Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Grouse Ridge
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 39.38754, -120.60995
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 — Grouse Ridge · Tahoe National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 0014-007 (Grouse Ridge Cg), 10 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 0014-007 (Grouse Ridge Cg), 10 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Apr 1 – Dec 31. That season ends after Dec 31.
MVUM record for FR 0014-007 (Grouse Ridge Cg): “04/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; 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 Grouse Ridge
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,484 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Grouse RidgeNIFC · 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 Grouse Ridge · 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
- WWater5 mi
- DDump5 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- ShShower12 mi
- @Mail12 mi
- HHardware17 mi
- OOutfitter18 mi
- +Urgent care21 mi
- PPropane22 mi
- RxPharmacy22 mi
- MMechanic23 mi
- LLaundry26 mi
- AAir-up27 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 6 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 — Grouse Ridge
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
7,484 ft
Ground slope
14.8% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~4.2 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~4.1 mi · Interstate 80
State
CA
Coordinates
39.38754, -120.60995
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Grouse Ridge · Tahoe National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSanford Lake · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townGraniteville · ~7.8 mi
- Nearest rail line~4.2 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~4.1 mi · Interstate 80
- Drinking waterWater · ~4.7 mi
- FuelValero · ~6.4 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~21.8 mi
- Dump station~4.8 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~7.5 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~21.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicCamp Nurse · ~20.8 mi
- HardwareSierra Hardware · ~16.7 mi
EV charging — from Grouse Ridge · Tahoe National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger6.4 mi straight-line SE — 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 · 75 within 50 · 292 within 100 · 788 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)6.5 mi — Soda Springs, CA - Tesla Supercharger, Soda Springs
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)6.4 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 Grouse Ridge · Tahoe National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletGrouse Ridge · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCarr Lake · ~2.0 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLindsey Lake · ~2.5 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRucker Lake · ~3.0 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Grouse Ridge · Tahoe National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Sanford Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~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 14.8% — 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.
- Rail line mapped ~4.2 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 ~4.1 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.
- 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 Grouse Ridge elsewhere
Other camps near Grouse Ridge
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Sanford Lake~0.3 mi
- Carr Lake~2.0 mi · fee
- Mooney Creek~2.2 mi
- Lindsey Lake~2.5 mi · fee
The unit that manages Grouse Ridge
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Grouse Ridge are set by Tahoe National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Grouse Ridge
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
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review
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 Grouse Ridge
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 — Grouse Ridge
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Fire rules & restrictions →Camping with a dog →All field notes →