Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Crystal Lake Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 46.79390, -109.51112
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 — Crystal Lake Campground · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 8944 (Crystal Lake Campground), 140 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as bituminous surface treatment surface and maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 8944 (Crystal Lake Campground), 140 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Jun 2 – Nov 30. That season ends after Nov 30.
MVUM record for FR 8944 (Crystal Lake Campground): “06/02-11/30” 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 Crystal Lake Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,048 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Crystal Lake 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 Crystal Lake Campground · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel14 mi
- GGrocery14 mi
- @Mail14 mi
- MMechanic19 mi
- HHardware19 mi
- LLaundry19 mi
- +Urgent care20 mi
- ShShower33 mi
- EVEV fast charger69 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: fuel & food sit about 14 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 69-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Water, Dump, 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 — Crystal Lake Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
6,048 ft
Ground slope
5.5% · gentle
State
MT
Coordinates
46.79390, -109.51112
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Crystal Lake Campground · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBig Rock Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townJudith Gap · ~13.9 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~13.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesJudith Gap Oil · ~13.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicSCL Health Medical Group · ~19.8 mi
- HardwareTrue Value · ~19.2 mi
EV charging — from Crystal Lake Campground · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger69.3 mi straight-line S — Big Timber, MT - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 4 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 reachnone within 25 mi · none within 50 · 9 within 100 · 25 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS84.3 mi — Target T1333 (Billings, MT), Billings
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO84.8 mi — Denny Menholt Nissan, Billings
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)84.0 mi — Hospital Corridor, Billings, MT (at a hospital) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-05-12 · 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 102260 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Crystal Lake Campground · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletCrystal Lake Campground · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletGrandview Picnic Area · ~0.6 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCrystal Lake Boat Launch · ~0.7 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletTimber Cr Dispersed · ~4.9 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — Crystal Lake Campground · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Big Rock Creek as an intermittent stream, under 0.1 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 5.5% — 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 Crystal Lake Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Crystal Lake Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Timber Cr Dispersed~4.9 mi
- Little Snowys Camp~19.0 mi
The unit that manages Crystal Lake Campground
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Crystal Lake Campground are set by Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Crystal Lake at 6,130 ft, less than a mile away. That is about the height of this camp, so it is a fair proxy. 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 — Crystal Lake Campground
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: $20 per night for a single unit. The only recreation.gov listing here is 250004, which is the separate CRYSTAL LAKE GROUP CAMPSITE at $40 per night for the 2026 season (Jun 10 - Sep 15) -- that is the group area, not the single-site rate. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/helena-lewisclark/recreation/crystal-lake-campground, group figure from https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/250004. || Water: Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest's own site page for Crystal Lake Campground, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/helena-lewisclark/recreation/crystal-lake-campground (read 2026-08-24; page "Last updated" June 17, 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, queried 2026-08-24), WATER_AVAILABILITY = "Yes, drinking water is available from a hand pump". recreation.gov facility 250004 ("CRYSTAL LAKE GROUP CAMPSITE") lists the amenity "Drinking Water". Channels agree; nightshift fire 1660.
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 Crystal Lake 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
- 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 — Crystal Lake Campground
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →