Agency-listedUSFSFreeSeason: check first
Elko Cg
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 47.92445, -112.76335
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.
Can I go now? — Elko Cg · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT
Season: check first Season stated, but not plainly enough to read as a date.
U.S. Forest Service record: “Availability depends on road access.” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-17; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Elko Cg
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 5,352 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Elko CgNIFC · 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 Elko Cg · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- @Mail21 mi
- +Urgent care25 mi
- GGrocery28 mi
- FFuel28 mi
- LLaundry28 mi
- RxPharmacy28 mi
- OOutfitter28 mi
- HHardware28 mi
- MMechanic28 mi
- WWater31 mi
- PPropane42 mi
- EVEV fast charger72 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 31-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 28 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 72-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Dump. 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 — Elko Cg
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
5,352 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
47.92445, -112.76335
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Elko Cg · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureTeton River (river) · nearby
- Nearest townBlackleaf · ~9.5 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- Fuelnone within 30 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesMountain Front Market · ~27.8 mi
- PharmacyPharmacy/Drugstore · ~28.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicHeart Butte Clinic · ~25.2 mi
- Mapping is thin out hereAn empty row means nothing is mapped within that radius — not that nothing exists. Small stores, seasonal resorts and single fuel pumps out here often never make it onto the map. Treat these as unconfirmed and ask locally.
EV charging — from Elko Cg · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger72.3 mi straight-line W — CLARK HYUNDAI SERVICECUSTOMER, Kalispell, MT · 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 reachnone within 25 mi · none within 50 · 21 within 100 · 29 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)73.0 mi — Great Falls, MT - Tesla Supercharger, Great Falls
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)27.7 mi — Old Trail Museum Parking Lot, Choteau, MT · CHARGELAB · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed
- 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 227212 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Elko Cg · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletElko Cg · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMiddle Fork Teton Th · ~2.8 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCave Mountain Cg · ~2.8 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWest Fork Cg · ~3.2 mi NW · USFS
Open Elko Cg elsewhere
Other camps near Elko Cg
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Road 144J-01~0.5 mi
- Road 144I-01~1.2 mi
- Teton Canyon Roads~1.2 mi
- Road 144I-06~1.3 mi
The unit that manages Elko Cg
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Elko Cg are set by Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Waldron at 5,640 ft, about a mile away. It sits about 288 ft higher than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. 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 — Elko Cg
Open season
Availability depends on road access.
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
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review || Water: Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest's own site page for Elko Campground, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/helena-lewisclark/recreation/elko-campground (read 2026-08-24; page "Last updated" November 14, 2025), "Facility and Amenity Information > Water": "Potable water is not available at this site.". Corroborated by the USFS EDW Recreation Sites layer (apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_RecInfraRecreationSites_02/MapServer/0, queried 2026-08-24), WATER_AVAILABILITY = "No drinking water is available". Page "Seasons of Use": "Availability depends on road access." -- that is the season of the SITE, not a statement about when the water is turned on. Channels agree; nightshift fire 1660.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
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 Elko Cg
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
- 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 — Elko Cg
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Camping with a dog →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →