Agency-listedUSFSFee
Difficult Gcg
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 39.14167, -106.77362
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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Difficult Gcg
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,141 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Difficult GcgNIFC · 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 Difficult Gcg · White River National Forest · CO
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- WWater4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- EVEV fast charger4 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- OOutfitter4 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- +Urgent care20 mi
- MMechanic21 mi
- HHardware22 mi
- LLaundry27 mi
- PPropane30 mi
- RxPharmacy30 mi
- DDump36 mi
- ShShower39 mi
- AAir-up51 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — Difficult Gcg
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
8,141 ft
State
CO
Coordinates
39.14167, -106.77362
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Difficult Gcg · White River National Forest · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Nearest townAspen · ~5.0 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~3.9 mi
- FuelShell · ~4.1 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~29.9 mi
- GroceriesCity Market · ~3.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicDr. Moore · ~19.6 mi
- HardwareTrue Value · ~22.0 mi
EV charging — from Difficult Gcg · White River National Forest · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger4.0 mi straight-line NW — CITY OF ASPEN S GALENA LEVEL3 · 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 reach7 within 25 mi · 45 within 50 · 163 within 100 · 463 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)6.3 mi — Aspen, CO - Tesla Supercharger, Aspen
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)4.0 mi — CITY OF ASPEN SPRING ST L2 · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 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 — The Little Nell - Tesla Destination, Aspen, 3.9 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 225425 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Difficult Gcg · White River National Forest · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletDifficult Cg · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWeller Cg · ~3.2 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLincoln Gulch Cg · ~4.5 mi E · USFS
- RestroomLincoln Creek Dispersed · ~4.8 mi E · USFS
Open Difficult Gcg elsewhere
Other camps near Difficult Gcg
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Weller Cg~3.2 mi · fee
- Lincoln Gulch Cg~4.5 mi · fee
- Lincoln Creek dispersed campsite #1~4.8 mi
- Lincoln Creek dispersed campsite #4~5.1 mi
The unit that manages Difficult Gcg
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Difficult Gcg are set by White River National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Independence Pass at 10,570 ft, about 10 miles away. It sits about 2,429 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 — Difficult Gcg
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: $120 per night for the group site and $33 per night for a standard single site, from recreation.gov alone -- there is NO fs.usda.gov page for this campground (every slug probed returns 404 and the White River NF camping index carries no link for it), so there is no second source. Our pin is the group campground; recreation.gov treats Difficult as one facility 0.15 miles away carrying both a group class and standard sites, which is why both figures are recorded. 2026 season May 13 to Sep 26. Aspen-Sopris area. Source: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/231880.
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 Difficult Gcg
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 — Difficult Gcg
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →What “dispersed” means here →Reading the aerial →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →