Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Fourche Lake Recreation Area
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MO · 36.63896, -91.05683
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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Fourche Lake Recreation Area
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 579 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Fourche Lake Recreation AreaNIFC · 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 Fourche Lake Recreation Area · Mark Twain National Forest · MO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail6 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- GGrocery12 mi
- FFuel13 mi
- HHardware15 mi
- RxPharmacy27 mi
- +Urgent care30 mi
- MMechanic31 mi
- OOutfitter41 mi
- DDump41 mi
- WWater44 mi
- AAir-up45 mi
- LLaundry45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 44-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 12 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 — Fourche Lake Recreation Area
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
579 ft
State
MO
Coordinates
36.63896, -91.05683
Cost
Free · no fee, per the land manager's own page (https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/marktwain/recreation/fourche-lake-recreation-area, read 2026-09-26)
Nearby & resupply — around Fourche Lake Recreation Area · Mark Twain National Forest · MO (OpenStreetMap)
- Nearest townGatewood · ~4.7 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelCasey's General Store · ~13.1 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesTown & Country Supermarket · ~12.4 mi
- PharmacyFutrell's Pharmacy · ~26.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicSoutheast Health Center Of Ripley County · ~12.8 mi
- HardwareSimpsons · ~19.6 mi
Nearby restrooms — around Fourche Lake Recreation Area · Mark Twain National Forest · MO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletFourche Lake · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRipley Lake · ~5.8 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRiverton - East · ~7.9 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBozemill Float Camp · ~8.0 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Fourche Lake Recreation Area · Mark Twain National Forest · MO
- No surface water within about a mile and a half in our records — which is not proof there is none, only that we found none. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- 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 Fourche Lake Recreation Area elsewhere
Other camps near Fourche Lake Recreation Area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Buffalo Creek~3.5 mi
- Thaxton Camp~7.1 mi
- Bozemill Float Camp~8.0 mi
- Greenbriar Float Camp~8.5 mi
The unit that manages Fourche Lake Recreation Area
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Fourche Lake Recreation Area are set by Mark Twain National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Fourche Lake Recreation Area
Source
public land records
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 Recreation Area Activities, activity 'Dispersed Camping', pulled 2026-09-19: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mtnf/recarea/?recid=21712 | state resolved by forest(one state); other sources disagreed || REVIEW 2026-09-26 (nightshift-verified, fire 2510): The recid URL above now 301s to the forest's recreation landing page. Live page https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/marktwain/recreation/fourche-lake-recreation-area (read 2026-09-26): 44-acre Fourche Lake: 'There are four campsites with fire rings, tables and lantern posts.' Two vehicles per site, 8 people (16 double), electric motors only on the lake, vault toilet, no potable water. 'No fees are required for this site'. Page lat/lon 36.638955,-91.056833 = this pin. APPROVED: the page states four campsites. EDW FOURCHE LAKE FISHING SITE agrees to 1 m. Nothing published within 4 km. The ingest's 'state resolved by forest' note is fine: TIGERweb puts the pin in MO. No Mark Twain alert touches it | No fee 2026-09-26: "No fees are required for this site" Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/marktwain/recreation/fourche-lake-recreation-area -- statement verified on that page (camp_type before this review: None)
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 Fourche Lake Recreation 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.
- 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 — Fourche Lake Recreation Area
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →How to read this page →All field notes →