Agency-listedUSFSFeeOpen todayRoad season: open (MVUM)
Cold Springs Group Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · ID · 44.19331, -116.11271
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 as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Can I go now? — Cold Springs Group Campground · Boise National Forest · ID
Open today Season May 15 – Sep 30 (about). Closes after Sep 30.
U.S. Forest Service record: “Mid-May - End of September” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Cold Springs Group Campground · Boise National Forest · ID
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 023B (Cold Springs Group Campground), 80 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as bituminous surface treatment surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 023B (Cold Springs Group Campground), 80 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 15 – Oct 15. That season ends after Oct 15.
MVUM record for FR 023B (Cold Springs Group Campground): “05/15-10/15” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
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 Cold Springs Group Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,875 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Cold Springs Group CampgroundNIFC · 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 Cold Springs Group Campground · Boise National Forest · ID
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery8 mi
- @Mail9 mi
- WWater10 mi
- FFuel11 mi
- HHardware22 mi
- MMechanic22 mi
- RxPharmacy23 mi
- LLaundry23 mi
- OOutfitter23 mi
- AAir-up36 mi
- +Urgent care37 mi
- ShShower39 mi
- EVEV fast charger41 mi
- DDump44 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 8 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 41-mi run (and back).
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 — Cold Springs Group Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
3,875 ft
Ground slope
5% · gentle
State
ID
Coordinates
44.19331, -116.11271
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Cold Springs Group Campground · Boise National Forest · ID (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureNorth Fork Payette River · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial river
- Nearest townSmiths Ferry · ~7.5 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~10.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~7.7 mi
- PharmacyWatkins Pharmacy · ~22.6 mi
- HardwareCascade Hardware · ~22.2 mi
EV charging — from Cold Springs Group Campground · Boise National Forest · ID — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger40.7 mi straight-line S — KENDALL HYU BOI FV L3 #2, Boise, ID · 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 reachnone within 25 mi · 30 within 50 · 37 within 100 · 57 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)40.7 mi — Boise, ID - North Orchard Street - Tesla Supercharger, Boise
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)36.6 mi — Residence Inn Eagle. · Blink Network · J1772 · 6 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 — Fairly Reliable Bob's, Boise, 39.8 mi · J1772 · hours: Dealership business hours; customer and service center 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 332628 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Cold Springs Group Campground · Boise National Forest · ID — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletCold Springs Group Campground · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCanyon Campground · ~0.4 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSwinging Bridge Campground · ~1.5 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBig Eddy Campground · ~1.9 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Cold Springs Group Campground · Boise National Forest · ID
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps North Fork Payette River as a perennial river, 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 5% — gentle. 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 and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on 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 Cold Springs Group Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Cold Springs Group Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Canyon Campground~0.4 mi · fee
- Swinging Bridge Campground~1.5 mi · fee
- Big Eddy Campground~1.9 mi · fee
- Tie Creek Campground~9.3 mi · fee
The unit that manages Cold Springs Group Campground
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Cold Springs Group Campground are set by Boise National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Cold Springs Group Campground
Open season
Mid-May - End of September
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
Developed FEE campground (not free) - review | auto:usfs-fee 2026-08-20: US Forest Service developed campground, agency coordinates, agency states a fee. No dollar amount in the agency record -- expect a charge and confirm the current rate before you go. Not field-verified. || Water: Boise National Forest's own site page for Cold Springs Campground (Group ONLY ), https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/boise/recreation/cold-springs-campground-group-only (read 2026-08-24; page "Last updated" May 15, 2026), "Facility and Amenity Information > Water": "Potable water is available at this site.". Corroborated by the USFS EDW Recreation Sites layer (apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_RecInfraRecreationSites_02/MapServer/0, re-queried live 2026-08-24 for SITE_ID 6264 / MANAGING_ORG 040206), WATER_AVAILABILITY = "Handpump for Drinking water". Page "Seasons of Use": "Mid-May - End of September" -- that is the season of the SITE, not a statement about when the water is turned on. recreation.gov facility 250047 ("Cold Springs Campground - Boise NF (ID)") lists the amenity "Drinking Water (hand pump)". Channels agree; nightshift fire 1680. | Fee 2026-08-26: $120 per night for the group site, which takes 1-50 people. This is a group-only campground. The camp's recreation.gov listing (id 250047, Cold Springs Campground - Boise NF (ID), 0.004 mi from this pin) agrees at $120 and publishes no other site type. Sources: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/boise/recreation/cold-springs-campground-group-only (page last updated May 15, 2026) and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/250047.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
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 Cold Springs Group Campground
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.
- Whether that MVUM road is the way in, and the last stretch beyond it
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- 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 — Cold Springs Group Campground
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Picking a spot →All field notes →