Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 34.27918, -117.59812
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 — Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites · Angeles National Forest · CA
No road within 1 mi of the pin in the national MVUM layer — and that layer carries no data at all for this forest (unit 0501), so this is the layer's silence, not the ground's. 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 Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,586 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post SitesNIFC · 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 Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites · Angeles National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater1 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- FFuel8 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- MMechanic10 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- PPropane12 mi
- OOutfitter12 mi
- AAir-up12 mi
- DDump14 mi
- ShShower14 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, 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 — Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
6,586 ft
Ground slope
45.4% · steep
Nearest rail line
~6.5 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~7.2 mi · Interstate 15
State
CA
Coordinates
34.27918, -117.59812
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites · Angeles National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBig Butch Wash · ~0.6 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townMount Baldy · ~4.6 mi
- Nearest rail line~6.5 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~7.2 mi · Interstate 15
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~0.8 mi
- FuelHaven Mobil · ~9.7 mi
- Propane / LPGMain Street Gas & Mart · ~19.4 mi
- Dump station~19.3 mi
- GroceriesJensen's Foods · ~6.0 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~9.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicKalologie | Club Studio | Upland · ~10.2 mi
- HardwareColor Floors · ~12.0 mi
EV charging — from Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites · Angeles National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger11.5 mi straight-line SE — Fontana, CA - Tesla Supercharger (at a shopping center) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 24 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach129 within 25 mi · 729 within 50 · 1116 within 100 · 1324 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS12.1 mi — Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO12.1 mi — Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.9 mi — Merill Gardens at Rancho Cucamonga · Blink Network · J1772 · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Grand Pine Cabins - Tesla Destination, Wrightwood, 6.0 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas 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 149310 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites · Angeles National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletSan Antonio Falls · ~1.8 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletManker Flat · ~2.1 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletIcehouse · ~3.0 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMt. Baldy Wayside · ~3.5 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites · Angeles National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Big Butch Wash as an intermittent stream, ~0.6 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 45.4% — 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 ~6.5 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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 15 is mapped ~7.2 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 Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites elsewhere
Other camps near Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Stockton Flats Yellow Post Sites~1.3 mi
- Manker Flat~2.1 mi · fee
- Gobbler's Knob Yellow Post Sites~2.4 mi
- Paiute Canyon Yellow Post Sites~2.5 mi
The unit that manages Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites are set by Angeles National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
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 — Coldwater Canyon Yellow Post Sites
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Leave no trace →All field notes →