★ Field-verified · Dave's ownUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
In Sierra National Forest
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · Madera County, CA · 37.14596, -119.45088
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 Sierra National Forest a designated camping area next to a dam. There is a vault toilet here, some conifer trees, concrete slabs. On one hand it felt very remote, but very industrial at the same time. Encountered no one during my stay in December. Enough room for multiple vehicles. Scattered primitive fire rings. No cell service. I liked this unique setting. Recommended.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 6 December 2018. 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 Sierra National Forest · Sierra National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 09S050 (Trenna), 200 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 09S050 (Trenna), 200 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 09S050 (Trenna): “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 Sierra National Forest
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,419 ft.
Fire & smoke — around In Sierra 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 Sierra National Forest · Sierra National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery5 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- DDump8 mi
- HHardware8 mi
- WWater8 mi
- MMechanic8 mi
- RxPharmacy8 mi
- +Urgent care16 mi
- EVEV fast charger17 mi
- LLaundry17 mi
- PPropane28 mi
- ShShower29 mi
- AAir-up51 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 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 Sierra National Forest
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
1,419 ft
Ground slope
9.2% · noticeable
County
Madera County, CA
Coordinates
37.14596, -119.45088
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around In Sierra National Forest · Sierra National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureRedinger Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townAuberry · ~4.0 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~7.9 mi
- FuelFuel · ~6.3 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~28.0 mi
- Dump station~7.8 mi
- GroceriesPonderosa Market · ~5.1 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~8.3 mi
- Hospital / clinicFirst Aid Lodge · ~16.3 mi
- HardwareYoung's Shaver Lake Hardware · ~7.8 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
Yes
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from In Sierra National Forest · Sierra National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger16.8 mi straight-line NW — Oakhurst, CA - Tesla Supercharger (at a hotel) · 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 reach6 within 25 mi · 73 within 50 · 187 within 100 · 840 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS17.1 mi — Central Valley Bank (Oakhurst, CA), Oakhurst
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO17.2 mi — DC CORRIDOR OAKHURST DC1, Oakhurst
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)8.2 mi — Prather · NOODOE · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed
- 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 206268 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around In Sierra National Forest · Sierra National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletRedinger · ~0.4 mi E · USFS
- Portable toiletSj River Gorge -Porta Toilet -Pole Barn · ~6.9 mi SW · BLM
- Portable toiletSj River Gorge -Porta Toilet -Horse Corral · ~6.9 mi SW · BLM
- RestroomSj River Gorge -Picnic Area -Toilet 20 · ~7.0 mi SW · BLM
Coming out here — In Sierra National Forest · Sierra National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Redinger Lake 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 9.2% — 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.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- 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 Sierra National Forest elsewhere
Other camps near In Sierra National Forest
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Gertrude Creek West~6.2 mi
- San Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area~7.0 mi · fee
- Dorabelle~7.5 mi · fee
- Gertrude Creek East~8.2 mi
The unit that manages In Sierra National Forest
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at In Sierra National Forest are set by Sierra National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — In Sierra 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 (Madera County, CA). 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 6 December 2018. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about In Sierra 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 Sierra National Forest
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Hot-weather camping →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →