Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Howard Creek 17790B
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 46.79176, -114.56948
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 Howard Creek 17790B
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at the elevation shown above.
Fire & smoke — around Howard Creek 17790BNIFC · 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 Howard Creek 17790B · Lolo National Forest · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- WWater9 mi
- FFuel15 mi
- @Mail15 mi
- GGrocery15 mi
- DDump22 mi
- LLaundry22 mi
- ShShower23 mi
- MMechanic23 mi
- HHardware23 mi
- +Urgent care23 mi
- EVEV fast charger24 mi
- OOutfitter25 mi
- RxPharmacy26 mi
- AAir-up27 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 15 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 — Howard Creek 17790B
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
State
MT
Coordinates
46.79176, -114.56948
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Howard Creek 17790B · Lolo National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSouth Fork Fish Creek (stream) · nearby
- Nearest townLolo Hot Springs · ~5.0 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~8.8 mi
- FuelConoco · ~23.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~21.9 mi
- GroceriesBroncs Grocery · ~22.3 mi
- PharmacyFlorence Pharmacy · ~25.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicCommunity Medical Center · ~24.9 mi
- HardwareMissoula Power Equipment · ~23.2 mi
EV charging — from Howard Creek 17790B · Lolo National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger23.5 mi straight-line NE — Missoula, MT - Highway 93 North - Tesla Supercharger (at a rest stop) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 12 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 10 within 50 · 20 within 100 · 83 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS25.0 mi — L267 EXPP PL PUBLIC1, Missoula
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO25.8 mi — Walmart 3259 (Missoula, MT), Missoula
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)20.6 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
- 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 327426 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Howard Creek 17790B · Lolo National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletLee Creek Campground · ~6.1 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHoward Creek Trailhead · ~6.3 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWest Fork Butte Lookout · ~8.3 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLolo Creek Campground And Picnic Area · ~8.8 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Howard Creek 17790B · Lolo National Forest · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: South Fork Fish 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.
- 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 Howard Creek 17790B elsewhere
Other camps near Howard Creek 17790B
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Sullivan Creek~1.2 mi
- Howard Creek Spur~1.5 mi
- Howard Creek 238-6~1.7 mi
- Howard Creek 238-4~2.1 mi
The unit that manages Howard Creek 17790B
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Howard Creek 17790B are set by Lolo National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Lolo Pass at 5,280 ft, about 11 miles away. 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 — Howard Creek 17790B
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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Howard Creek 17790B
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 — Howard Creek 17790B
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Forest road numbers →How to read this page →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 →