Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Duran Canyon
OHV / 4×4 · U.S. Forest Service · NM · 36.13490, -105.47680
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 site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. 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 — Duran Canyon · Carson National Forest · NM
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 76 (La Junta), 290 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 76 (La Junta), 290 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 1 – Dec 31. That season ends after Dec 31.
MVUM record for FR 76 (La Junta): “05/01-12/31” 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 Duran Canyon
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,806 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Duran CanyonNIFC · 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 Duran Canyon · Carson National Forest · NM
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail6 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- FFuel12 mi
- GGrocery12 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- LLaundry13 mi
- EVEV fast charger14 mi
- RxPharmacy14 mi
- MMechanic19 mi
- WWater20 mi
- OOutfitter20 mi
- ShShower28 mi
- AAir-up42 mi
- DDump51 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 12 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 — Duran Canyon
Access
OHV / 4×4
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
8,806 ft
Ground slope
34.6% · steep
State
NM
Coordinates
36.13490, -105.47680
Cost
Free · dispersed public land, no fee in any source
Nearby & resupply — around Duran Canyon · Carson National Forest · NM (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureRito la Presa · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townPolicarpo Canyon · ~1.2 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~12.6 mi
- Propane / LPGZia Propane · ~11.7 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~12.6 mi
- PharmacyPharmacy · ~13.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicMora Valley Clinic · ~10.7 mi
- HardwareRio Grande Ace Hardware · ~17.6 mi
EV charging — from Duran Canyon · Carson National Forest · NM — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger13.6 mi straight-line SE — MSMEC MORA EV#1 · 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 reach12 within 25 mi · 52 within 50 · 103 within 100 · 135 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)19.0 mi — TAOS COUNTY EV DC STATION 2, Taos
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)17.8 mi — PPC SOLAR EV 1, Taos, NM · 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 — Adobe & Pines Inn - Bed & Breakfast - Tesla Destination, Ranchos de Taos, 17.0 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 357781 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Duran Canyon · Carson National Forest · NM — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletDuran · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLa Junta Canyon · ~0.9 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletUpper La Junta · ~1.6 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAgua Piedra Cg · ~2.9 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Duran Canyon · Carson National Forest · NM
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Rito la Presa as a perennial stream, 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 34.6% — 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.
- 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 Duran Canyon elsewhere
Other camps near Duran Canyon
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- La Junta Canyon~0.9 mi
- Upper La Junta Campground~1.6 mi
- Agua Piedra Group Area~2.9 mi · fee
- Agua Piedra Cg~2.9 mi · fee
The unit that manages Duran Canyon
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Duran Canyon are set by Carson National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Tres Ritos at 8,740 ft, about 3 miles 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 — Duran Canyon
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
likely OHV (only a rough 4wd track in) — confirm
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 Duran Canyon
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 — Duran Canyon
When the high country opens →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →