Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
El Prado Group Camp
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 32.88970, -116.45391
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 Prado Group Camp · Cleveland National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 15S11A-1 (El Prado Group Camp), 220 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort. The record carries no surface type for it.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 15S11A-1 (El Prado Group Camp), 220 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 15S11A-1 (El Prado Group Camp): “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 Prado Group Camp
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 5,507 ft.
Fire & smoke — around El Prado Group CampNIFC · 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 Prado Group Camp · 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
- WWater0 mi
- ShShower0 mi
- @Mail2 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- DDump7 mi
- LLaundry12 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- +Urgent care16 mi
- HHardware19 mi
- RxPharmacy19 mi
- MMechanic25 mi
- OOutfitter25 mi
- AAir-up27 mi
- PPropane27 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 6 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 Prado Group Camp
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
5,507 ft
Ground slope
14.8% · noticeable
Nearest highway
~6.3 mi · Interstate 8
State
CA
Coordinates
32.88970, -116.45391
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around El Prado Group Camp · Cleveland National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLittle Laguna Lake · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townMount Laguna · ~2.1 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~6.3 mi · Interstate 8
- Drinking waterWater · ~0.3 mi
- FuelPine Valley Store · ~6.4 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~27.2 mi
- Dump station~7.4 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~6.3 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~19.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicJulian Family Medicine · ~15.6 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~19.1 mi
EV charging — from El Prado Group Camp · Cleveland National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger15.4 mi straight-line NW — CSG EV JULIAN LIB #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 reach9 within 25 mi · 191 within 50 · 522 within 100 · 1137 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)17.6 mi — Alpine, CA - Tesla Supercharger, Alpine
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.1 mi — OAKS1 STATION 1, Guatay, CA · 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 aboveDC fast, restricted access — Viejas Casino and Resort, Alpine, 15.2 mi · J1772, CCS · 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 387572 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around El Prado Group Camp · Cleveland National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletEl Prado Group Camp · at this camp · USFS
- Flush restroomLaguna Campground · ~0.3 mi E · USFS
- RestroomShrine Organization · ~0.5 mi NE · USFS
- RestroomStorm Canyon Vista Trailhead · ~0.6 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — El Prado Group Camp · Cleveland National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Little Laguna Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.2 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 14.8% — 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 8 is mapped ~6.3 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 Prado Group Camp elsewhere
Other camps near El Prado Group Camp
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Laguna Campground~0.4 mi · fee
- Horse Heaven Group Camp~0.8 mi · fee
- Burnt Rancheria Campground~2.8 mi · fee
- Wooded Hill Group Camp~2.9 mi · fee
The unit that manages El Prado Group Camp
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at El Prado Group Camp are set by Cleveland National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — El Prado Group Camp
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 2026-08-25: group site $60 per night (30-36 people) or $90 per night (up to 50 people), plus a reservation charge. Group sites only: recreation.gov listing 231950 offers no individual site type. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/cleveland/recreation/el-prado-group-campground.
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 Prado Group Camp
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 Prado Group Camp
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Fire rules & restrictions →Power off-grid →All field notes →