★ Field-verified · Dave's ownUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
In George Washington National Forest
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · Botetourt County, VA · 37.55094, -79.58028
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.
In George Washington National Forest, this primitive campsite is along a winding forest road that dead ends at gate. This is in a wooded valley next to a very small stream. There is a fire circle here, and enough space for 2 or 3 overland vehicles and/or ground tents. Lovely site. No cell service. Highly recommended.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 27 November 2017. No agency publishes a season for this site itself (the road season below is the road's), so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — In George Washington National Forest · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · VA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 782 (Colon Hollow), 40 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 782 (Colon Hollow), 40 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 782 (Colon Hollow): “01/01-12/31” 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 In George Washington National Forest
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,276 ft.
Fire & smoke — around In George Washington 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 In George Washington National Forest · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · VA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery5 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- LLaundry7 mi
- ShShower7 mi
- PPropane8 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- MMechanic9 mi
- WWater12 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- AAir-up16 mi
- RxPharmacy16 mi
- HHardware17 mi
- DDump25 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — In George Washington National Forest
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
1,276 ft
Ground slope
8% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~1.6 mi · passing siding
Nearest highway
~4.0 mi · US Hwy 11
County
Botetourt County, VA
Coordinates
37.55094, -79.58028
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around In George Washington National Forest · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · VA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureNorth Creek · ~0.7 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townBuchanan · ~6.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~1.6 mi · passing siding
- Nearest highway~4.0 mi · US Hwy 11
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~4.3 mi
- Propane / LPGHappy Food Mart · ~7.6 mi
- Dump station~24.7 mi
- GroceriesExxon · ~5.4 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~16.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicBedford Health Department · ~15.0 mi
- HardwareLowe's · ~16.7 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
No signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
Yes
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Highly recommended
EV charging — from In George Washington National Forest · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · VA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.9 mi straight-line S — Bedford, VA - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 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 reach9 within 25 mi · 35 within 50 · 105 within 100 · 397 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS15.6 mi — Brughs Mill Country Store (Fincastle, VA), Fincastle
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO24.9 mi — STHR HYUNDAI 2, Hollins
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)16.2 mi — Berglund Ford Buick GMC, Bedford, VA · Blink Network · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Peaks of Otter Lodge - Tesla Destination, Bedford, 7.2 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 405690 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around In George Washington National Forest · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · VA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletColon Hollow Shelter · ~0.6 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletNorth Creek · ~0.7 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBryant Ridge A.T. Shelter · ~1.4 mi S · USFS
- RestroomNBATC Bryant Ridge Shelter Privy · ~1.4 mi S · NPS
Coming out here — In George Washington National Forest · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · VA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps North Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.7 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% — 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 ~1.6 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a passing siding. 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.
- US Hwy 11 is mapped ~4.0 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 In George Washington National Forest elsewhere
Other camps near In George Washington National Forest
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Colon Hollow Shelter~0.6 mi
- Bryant Ridge A.T. Shelter~1.4 mi
- Cave Mountain Lake Campground~3.0 mi · fee
- Hopper Creek~4.0 mi · fee
The unit that manages In George Washington National Forest
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at In George Washington National Forest are set by George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — In George Washington 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 (Botetourt County, VA). 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 27 November 2017. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about In George Washington 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 — In George Washington National Forest
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Power off-grid →All field notes →