Agency-listedUSFSFree
Camp Penacook Shelter
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · NH · 43.95806, -71.26878
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 site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. 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 — Camp Penacook Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · NH
No MVUM road within 1 mi of the pin; access may be a county road or unmapped.
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 Camp Penacook Shelter
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,657 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Camp Penacook ShelterNIFC · 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 Camp Penacook Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · NH
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- MMechanic6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- @Mail7 mi
- HHardware7 mi
- LLaundry7 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- OOutfitter9 mi
- RxPharmacy9 mi
- EVEV fast charger9 mi
- WWater10 mi
- +Urgent care22 mi
- DDump26 mi
- AAir-up30 mi
- PPropane38 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 — Camp Penacook Shelter
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
2,657 ft
Ground slope
51.4% · steep
Nearest rail line
~7.3 mi · main line
State
NH
Coordinates
43.95806, -71.26878
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Camp Penacook Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · NH (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureChocorua River · ~0.3 mi · USGS: intermittent river
- Nearest townPaugus Mill · ~2.9 mi
- Nearest rail line~7.3 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~8.9 mi
- FuelMobil · ~6.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~26.1 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~8.1 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~8.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicMemorial Hospital · ~9.7 mi
- HardwareAutobahn Hardware · ~13.0 mi
EV charging — from Camp Penacook Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · NH — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger8.8 mi straight-line NE — North Conway, NH - Tesla Supercharger (at a shopping center) · 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 reach4 within 25 mi · 40 within 50 · 297 within 100 · 855 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS29.1 mi — NOURIA BRIDGTON 1, Bridgton
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO31.7 mi — ECODRIVE BCAG 3, Gorham
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.4 mi — Tin Mountain Conservation Center, Albany, NH (at a museum) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-12 · hours: 8:30am-5pm 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 203258 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Camp Penacook Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · NH — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomPiper Trailhead · ~2.3 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletChampney Falls · ~2.7 mi NW · USFS
- RestroomWhite Ledge · ~2.7 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWhite Ledge · ~2.7 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Camp Penacook Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · NH
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Chocorua River as an intermittent river, ~0.3 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 51.4% — 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 ~7.3 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. 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.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Camp Penacook Shelter elsewhere
Other camps near Camp Penacook Shelter
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- White Ledge~2.7 mi · fee
- Blackberry Crossing~3.6 mi · fee
- Covered Bridge~3.6 mi · fee
- Jigger Johnson~4.3 mi · fee
The unit that manages Camp Penacook Shelter
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Camp Penacook Shelter are set by White Mountain National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Camp Penacook Shelter
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
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review
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 Camp Penacook Shelter
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 — Camp Penacook Shelter
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →How to read this page →All field notes →