Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · OR · 45.49431, -121.51121
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Gibson Prairie Horse Camp · Mt. Hood National Forest · OR
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 1700660, 80 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 1700660, 80 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Apr 2 – Nov 30. That season ends after Nov 30.
MVUM record for FR 1700660: “04/02-11/30” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; 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 Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,984 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Gibson Prairie Horse CampNIFC · 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 Gibson Prairie Horse Camp · Mt. Hood National Forest · OR
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- HHardware4 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- WWater9 mi
- MMechanic13 mi
- OOutfitter14 mi
- LLaundry14 mi
- RxPharmacy14 mi
- AAir-up14 mi
- EVEV fast charger14 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- DDump15 mi
- ShShower15 mi
- PPropane37 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
3,984 ft
Ground slope
6.9% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~4.5 mi · other track
State
OR
Coordinates
45.49431, -121.51121
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Gibson Prairie Horse Camp · Mt. Hood National Forest · OR (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureWest Fork Neal Creek · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townMount Hood · ~3.8 mi
- Nearest rail line~4.5 mi · other track
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~9.4 mi
- FuelSmall Gas Station · ~4.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~15.2 mi
- GroceriesMcIsaac's Store · ~4.5 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~14.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicNew Directions Wellness Care · ~14.7 mi
- HardwareMcIsaac's Hardware Store · ~4.5 mi
EV charging — from Gibson Prairie Horse Camp · Mt. Hood National Forest · OR — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.3 mi straight-line NE — MOSIER FSC MOSIER FSC 1 · 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 reach16 within 25 mi · 34 within 50 · 262 within 100 · 522 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)14.9 mi — Hood River, OR - Tesla Supercharger, Hood River
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)8.3 mi — Stave & Stone Winery, Hood River, OR (at a brewery / winery) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-06-06 · hours: Seasonal business hours vary; closed in January
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Old Parkdale Inn Bed and Breakfast - Tesla Destination, Mt. Hood, 4.4 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · 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 395352 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Gibson Prairie Horse Camp · Mt. Hood National Forest · OR — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletGibson Prairie Horse Camp · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletKnebal Springs Cg · ~4.3 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPolallie · ~6.0 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletFivemile Butte Lookout · ~6.2 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — Gibson Prairie Horse Camp · Mt. Hood National Forest · OR
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps West Fork Neal Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.2 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 6.9% — gentle. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (10 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 ~4.5 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as other track. 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.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Gibson Prairie Horse Camp elsewhere
Other camps near Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Knebal Springs Cg~4.3 mi · fee
- Lower Eightmile Crossing~6.5 mi · fee
- Eightmile~6.6 mi · fee
- Pebble Ford~6.9 mi · fee
The unit that manages Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Gibson Prairie Horse Camp are set by Mt. Hood National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
Longest rig
56 ft (Vehicles 56 ft. max.)
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 2026-08-21: this campground is FREE, and our fee flag was wrong. Mt. Hood NF own page (last updated July 21, 2026) states that four campsites are available at this free, primitive campground designed for equestrians; the page carries no fee section and no dollar figure anywhere on it. The Forest Service recreation-site record still flags an expanded amenity fee with no amount, but the forest live page is the better source and it says free. The fee flag on this row has been changed from 1 to 0 on that basis. There is no recreation.gov campground within a mile of our pin. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mthood/recreation/gibson-prairie-horse-camp.
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 Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
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 — Gibson Prairie Horse Camp
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Fire rules & restrictions →Off-grid communication →All field notes →