Agency-listedVermont Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation · dispersedFree
C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
Dispersed · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT · 44.40682, -72.65808
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 →Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation 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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,091 ft.
Fire & smoke — around C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3NIFC · 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 C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3 · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- MMechanic4 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- LLaundry4 mi
- HHardware5 mi
- WWater6 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- RxPharmacy7 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- ShShower10 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- DDump15 mi
- AAir-up44 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 4 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
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 — C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
Access
Dispersed
Land
Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · dispersed
Elevation
2,091 ft
Ground slope
42.3% · steep
Nearest rail line
~6.7 mi · passing siding
Nearest highway
~6.4 mi · Interstate 89
State
VT
Coordinates
44.40682, -72.65808
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3 · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureThatcher Brook · ~0.4 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townWaterbury Center · ~3.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~6.7 mi · passing siding
- Nearest highway~6.4 mi · Interstate 89
- Drinking waterWater · ~5.5 mi
- FuelFuel · ~3.8 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~15.0 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~4.1 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~6.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicMorrisville Family Health Care · ~10.7 mi
- HardwareStowe Hardware & Dry Goods · ~4.7 mi
EV charging — from C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3 · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger5.5 mi straight-line SW — Green Mountain Power - Ben & Jerry's, Waterbury, VT · FLO · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach20 within 25 mi · 85 within 50 · 167 within 100 · 505 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)14.0 mi — Berlin, VT - Tesla Supercharger, Berlin
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)4.1 mi — STOWE ELECTRIC MEMORIAL PARK · ChargePoint Network · 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 — Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea, Waterbury, 3.1 mi · J1772 · hours: 7am-5:30pm daily; for customer use only · AFDC lists it “Free”
- 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 218542 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3 · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaWaterbury North Parking Area · ~7.3 mi SW
- Highway rest areaWaterbury South Parking Area · ~8.1 mi SW
- Highway rest areaWilliston South Rest Area · ~20.8 mi W
- Highway rest areaWilliston North Rest Area · ~20.9 mi W
Coming out here — C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3 · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Thatcher Brook as a perennial stream, ~0.4 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 42.3% — steep. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~6.7 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.
- Interstate 89 is mapped ~6.4 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.
- 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 C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3 elsewhere
Other camps near C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 4~2.1 mi
- C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 2~3.6 mi
- Mt. Mansfield State Forest - Cotton Brook primitive camping area~7.2 mi
- Mt. Mansfield State Forest - Burt Nebraska primitive camping area~7.7 mi
Who holds the land at C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as C.C. Putnam State Forest, for which PAD-US names no manager; it records the owner as VT Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
Stay limit
3 nights (up to three consecutive nights)
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
Designated primitive camping area mapped by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Polygon OBJECTID 16 in the FPR atlas layer "Primitive Camping Areas" (https://anrmaps.vermont.gov/arcgis/rest/services/map_services/MAP_ANR_ANRATLASFPR_WM_NOCACHE/MapServer/22, read 2026-08-16), on C.C. Putnam State Forest. The state maps this area in 1 separate part(s); this pin is inside the largest, about 429 acres, and sits about 318 m (1043 ft) from that part's nearest boundary. The coordinate was round-tripped against the state's own server: an intersects query at this exact point returns OBJECTID 16 and nothing else. THIS PIN IS AN AREA, NOT A SITE. Vermont publishes a polygon inside which dispersed camping is legal, not a tent pad. The coordinate here is the interior point of that polygon that is farthest from its own boundary, computed from the state's published geometry -- it is a 'somewhere in here' pin. Because Vermont's rule is a setback rule, you still have to walk 1,000 ft off any road and 200 ft off any trail once you are inside. Re-pin before shipping. ELEVATION AT THIS PIN: 2091 ft, from the USGS Elevation Point Query Service (https://epqs.nationalmap.gov/v1/json, read 2026-08-16). That is below the 2,500 ft line above which Vermont prohibits primitive camping, so the pin itself clears that rule -- but the area extends uphill in places and you do not. The FPR primitive camping page lists a "C.C. Putnam State Forest" guide for this unit under the Central Vermont district office, (802) 476-0171. VERMONT PRIMITIVE CAMPING RULES (Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation, quoted from https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/activities/camping/primitive-camping, read 2026-08-16): "Primitive camping is available in state forests, at some undeveloped state parks as well as some Wildlife Management Areas. This is not car camping. You must backpack in at least 1,000 feet from any road. There is no public drinking water or toilet facilities, no reservations or assigned sites. Vermont does not offer free, dispersed car camping on its state lands." Guidelines, same page: camping must be at least 100 ft from any stream or body of water; at least 200 ft from any trail or property line and 1,000 ft from any traveled road; "Camping is allowed up to three consecutive nights in the same area"; "Groups of eleven or more individuals must obtain a permit from the District Office"; "Only dead and down trees or branches may be used for firewood"; "Camping above 2500 feet in elevation is prohibited unless otherwise designated." Permits are not required for small parties. NO FEE. WATER: the state says there is no public drinking water at primitive camping areas. Carry your own. Do not treat any stream, pond or spring here as potable. Cross-checked against the FPR primitive camping page, which lists a downloadable camping guide for this unit. NEAREST TOWN: the point falls inside the town of Stowe, Vermont (VCGI town boundary layer, read 2026-08-16). Vermont towns cover the whole state, so this is the municipality, not necessarily the nearest place with a store. SOURCE PAGES: https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/activities/camping/primitive-camping ; https://vtfishandwildlife.com/hunt/find-a-place-to-hunt/find-a-wildlife-management-area/authorized-and-prohibited-activities-on-fw-lands/primitive-camping-on-wmas ; https://fpr.vermont.gov/sites/fpr/files/documents/camels_hump_trails.pdf | 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 C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
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 — C.C. Putnam State Forest primitive camping area 3
Cold-weather camping →Stay limits →Your first dispersed night →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →