Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Cottonwood Lake
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 38.78280, -106.29021
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 — Cottonwood Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 344.B (Cottonwood Lake Cg), 10 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 344.B (Cottonwood Lake Cg), 10 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 344.B (Cottonwood Lake Cg): “01/01-12/31” 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 Cottonwood Lake
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 9,570 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Cottonwood LakeNIFC · 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 Cottonwood Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery6 mi
- @Mail9 mi
- FFuel9 mi
- HHardware9 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- OOutfitter9 mi
- EVEV fast charger9 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- ShShower10 mi
- DDump11 mi
- WWater16 mi
- MMechanic23 mi
- RxPharmacy24 mi
- AAir-up24 mi
- PPropane60 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 — Cottonwood Lake
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
9,570 ft
Ground slope
7.5% · gentle
State
CO
Coordinates
38.78280, -106.29021
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Cottonwood Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSouth Cottonwood Creek · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townBuena Vista · ~8.8 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelPhillips 66 · ~9.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~10.9 mi
- GroceriesSt. Elmo General Store · ~6.2 mi
- PharmacySalida Pharmacy & Fountain · ~23.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicValley Wide Buena Vista · ~9.5 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~9.4 mi
EV charging — from Cottonwood Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.4 mi straight-line NE — Electric Era Charging Station, Buena Vista, CO (at a public site) · ELECTRIC_ERA · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach7 within 25 mi · 21 within 50 · 272 within 100 · 469 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO10.0 mi — SDCEA SOUTH MAIN L3, Buena Vista
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.4 mi — BVPL EV1 BUENA VISTA 1 · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: Mon: 8:30am-4:00pm; Tue: 8:30am-4:00pm; Wed: 8:30am-4:00pm; Thu: 8:30am-4:00pm; Fri: 8:30am-4:00pm; Sat: 8:30am-4:00pm; Sun: 8:30am-4:00pm
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort - Tesla Destination, Nathrop, 7.7 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 428659 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Cottonwood Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomCottonwood Lake · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomCottonwood Lake · ~0.7 mi E · USFS
- RestroomCottonwood Lake · ~0.7 mi E · USFS
- RestroomAvalanche · ~2.2 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Cottonwood Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps South Cottonwood Creek as a perennial stream, ~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 7.5% — 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 Cottonwood Lake elsewhere
Other camps near Cottonwood Lake
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Collegiate Peaks~2.5 mi · fee
- Cascade~5.5 mi · fee
- Iron City~5.7 mi · fee
- Chalk Lake~5.7 mi · fee
The unit that manages Cottonwood Lake
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Cottonwood Lake are set by Pike and San Isabel National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Saint Elmo at 10,420 ft, about 7 miles away. It sits about 850 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 — Cottonwood Lake
Area rules
Sites must be occupied the first night of payment
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 2026-08-22: $22 per site per night, confirmed by two sources: the Pike-San Isabel NF campground page (updated Feb 3 2026) and recreation.gov, which charges $22 for a standard non-electric site across the 2026 season (May 15 to Oct 11). Two vehicles or one RV per site are included; a third vehicle is $10, and day use without camping is $10. A self-service fee tube is available and sites must be occupied the first night of payment. Salida Ranger District -- note this is the Buena Vista-area Cottonwood Lake, NOT the GMUG campground of the same name near Collbran. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/psicc/recreation/cottonwood-lake-campground and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/10165240.
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 Cottonwood Lake
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 — Cottonwood Lake
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →How to read this page →All field notes →