★ Field-verified · Dave's ownUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: closed (MVUM)
Houston National Forest
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · Montgomery County, TX · 30.49352, -95.60009
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 →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on U.S. Forest Service land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
On the shore of Lake Conroe in Houston National Forest. Forested area along dirt road with spanish moss and lush flora. Beautiful setting. Enough room for one or two vehicles. Good cell service. While this is a primitive experience this is a popular spot for local campers and fishermen. Some trash, but not overwhelming. Recommended.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 17 April 2019, and again on 18 April 2019. No agency publishes a season for this site itself (the road season below is the road's), so those nights are the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Houston National Forest · National Forests in Texas · TX
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 248 (Hardy Smith Rd.), 380 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: closed (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 248 (Hardy Smith Rd.), 380 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Mar 15 – Sep 15; today is outside that window. Opens Mar 15.
MVUM record for FR 248 (Hardy Smith Rd.): “03/15-09/15” 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 Houston National Forest
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 204 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Houston National ForestNIFC · 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 Houston National Forest · National Forests in Texas · TX
▲ 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
- EVEV fast charger7 mi
- RxPharmacy8 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- HHardware8 mi
- MMechanic8 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- WWater20 mi
- AAir-up22 mi
- ShShower28 mi
- OOutfitter30 mi
- DDump33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 20-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — Houston National Forest
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
204 ft
Ground slope
8.8% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~7.0 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~6.3 mi · Interstate 45
County
Montgomery County, TX
Coordinates
30.49352, -95.60009
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Houston National Forest · National Forests in Texas · TX (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLake Conroe · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townNew Waverly · ~7.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~7.0 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~6.3 mi · Interstate 45
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelChevron · ~4.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~4.2 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~8.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicAction Behavior Centers - ABA Therapy for Autism · ~11.7 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~8.3 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
No
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Houston National Forest · National Forests in Texas · TX — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger6.9 mi straight-line SE — Willis, TX Rechargery Relay @ Circle K - Calvary Rd · IONNA · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach10 within 25 mi · 93 within 50 · 224 within 100 · 394 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO9.2 mi — 15476 Highway 105 West, Montgomery
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.8 mi — Bluskyev Test Facility, Conroe, TX · NOODOE · J1772 · 3 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa - Tesla Destination, Montgomery, 7.1 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 469411 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Houston National Forest · National Forests in Texas · TX — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Flush restroomCagle · ~2.1 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletScotts Ridge · ~3.4 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletScotts Ridge Swim Site · ~3.5 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toilet233 Trailhead · ~3.7 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Houston National Forest · National Forests in Texas · TX
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Lake Conroe as a perennial lake or pond, under 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 8.8% — 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 ~7.0 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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 45 is mapped ~6.3 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.
- 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 Houston National Forest elsewhere
Other camps near Houston National Forest
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Cagle~2.1 mi · fee
- Cagle Recreation Area~2.4 mi
- Kelly's Pond Campground~3.8 mi
- Stubblefield Lake~5.1 mi · fee
The unit that manages Houston National Forest
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Houston National Forest are set by National Forests in Texas, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Houston National Forest
Source
Dave's own travels
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Montgomery County, TX). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
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
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. He camped here on 17 April 2019, and again on 18 April 2019. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Houston National Forest
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
- 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 — Houston National Forest
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Reading the aerial →All field notes →