Agency-listedUSFSUnpriced · confirm

Howard's Gulch Campground

Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 41.48574, -120.96976
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U.S. Forest Service lists this as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Howard's Gulch Campground
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Howard's Gulch Campground
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Weather outlook — at Howard's Gulch Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,738 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Howard's Gulch CampgroundNIFC · 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's Gulch Campground · Modoc National Forest · CA

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 32 miWDump · 32 miDChevron · Propane · 22 miPTimber Mountain Store Gas Station · Fuel · 20 miFGrocery Outlet · Grocery · 20 miGMayers Pharmacy · Pharmacy · 40 miRxSeabs True Value · Hardware · 22 miHCompletely Custom · Mechanic · 22 miMBurney Laundry Co. · Laundry · 55 miLShower · 48 miShAir-up · 59 miABig Valley Health Center · Urgent care · 26 mi+Adin Post Office · Mail · 20 mi@Alturas, CA - Tesla Supercharger · EV fast charger · 21 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel20 mi
  • GGrocery20 mi
  • @Mail20 mi
  • EVEV fast charger21 mi
  • PPropane22 mi
  • HHardware22 mi
  • MMechanic22 mi
  • +Urgent care26 mi
  • WWater32 mi
  • DDump32 mi
  • RxPharmacy40 mi
  • ShShower48 mi
  • LLaundry55 mi
  • AAir-up59 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 32-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 20 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 — Howard's Gulch Campground

Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
4,738 ft
State
CA
Coordinates
41.48574, -120.96976
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go

Nearby & resupply — around Howard's Gulch Campground · Modoc National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureWashington Creek (stream) · nearby
  • Nearest townAmbrose · ~1.3 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelTimber Mountain Store Gas Station · ~20.0 mi
  • Propane / LPGAmeriGas · ~22.1 mi
  • GroceriesGrocery Outlet · ~20.0 mi
  • Hospital / clinicModoc Medical Center · ~21.5 mi

EV charging — from Howard's Gulch Campground · Modoc National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Howard's Gulch Campground · Modoc National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Howard's Gulch Campground elsewhere

Other camps near Howard's Gulch Campground

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

The unit that manages Howard's Gulch Campground

Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Howard's Gulch Campground are set by Modoc National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.

How we know this — Howard's Gulch Campground

Source
OpenStreetMap contributors
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.
Agency page
fs.usda.gov — the land manager's own page for this site. Fees, seasons and closures are stated there first; if it disagrees with this page, it wins.
How it was placed
auto: drive (road/trail right there)
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's Gulch Campground

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.

Before you go — Howard's Gulch Campground

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 →