★ Field-verified · Dave's ownPublic land · dispersedFree
Clear Creek County
Drive-up · public land · Clear Creek County, CO · 39.68327, -105.70660
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Ask about this camp →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on public land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
A free, primitive campsite at the end of a spur in the mountains above Georgetown, Colorado. Near a raging mountain stream. Access requires decent clearance and four-wheel drive. Good cell service. Enough room for one or two vehicles. Dramatic scenery near charming town. Recommended.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 24 May 2018. No agency publishes a season for this site, so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Clear Creek County
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 9,724 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Clear Creek CountyNIFC · 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 Clear Creek County · public land · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- MMechanic1 mi
- @Mail2 mi
- FFuel2 mi
- GGrocery2 mi
- EVEV fast charger2 mi
- WWater2 mi
- OOutfitter9 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- HHardware19 mi
- DDump19 mi
- ShShower19 mi
- PPropane20 mi
- AAir-up20 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, 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 — Clear Creek County
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
9,724 ft
Ground slope
16.7% · steep
Nearest rail line
~0.9 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~1.1 mi · US Hwy 6
County
Clear Creek County, CO
Coordinates
39.68327, -105.70660
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Clear Creek County · public land · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLeavenworth Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townSilver Plume · ~1.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~0.9 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~1.1 mi · US Hwy 6
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~2.2 mi
- FuelShell · ~2.1 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~19.0 mi
- GroceriesGeorgetown Market · ~2.1 mi
- PharmacyPharmacy · ~11.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicMiddle Park Health - Fraser Campus · ~17.4 mi
- HardwareEvergreen Ace Hardware & Paint · ~18.6 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
High clearance / 4×4
Fire ring
No
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Clear Creek County · public land · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger2.1 mi straight-line N — ANNEX SITE GEORGETOWN PL4 · ChargePoint Network · 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 reach32 within 25 mi · 245 within 50 · 376 within 100 · 451 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)5.5 mi — 420 E Park Ave, Empire
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)1.3 mi — Bread Bar, Silver Plume, CO (at a restaurant) · EVMATCH · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-03-14 · 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 260651 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Clear Creek County · public land · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletClear Lake · ~1.1 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletClear Lake · ~2.2 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHells Hole · ~2.5 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWest Chicago Creek · ~2.5 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Clear Creek County · public land · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Leavenworth Creek as a perennial stream, under 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 16.7% — 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 ~0.9 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.
- US Hwy 6 is mapped ~1.1 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 Clear Creek County elsewhere
Other camps near Clear Creek County
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Clear Lake~2.2 mi · fee
- West Chicago Creek~2.6 mi · fee
- Guanella Pass~5.0 mi · fee
- Echo Lake~6.2 mi · fee
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Echo Lake at 10,660 ft, about 6 miles away. It sits about 936 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 — Clear Creek County
Source
Dave's own travels
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
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Clear Creek County, CO). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
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
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. He camped here on 24 May 2018. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Clear Creek County
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.
- How many rigs actually fit
- 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 — Clear Creek County
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →