Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Emerald Lake
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 45.25382, -109.69894
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 — Emerald Lake · Custer Gallatin National Forest · MT
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 2072C (Emerald Lake Inlet), 0 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 2072C (Emerald Lake Inlet), 0 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 15 – Sep 30. That season ends after Sep 30.
MVUM record for FR 2072C (Emerald Lake Inlet): “05/15-09/30” 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 Emerald Lake
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,333 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Emerald LakeNIFC · 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 Emerald Lake · Custer Gallatin National Forest · MT
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail12 mi
- WWater18 mi
- FFuel20 mi
- GGrocery20 mi
- MMechanic22 mi
- HHardware22 mi
- +Urgent care22 mi
- OOutfitter22 mi
- EVEV fast charger42 mi
- LLaundry50 mi
- RxPharmacy50 mi
- ShShower51 mi
- DDump53 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 20 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 42-mi run (and back).
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 — Emerald Lake
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
6,333 ft
Ground slope
8% · noticeable
State
MT
Coordinates
45.25382, -109.69894
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Emerald Lake · Custer Gallatin National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureWest Rosebud Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townRoscoe · ~12.1 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~19.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesRocking J · ~19.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicAbsarokee Medical Clinic · ~22.4 mi
- HardwareRed Lodge True Value · ~22.4 mi
EV charging — from Emerald Lake · Custer Gallatin National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger41.9 mi straight-line N — Big Timber, MT - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 1 within 50 · 20 within 100 · 40 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS51.4 mi — Gardiner, MT, Gardiner
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO53.5 mi — GARDSINCLAIR DC FAST LEVEL 3, Gardiner
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)50.2 mi — LEWIS STREET STATION 1, Livingston, MT · 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 — City of Red Lodge - Tesla Destination, Red Lodge, 22.4 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
Level 2, restricted access — Super 8 by Wyndham - Cooke City, Cooke City, 19.7 mi · J1772 · hours: 24 hours daily; for guest use only; see front desk for access · 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 102260 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Emerald Lake · Custer Gallatin National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletEmerald Lake · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletEmerald Lake Fishing Access · ~0.4 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWest Rosebud Lake Fishing Access · ~1.0 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWest Rosebud · ~1.6 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Emerald Lake · Custer Gallatin National Forest · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps West Rosebud Creek 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 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 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 Emerald Lake elsewhere
Other camps near Emerald Lake
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- USFS dispersed camp — MT #578~0.5 mi
- USFS dispersed camp — MT #445~0.5 mi
- USFS dispersed camp — MT #313~0.7 mi
- USFS dispersed camp — MT #734~0.7 mi
The unit that manages Emerald Lake
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Emerald Lake are set by Custer Gallatin National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Burnt Mtn at 5,920 ft, about 12 miles away. It sits about 413 ft lower 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 — Emerald Lake
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 2026-08-22: $15 per night, single site, plus $5 for each additional vehicle; half price with an Interagency Senior or Access Pass. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/custergallatin/recreation/emerald-lake-campground. || Water 2026-08-24 (nightshift fire 120): USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse Recreation Sites layer (apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_RecInfraRecreationSites_02/MapServer/0), extract cached locally as data\_mt_water_edw.json, objectid 2355899, site "EMERALD LAKE" (recreation area "EMERALD LAKE"), WATER_AVAILABILITY = "Yes, drinking water is available from a hand pump". Matched to this camp on coordinates (0.0008 mi from the agency point). Agency record only -- not field-verified, and no natural water here is claimed to be potable.
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 Emerald Lake
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 — Emerald Lake
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →