Mapped · not agency-listedPublic land · dispersedFree
Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA
Hike-in · public land · Monterey County, CA · 35.83763, -121.38072
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 — Monterey County, CA · Los Padres National Forest · CA
- 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 — Monterey County, CA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,181 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CANIFC · 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 — Monterey County, CA · Los Padres National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- WWater7 mi
- +Urgent care14 mi
- @Mail17 mi
- ShShower22 mi
- LLaundry25 mi
- RxPharmacy25 mi
- HHardware25 mi
- MMechanic25 mi
- EVEV fast charger28 mi
- DDump38 mi
- AAir-up39 mi
- OOutfitter41 mi
- PPropane55 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA
Access
Hike-in
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
2,181 ft
Ground slope
17.8% · steep
County
Monterey County, CA
Coordinates
35.83763, -121.38072
Cost
Free · dispersed public land, no fee in any source
Getting in
Park at nearest parking · ~0.64 mi in a straight line (trail will be longer)
Nearby & resupply — around Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA · Los Padres National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSoda Spring Creek · ~0.7 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Also mapped (OSM)Redwood Gulch (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townGorda · ~4.5 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.3 mi
- FuelFuel · ~4.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesGorda General Store · ~4.5 mi
- PharmacyCambria Drug & Gifts · ~25.3 mi
- Hospital / clinicAgile Occupational Medicine · ~28.8 mi
- HardwareCambria Hardware · ~25.4 mi
EV charging — from Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA · Los Padres National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger28.5 mi straight-line E — San Ardo, CA - Tesla Supercharger (at a brewery / winery) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 12 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 28 within 50 · 170 within 100 · 842 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS28.9 mi — DC CORRIDOR KC SHOPS DC1, King City
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO28.9 mi — DC CORRIDOR KC SHOPS DC1, King City
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)24.7 mi — CAMBRIA VETS HALL · 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 — Hearst Castle - Tesla Destination, San Simeon, 16.9 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
Level 2, restricted access — San Simeon Lodge, San Simeon, 20.3 mi · J1772 · hours: 24 hours daily; for guest use only; see front desk for access · 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 301731 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA · Los Padres National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletWilliams Hill -Bldg Vault Toilet · ~22.9 mi NE · BLM
Coming out here — Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA · Los Padres National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Soda Spring Creek as an intermittent stream, ~0.7 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 17.8% — 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.
- 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.
- 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 — Monterey County, CA elsewhere
Other camps near Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- North Buckeye Camp~0.3 mi
- Alder Creek~2.6 mi
- Plaskett Creek Group~7.3 mi · fee
- Plaskett Creek~7.4 mi · fee
The unit that manages Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA are set by Los Padres National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Dispersed camp — Monterey County, CA
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: hike (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 — Monterey County, CA
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 — Monterey County, CA
Finding water out here →Reading a forest MVUM →Dumping grey & black →Camping with a dog →All field notes →