Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area
FIRE BAN: WGFD flags this area as 'Fire Ban is in Effect for this Area' -- check before you plan on any open flame. SEASONAL CLOSURE -- READ THIS FIRST: Closed to all Human Presence Jan. 1 - April 30 Wyoming closes many of these areas in winter and spring to protect wintering big game, and a closure is not advisory. Confirm the current dates with Game and Fish before you drive out. This is a designated campground on the Forbes/Sheep Mountain Wildlife Habitat Management Area in Albany County, land acquired or administered by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. The area runs about 1,579 acres. Camping here is genuinely free and first come, first served -- and unlike neighbouring states, Wyoming does NOT make you buy a license or a habitat/entrance pass simply to be on the land or to camp. (If you intend to hunt or fish while you are there, that is a different matter: you need the appropriate Wyoming license and a conservation stamp for that activity.) The rules that bind: you may only camp in the designated spots, no more than 14 consecutive days, and you cannot leave a camp unattended more than 48 hours. After you hit the limit you have to be off that same Game and Fish land for at least 72 hours before returning. Some areas post a limit shorter than 14 days on the sign at the entrance -- if the sign says less, the sign wins. Area-specific regulations from Game and Fish: Motor Vehicle Travel Restricted to Roads Marked By white arrow on the Wildlife Habitat Management Area. No Recreational shooting. Access road and parking are not plowed during winter. 14-day camping limit. ORV use is prohibited. Amenities listed by Game and Fish for the area: Handicap Accessible Comfort Stations These are working wildlife areas first and campgrounds second -- they exist for habitat, so expect gravel, expect stock, and leave it cleaner than you found it. We have not visited; confirm current conditions and closures with the Wyoming Game and Fish Laramie regional office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area · Wyoming Game & Fish · WY
- @Mail10 mi
- FFuel20 mi
- GGrocery20 mi
- MMechanic25 mi
- DDump26 mi
- EVEV fast charger26 mi
- RxPharmacy26 mi
- +Urgent care26 mi
- HHardware27 mi
- LLaundry27 mi
- AAir-up27 mi
- WWater27 mi
- OOutfitter28 mi
- ShShower41 mi
The read: water is a real 27-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 20 mi out.
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 — Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area
Nearby & resupply — around Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area · Wyoming Game & Fish · WY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureStrain Creek · ~0.7 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townAlbany · ~3.4 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~19.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~25.7 mi
- GroceriesPilot · ~26.1 mi
- PharmacyFamily care clinic · ~27.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicAlbany County Public Health · ~26.3 mi
- HardwareHomeBase · ~26.6 mi
EV charging — from Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area · Wyoming Game & Fish · WY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger25.7 mi straight-line NE — Laramie, WY - Tesla Supercharger (at a hotel) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 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 · 3 within 50 · 113 within 100 · 362 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS28.5 mi — Laramie GM Auto Center, Laramie
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO62.0 mi — DC CORRIDOR ESTES PARK PL1, Estes Park
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)24.8 mi — FIRE STATION 3 COL FS3 GW, Laramie, WY · 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 102516 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area · Wyoming Game & Fish · WY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletLake Owen · ~2.4 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLake Owen · ~2.6 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletKeystone Cabin · ~9.5 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRob Roy · ~9.9 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area · Wyoming Game & Fish · WY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Strain Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.7 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 8.1% — 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 Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area elsewhere
Other camps near Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Lake Owen~2.4 mi · fee
- Jelm WHMA Campground~7.0 mi
- Bobbie Thomson~9.8 mi · fee
- Rob Roy~10.1 mi · fee
Who holds the land at Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Forbes/Sheep Mountain Wildlife Habitat Management Area, manager on record: Wyoming Game and Fish Department (state). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Cinnabar Park at 9,670 ft, about 10 miles away. It sits about 1,467 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 — Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area
What we don’t know about Forbes/Sheep Mountain WHMA — Forbes Camping Area
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 the fire rule stated above still stands today — what we have is a dated reading of the agency's listing, not a live restriction feed
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- 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