Elk State Forest roadside campsite 052 Gaswell (Ridge Road)

public land records

Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.

PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry designated campsite, Elk State Forest (district 13), DCNR type "Motorized". Coordinate is DCNR's own, from its public Designated Campsites layer read 2026-08-15: https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/agsprod/rest/services/BOF/Camping/MapServer/0 (the layer behind https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/bof/camping/). DCNR records the positional source for this point as "GPS". FEE. DCNR (read 2026-08-15 at https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/what-to-do/stay-overnight/overnight-prices-and-policies): "Motorized roadside, hike-in roadside, equestrian, and rustic campsites can be reserved for a fee of $10.00 a night for Pennsylvania residents and $15.00 a night for non-residents. Additional taxes and fees may apply. These prices are effective as of November 3, 2022." Reserve through the PA State Parks and Forests reservation system (888-727-2757); this site carries a reservation system ID in DCNR's layer. Stay limit: DCNR (https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/what-to-do/stay-overnight/motorized-roadside-camping) - "A camping permit will be valid for no more than seven consecutive nights." and "Individuals must vacate a site for at least 48 hours before reapplying." "Roadside camping is required to be done at designated campsites that are identified by a name or number." Fire: DCNR (https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/what-to-do/stay-overnight/backpacking-and-primitive-camping) - "No campfires are permitted when the state forest district forester determines the forest fire danger to be high, very high, or extreme." From March 1 through May 25 you must have the district's permission to have a campfire at all. Check with the district before you go. DCNR Permit field: No. DCNR description: "Elk State Forest. Visit the PA State Parks and Forests Reservation System to reserve and view additional details." Not field-checked by us. Seasonal road closures and district-level restrictions are not in this layer - check with the district office. Nearest USGS GNIS populated place: Huntley, about 3.2 mi straight-line. --- NIGHT-SHIFT REVIEW 2026-08-18 (reviewer nightshift-verified): APPROVED. Re-read DCNR's Designated Campsites layer today at https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/agsprod/rest/services/BOF/Camping/MapServer/0 : OBJECTID 6990 is still present, Name "052 Gaswell", Type "Motorized", Water "None", Permit "No", ShowOnPublicMap "Yes", positional Source "GPS", DCNR LastEditedDate 2024.05.24 09:26 - every one of those unchanged from the 2026-08-15 read, and the live geometry is 0.9 m from the coordinate this row holds. All 801 OBJECTIDs we ingested from this layer are still in it today; none were dropped. Independent check 1 - the coordinate falls inside DCNR's own State Forest boundary polygon (https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/agsprod/rest/services/BOF/StateForests/MapServer/0, read 2026-08-18): DistrictNumber 13 (Elk), LandManager BOF. That is state forest land in the same district the campsite record claims. Independent check 2 - nearest drivable OpenStreetMap way is 93 m away (highway=unclassified "T324"), measured point-to-segment against way geometry pulled from Overpass on 2026-08-18. Consistent with a DCNR "Motorized" site. The fee, seven-night stay limit and campfire quotes above were re-read verbatim on pa.gov today (overnight-prices-and-policies, motorized-roadside-camping, backpacking-and-primitive-camping) and all three still match word for word. Duplicate check done on coordinates, not name: no approved or published camp anywhere in the DB within 250 m. Still not field-checked by us; nobody from this project has stood on this site.

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.

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.