Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Colwell Lake Recreation Area
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MI · 46.22148, -86.43364
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Colwell Lake Recreation Area · Hiawatha National Forest · MI
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 2248 (Colwell Campground), 20 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as bituminous surface treatment surface and maintenance level 5 – high degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 2248 (Colwell Campground), 20 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 15 – Oct 8. That season ends after Oct 8.
MVUM record for FR 2248 (Colwell Campground): “05/15-10/08” 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 Colwell Lake Recreation Area
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 753 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Colwell Lake Recreation AreaNIFC · 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 Colwell Lake Recreation Area · Hiawatha National Forest · MI
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel5 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- MMechanic9 mi
- @Mail9 mi
- EVEV fast charger17 mi
- WWater17 mi
- +Urgent care17 mi
- ShShower18 mi
- LLaundry20 mi
- DDump20 mi
- HHardware20 mi
- RxPharmacy20 mi
- OOutfitter45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 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 — Colwell Lake Recreation Area
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
753 ft
Ground slope
1.7% · flat
Nearest rail line
~8.7 mi · main line
State
MI
Coordinates
46.22148, -86.43364
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Colwell Lake Recreation Area · Hiawatha National Forest · MI (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureColwell Lake · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townMunising · ~17.0 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.7 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~5.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~20.0 mi
- GroceriesD & D Cabins & Groceries · ~8.2 mi
- PharmacyPutvin Drug · ~20.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicBaycare Medical Center · ~16.8 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~20.2 mi
EV charging — from Colwell Lake Recreation Area · Hiawatha National Forest · MI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger16.6 mi straight-line NW — Munising City Hall · FLO · CHAdeMO, CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 4 within 50 · 36 within 100 · 97 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)24.8 mi — Andys Seney Bar, Seney
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)44.3 mi — DTMB-BPS ESCANABA STATE · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · 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 356048 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Colwell Lake Recreation Area · Hiawatha National Forest · MI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomMA Miners Beach CUA Vault Toilet · ~7.3 mi NE · NPS
- Vault / pit toiletCamp Seven Lake Recreation Area · ~12.5 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCamp Cook Camping Area · ~14.5 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletChicago Lake Camping Area · ~15.1 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Colwell Lake Recreation Area · Hiawatha National Forest · MI
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Colwell Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.2 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 1.7% — flat. 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 ~8.7 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.
- 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 Colwell Lake Recreation Area elsewhere
Other camps near Colwell Lake Recreation Area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Crooked Lake Camping Area~0.3 mi · fee
- Steuben Lake Camping Area~1.7 mi · fee
- Clear Lake Camping Area~1.9 mi
- Indian River Delias Camping Area~2.7 mi
The unit that manages Colwell Lake Recreation Area
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Colwell Lake Recreation Area are set by Hiawatha National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Colwell Lake Recreation Area
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. | Fee 2026-08-24: Two agency sources disagree and both are live. The Hiawatha's own page prices a single campsite at $22 per night, a walk-in at $20, a single with electricity at $26, a double (2 camp units) at $44 and the group campsite (up to 24 people) at $60; recreation.gov, where this campground is booked, lists $26 standard non-electric, $30 standard electric, $24 walk-to and $80 for the group non-electric site across the 2026 season (May 22 - Oct 10). Expect the recreation.gov price if you reserve online. Federal Recreation Passes are accepted. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/hiawatha/recreation/colwell-lake-campground and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232319.
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 Colwell Lake Recreation Area
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
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- 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 — Colwell Lake Recreation Area
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Power off-grid →All field notes →