Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
El Cariso Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 33.65176, -117.41254
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 — El Cariso Campground · Cleveland National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 6S01A (El Cariso Pg), 10 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as asphalt surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 6S01A (El Cariso Pg), 10 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 6S01A (El Cariso Pg): “01/01-12/31” 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 El Cariso Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,564 ft.
Fire & smoke — around El Cariso 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 El Cariso Campground · Cleveland National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery0 mi
- WWater3 mi
- MMechanic3 mi
- +Urgent care3 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- RxPharmacy4 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- EVEV fast charger5 mi
- HHardware5 mi
- DDump8 mi
- ShShower10 mi
- AAir-up10 mi
- PPropane13 mi
- LLaundry13 mi
- OOutfitter14 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 0 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 — El Cariso Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
2,564 ft
Ground slope
9.2% · noticeable
Nearest highway
~4.9 mi · Interstate 15
State
CA
Coordinates
33.65176, -117.41254
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around El Cariso Campground · Cleveland National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureStream · mapped within 1.6 mi
- USGS NHDno named surface water within 1 mi
- Nearest townLake Elsinore · ~5.0 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~4.9 mi · Interstate 15
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~2.8 mi
- FuelArco · ~3.5 mi
- Propane / LPGPick Up Propane · ~16.5 mi
- Dump station~8.0 mi
- GroceriesLake Elsinore Market · ~2.1 mi
- PharmacySav-on Pharmacy · ~3.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicWe Level Up California · ~6.4 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~10.6 mi
EV charging — from El Cariso Campground · Cleveland National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger4.8 mi straight-line NE — Outlets at Lake Elsinore · eVgo Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach178 within 25 mi · 628 within 50 · 1177 within 100 · 1283 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)4.9 mi — Lake Elsinore, CA - Tesla Supercharger, Lake Elsinore
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.0 mi — Lake Elsinore - City Hall (at a municipal building) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-11 · 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 228568 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around El Cariso Campground · Cleveland National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletEl Cariso North Picnic Area · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletEl Cariso Campground · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomEl Cariso Information Site · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletFirefighter Memorial Picnic Area · ~0.2 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — El Cariso Campground · Cleveland National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: Stream. That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink. USGS maps no named surface water within 1 mi of the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022).
- Ground slope around the pin: about 9.2% — noticeable. 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 is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) — abandoned, lifted and out-of-service track excluded, so a rail-trail does not count as one.
- Interstate 15 is mapped ~4.9 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 El Cariso Campground elsewhere
Other camps near El Cariso Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Falcon Group Camp~2.2 mi · fee
- Falcon Group Campsite~2.3 mi
- Blue Jay Campground~2.4 mi · fee
- Upper San Juan Campground~3.1 mi · fee
The unit that manages El Cariso Campground
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at El Cariso Campground are set by Cleveland National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — El Cariso Campground
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) | Fee 2026-09-24: $15 per night, single site. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/cleveland/recreation/el-cariso-campground (figure verified on that page).
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 El Cariso 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 — El Cariso Campground
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Camping with a dog →All field notes →