Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Homestake Valley
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 39.47269, -106.36639
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 — Homestake Valley · White River National Forest · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 703.1 (Homestake), 10 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 703.1 (Homestake), 10 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 21 – Nov 22. That season ends after Nov 22.
MVUM record for FR 703.1 (Homestake): “05/21-11/22” 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 Homestake Valley
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,810 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Homestake ValleyNIFC · 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 Homestake Valley · White River National Forest · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail3 mi
- WWater8 mi
- FFuel8 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- EVEV fast charger8 mi
- OOutfitter9 mi
- MMechanic11 mi
- HHardware11 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- RxPharmacy14 mi
- +Urgent care16 mi
- DDump17 mi
- PPropane19 mi
- AAir-up19 mi
- ShShower42 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 8 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 — Homestake Valley
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
8,810 ft
Ground slope
2.8% · flat
Nearest highway
~8.7 mi · US Hwy 6
State
CO
Coordinates
39.47269, -106.36639
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Homestake Valley · White River National Forest · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureHomestake Creek · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townRed Cliff · ~2.7 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~8.7 mi · US Hwy 6
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.8 mi
- FuelShell · ~8.5 mi
- Propane / LPGLPG · ~30.3 mi
- Dump station~16.9 mi
- GroceriesShop N Hop · ~8.5 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~19.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicVail Health Vail Campus · ~11.8 mi
- HardwareVail Valley Ace Hardware · ~11.3 mi
EV charging — from Homestake Valley · White River National Forest · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger8.5 mi straight-line NW — MINTURN SHOP&HOP #12 · 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 reach24 within 25 mi · 62 within 50 · 368 within 100 · 470 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)11.9 mi — VAIL PARKING PL4, Vail
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)8.6 mi — TOWN OF MINTURN STATION 1 · 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 186323 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Homestake Valley · White River National Forest · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletHornsilver · ~1.1 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCamp Hale Climbing Area · ~3.5 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHalfmoon · ~4.0 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHalfmoon · ~4.0 mi NW · USFS
Coming out here — Homestake Valley · White River National Forest · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Homestake Creek as a perennial stream, ~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 2.8% — flat. 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 is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) — abandoned, lifted and out-of-service track excluded, so a rail-trail does not count as one.
- US Hwy 6 is mapped ~8.7 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 Homestake Valley elsewhere
Other camps near Homestake Valley
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Hornsilver~1.1 mi · fee
- Half Moon Campground~4.0 mi
- Camp Hale Memorial~4.6 mi · fee
- Camp Hale East Fork~5.6 mi · fee
The unit that manages Homestake Valley
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Homestake Valley are set by White River National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Vail Mountain at 10,290 ft, about 10 miles away. It sits about 1,480 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 — Homestake Valley
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 Homestake Valley
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 — Homestake Valley
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Finding water out here →Off-grid communication →All field notes →