
Coming out here — Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C · Buchanan State Forest · PA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Tonoloway Creek as an intermittent stream, ~0.5 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 11.6% — noticeable. 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 ~2.7 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.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- 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 Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C elsewhere
Other camps near Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH002 Bark Road A~0.6 mi · fee
- Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH008 Culvert Field~4.2 mi · fee
- Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH016 Akersville A~4.3 mi · fee
- Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH007 Mitchell Trail~4.7 mi · fee
The unit that manages Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C
Roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C is in Buchanan State Forest, a state forest managed by PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry. Stay limits, permits, road closures and fire restrictions are set there, not at the campsite — check before you go. Its page maps every camp in it.
How we know this — Buchanan State Forest roadside campsite SH004 Bark Road C
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
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
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 "PaMAP". 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. Located on Bark Road, Harrisonville, 0.54 miles from Betsy Road. Grass parking lot that can hold 1 camper trailer or 2 vehicles with tents. Access road is a little rough but secluded. Not recommended in wet conditions. 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: Akersville, about 2.1 mi straight-line. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
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 SH004 Bark Road C
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