Agency-listedVermont Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation (shelters supervised by the Green Mountain Club May-October)Fee
Cowie's Cove Shelter
Hike-in · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT · 44.25458, -72.90596
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 →Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Cowie's Cove Shelter
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,516 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Cowie's Cove ShelterNIFC · 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 Cowie's Cove Shelter · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- ShShower5 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- RxPharmacy6 mi
- MMechanic7 mi
- HHardware9 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- OOutfitter10 mi
- WWater11 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- DDump23 mi
- AAir-up39 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 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 — Cowie's Cove Shelter
Access
Hike-in
Land
Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation
Elevation
2,516 ft
Ground slope
25.1% · steep
Nearest rail line
~8.1 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~8.1 mi · Interstate 89
State
VT
Coordinates
44.25458, -72.90596
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Cowie's Cove Shelter · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureDeer Brook · ~0.3 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townHanksville · ~2.8 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.1 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~8.1 mi · Interstate 89
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.5 mi
- FuelVillage Grocery · ~6.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~23.2 mi
- GroceriesShaw's · ~5.8 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~6.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicThomas Chittenden Health Center · ~14.7 mi
- HardwareHannon Home Center · ~9.3 mi
EV charging — from Cowie's Cove Shelter · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger5.9 mi straight-line SE — SUNCOMMON TASTE PLACE, Waitsfield, VT · 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 reach35 within 25 mi · 90 within 50 · 183 within 100 · 576 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)16.6 mi — Berlin, VT - Tesla Supercharger, Berlin
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.3 mi — Sugarbush Resort - Mt Ellen, Fayston, VT (at a recreation facility) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 8 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-06-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Mountain View Inn - Tesla Destination, Waitsfield, 4.9 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 167045 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Cowie's Cove Shelter · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaWaterbury South Parking Area · ~8.8 mi NE
- Highway rest areaWaterbury North Parking Area · ~9.1 mi NE
- Portable toiletBlueberry Lake · ~12.6 mi S · USFS
- RestroomCooley Glen Shelter · ~14.2 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — Cowie's Cove Shelter · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Deer Brook as a perennial stream, ~0.3 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 25.1% — 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 ~8.1 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak 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.
- Interstate 89 is mapped ~8.1 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.
- 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 Cowie's Cove Shelter elsewhere
Other camps near Cowie's Cove Shelter
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Birch Glen Camp~1.7 mi · fee
- Montclair Glen Lodge~3.4 mi · fee
- Bamforth Ridge Shelter~6.9 mi · fee
- Battell Shelter~10.0 mi
How we know this — Cowie's Cove Shelter
Fire rules
Open fires are permitted only in tent platform fire rings. There are no wood stoves in shelters.
Stay limit
2 nights (2-night limit at shelters and lodges)
Area rules
Camping is permitted only in shelters, lodges, the Hump Brook Tenting Area and the designated primitive camping area.
Source
public land records
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
Long Trail shelter inside Camel's Hump State Park. Coordinate is the state's own point for this structure in the FPR atlas "Recreation Sites" layer (https://anrmaps.vermont.gov/arcgis/rest/services/map_services/MAP_ANR_ANRATLASFPR_WM_NOCACHE/MapServer/2, read 2026-08-16); OBJECTID 341, ANRUnit 745 = Camel's Hump State Park. The park's trails guide names this shelter on its map. CAMEL'S HUMP STATE PARK CAMPING RULE, quoted from the state's own trails guide (https://fpr.vermont.gov/sites/fpr/files/documents/camels_hump_trails.pdf, read 2026-08-16): "Camping is permitted only in shelters, lodges, the Hump Brook Tenting Area and the designated primitive camping area. Shelters and lodges are supervised by the GMC from May to October; fee charged; 2-night limit. Open fires are permitted only in tent platform fire rings. There are no wood stoves in shelters." Same guide: "Primitive camping is allowed below 2,500 feet elevation... Primitive camping is prohibited in the Wildlife Management Areas and the Natural Area (see map)" and "All trails are closed during mud season (snowmelt to Memorial Day)." THIS IS A FEE SITE in season -- the amount is not stated on the state page and was NOT verified this fire. The guide lists no water supply; treat any natural water as non-potable. NEAREST TOWN: the point falls inside the town of Fayston, Vermont (VCGI town boundary layer, read 2026-08-16). Vermont towns cover the whole state, so this is the municipality, not necessarily the nearest place with a store. SOURCE PAGES: https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/activities/camping/primitive-camping ; https://vtfishandwildlife.com/hunt/find-a-place-to-hunt/find-a-wildlife-management-area/authorized-and-prohibited-activities-on-fw-lands/primitive-camping-on-wmas ; https://fpr.vermont.gov/sites/fpr/files/documents/camels_hump_trails.pdf | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
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 Cowie's Cove Shelter
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 the fire rule stated above still stands today — what we have is a dated reading of the agency's listing, not a live restriction feed
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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 — Cowie's Cove Shelter
Finding water out here →Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →How to read this page →All field notes →