Agency-listedUSFSFree
Heller Creek
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · ID · 47.06482, -115.21863
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 Heller Creek
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,713 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Heller CreekNIFC · 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 Heller Creek · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- FFuel17 mi
- GGrocery17 mi
- @Mail17 mi
- EVEV fast charger17 mi
- RxPharmacy18 mi
- DDump21 mi
- HHardware31 mi
- WWater43 mi
- OOutfitter43 mi
- LLaundry44 mi
- MMechanic44 mi
- ShShower51 mi
- +Urgent care54 mi
- PPropane55 mi
- AAir-up59 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 43-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 17 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 — Heller Creek
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
4,713 ft
State
ID
Coordinates
47.06482, -115.21863
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Heller Creek · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBlackburn Creek (stream) · nearby
- Nearest townOlsons · ~6.0 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- Fuelnone within 30 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~21.1 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~17.0 mi
- PharmacyMineral Pharmacy · ~17.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicshiplu factory · ~3.8 mi
- Mapping is thin out hereAn empty row means nothing is mapped within that radius — not that nothing exists. Small stores, seasonal resorts and single fuel pumps out here often never make it onto the map. Treat these as unconfirmed and ask locally.
EV charging — from Heller Creek · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger17.1 mi straight-line N — St. Regis, MT (at a public site) · RIVIAN_ADVENTURE · CCS · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 3 within 50 · 41 within 100 · 89 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)17.1 mi — St. Regis, MT - Tesla Supercharger, St. Regis
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO56.1 mi — Walmart 4249 (Smelterville, ID), Smelterville
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)45.0 mi — Lochsa Lodge, Powell, ID (at a hotel) · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-08-15 · hours: 8am-9pm daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Alpine Falls Ranch - Tesla Destination, Superior, 15.1 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 417419 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Heller Creek · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletHeller Creek · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRed Ives - Visitor Info · ~6.3 mi W · USFS
- Flush restroomRed Ives - Cabin Rental · ~6.3 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLine Creek Stock Camp · ~6.4 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Heller Creek · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID
- Surface water mapped nearby: Blackburn Creek (stream). That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- 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 — Dave gets service credit if you sign up through it. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Heller Creek elsewhere
Other camps near Heller Creek
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Missoula Lake Campground~4.9 mi
- Cedarcreek-008~5.8 mi
- St. Joe Lodge Basecamp~6.4 mi
- USFS dispersed camp — ID #195~6.4 mi
The unit that manages Heller Creek
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Heller Creek are set by Idaho Panhandle National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Hoodoo Basin at 6,060 ft, about 11 miles away. It sits about 1,347 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 — Heller Creek
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 || Water 2026-08-24 (nightshift fire 120): USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse Recreation Sites layer (apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_RecInfraRecreationSites_02/MapServer/0), extract cached locally as data\_mt_water_edw.json, objectid 2375432, site "HELLER CREEK" (recreation area "HELLER CREEK"), WATER_AVAILABILITY = "No water is available". Matched to this camp on coordinates (0.0007 mi from the agency point). Agency record only -- not field-verified, and no natural water here is claimed to be potable.
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 Heller Creek
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 — Heller Creek
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Picking a spot →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →