Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFee
Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · TN · 36.62371, -88.03771
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 — Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · TN
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is road 212 (Ginger Ridge Road), 120 ft from the pin. The MVUM record carries neither a surface type nor a maintenance level for it.
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 Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 393 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Ginger Bay Backcountry CampingNIFC · 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 Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · TN
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater8 mi
- DDump10 mi
- @Mail11 mi
- FFuel12 mi
- GGrocery12 mi
- LLaundry12 mi
- HHardware14 mi
- MMechanic15 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- RxPharmacy15 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- ShShower15 mi
- OOutfitter16 mi
- AAir-up32 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
393 ft
Ground slope
15.9% · steep
State
TN
Coordinates
36.62371, -88.03771
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · TN (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureKentucky Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townDover · ~14.6 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~8.1 mi
- FuelFuel · ~12.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~9.5 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~12.5 mi
- PharmacyKroger Pharmacy · ~15.3 mi
- Hospital / clinicFast Pace Health Urgent Care - Murray, KY · ~15.3 mi
- HardwareMurray Lumber Company · ~14.5 mi
EV charging — from Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · TN — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.9 mi straight-line W — Parker Ford, Murray, KY (at a public site) · FORD_CHARGE · CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 32 within 50 · 153 within 100 · 271 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)27.5 mi — PARIS BPU STATION 2(R), Paris
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO27.5 mi — PARIS BPU STATION 1(L), Paris
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)12.9 mi — Paris Landing State Park - Marina, Buchanan, TN (at a public site) · RIVIAN_WAYPOINTS · 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 390403 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · TN — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomSouth Bison Range · ~3.7 mi NE · USFS
- Portable toiletBison Range-Picnic Area · ~3.8 mi NE · USFS
- Portable toiletCedar Pond-Picnic Area · ~4.1 mi NE · USFS
- Flush restroomThe Homeplace · ~4.3 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · TN
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Kentucky Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~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 15.9% — 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.
- 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.
- 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 Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping elsewhere
Other camps near Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Stewart County~0.6 mi
- Rushing Creek Camping Area~3.2 mi · fee
- Jones Creek Campground~4.0 mi
- Trigg County~6.6 mi · fee
The unit that manages Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping are set by Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping
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.
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 Ginger Bay Backcountry Camping
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