Mapped · not agency-listedPublic land · dispersedFree
Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
Drive-up · public land · Manistee County, MI · 44.36488, -85.83234
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 →A mapped lead, not an agency listing. Somebody marked this as a campsite; we could not match it to a land-manager record. Worth checking rather than counting on. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
What the record says about the site — Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
- Listed as a backcountry site
- Informal, undeveloped site
From the OpenStreetMap contributors listing for this site — their words, not our visit. Records go stale; treat it as a starting point and confirm anything your trip depends on.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 746 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MINIFC · 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 Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater1 mi
- FFuel5 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- EVEV fast charger7 mi
- DDump9 mi
- OOutfitter10 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- HHardware14 mi
- MMechanic16 mi
- LLaundry18 mi
- ShShower18 mi
- RxPharmacy21 mi
- PPropane28 mi
- AAir-up28 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 5 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 — Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
746 ft
Ground slope
17.2% · steep
Nearest rail line
~3.8 mi · other track
County
Manistee County, MI
Coordinates
44.36488, -85.83234
Cost
Free · dispersed public land, no fee in any source
Nearby & resupply — around Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureManistee River · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial river
- Nearest townMarilla · ~2.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~3.8 mi · other track
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~1.2 mi
- FuelMarathon · ~9.1 mi
- Propane / LPGAmeriGas · ~27.3 mi
- Dump station~9.4 mi
- GroceriesLarry's Grocery · ~8.9 mi
- PharmacyKingsley Pharmacy · ~21.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicWellston Medical Center · ~13.0 mi
- HardwareBenjamin Hardware · ~16.1 mi
EV charging — from Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger7.1 mi straight-line NE — 6052 M-115, Mesick, MI · EV Connect · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach9 within 25 mi · 44 within 50 · 124 within 100 · 345 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)15.3 mi — Saddle Up - Bear Lake, Bear Lake
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO22.0 mi — Meijer Cadillac (Cadillac, MI), Cadillac
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.3 mi — CBS Solar, Copemish, MI (at an office building) · Non-Networked · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-07-03 · 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 312216 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletMarilla Nct Trailhead · ~0.7 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSeaton Creek Recreation Area · ~1.2 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRed Bridge Access · ~5.8 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletGovernment Landing Access · ~7.2 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Manistee River as a perennial river, under 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 17.2% — 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 ~3.8 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as other track. The nearest track the atlas classes as a main line is ~4.2 mi from the pin. 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.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- 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 Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI elsewhere
Other camps near Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Seaton Creek Recreation Area~1.2 mi · fee
- Red Bridge Access~5.8 mi
- Government Landing Site 21~7.0 mi
- Government Landing Sites~7.2 mi
The unit that manages Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI are set by Huron-Manistee National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
Source
OpenStreetMap contributors
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
auto: drive (road/trail right there)
Site details
The OpenStreetMap contributors listing's own fields for this site (site type, whether tents or trailers fit, capacity, toilet, water, campfires, reservations). Printed as the record states them, unchecked by us, and never used to make a cost claim -- the cost verdict above is decided separately and audited before every deploy.
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
Contributed, not agency-listed. A mapper marked this as a campsite. We have not matched it to a land-manager record, so it stays at Likely.
What we don’t know about Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
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 — Dispersed camp — Manistee County, MI
Finding water out here →Reading a forest MVUM →Cold-weather camping →Power off-grid →All field notes →