Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Five Lakes Basin
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 39.40833, -120.56169
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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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Five Lakes Basin · Tahoe National Forest · CA
No MVUM road within 1 mi of the pin; access may be a county road or unmapped.
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 Five Lakes Basin
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,056 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Five Lakes BasinNIFC · 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 Five Lakes Basin · Tahoe National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- DDump7 mi
- WWater7 mi
- FFuel7 mi
- EVEV fast charger7 mi
- GGrocery10 mi
- @Mail11 mi
- ShShower12 mi
- OOutfitter16 mi
- HHardware18 mi
- PPropane20 mi
- RxPharmacy20 mi
- MMechanic20 mi
- +Urgent care24 mi
- LLaundry28 mi
- AAir-up30 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 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 — Five Lakes Basin
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
7,056 ft
Ground slope
32.2% · steep
Nearest rail line
~5.6 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~5.4 mi · Interstate 80
State
CA
Coordinates
39.40833, -120.56169
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Five Lakes Basin · Tahoe National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureGranite Creek · ~0.6 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townBaltimore Town · ~1.8 mi
- Nearest rail line~5.6 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~5.4 mi · Interstate 80
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~6.9 mi
- FuelSierra City Gasoline · ~11.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~6.6 mi
- GroceriesHiggin's Market · ~11.6 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~19.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicUrgent Care · ~25.4 mi
- HardwareSierra Hardware · ~17.7 mi
EV charging — from Five Lakes Basin · Tahoe National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger6.9 mi straight-line S — DC CORRIDOR LUCKYS SS DC2, Soda Springs, CA · 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 reach11 within 25 mi · 72 within 50 · 288 within 100 · 748 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)6.9 mi — Soda Springs, CA - Tesla Supercharger, Soda Springs
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)6.9 mi — DC CORRIDOR LUCKYS SS L2, Soda Springs, CA · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · 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 181599 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Five Lakes Basin · Tahoe National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletCanyon Creek · ~2.2 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletGrouse Ridge · ~3.0 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMeadow Lake · ~3.2 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMeadow Lake Shoreline · ~3.6 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Five Lakes Basin · Tahoe National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Granite Creek as an intermittent stream, ~0.6 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 32.2% — steep. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~5.6 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak service on it. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Interstate 80 is mapped ~5.4 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.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- 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 Five Lakes Basin elsewhere
Other camps near Five Lakes Basin
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Beyers Lakes~1.6 mi
- Canyon Creek~2.2 mi
- Sanford Lake~2.7 mi
- Sawmill Lake~2.9 mi
The unit that manages Five Lakes Basin
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Five Lakes Basin are set by Tahoe National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Five Lakes Basin
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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Five Lakes Basin
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
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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 — Five Lakes Basin
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Picking a spot →All field notes →