Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Independence Lakes Cg
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · ID · 42.21827, -113.67436
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Independence Lakes Cg · Sawtooth National Forest · ID
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 70728 (Independence Lake), 350 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 70728 (Independence Lake), 350 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 70728 (Independence Lake): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; 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 Independence Lakes Cg
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,744 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Independence Lakes CgNIFC · 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 Independence Lakes Cg · Sawtooth National Forest · ID
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel9 mi
- WWater9 mi
- DDump10 mi
- ShShower10 mi
- MMechanic12 mi
- GGrocery17 mi
- @Mail17 mi
- HHardware22 mi
- EVEV fast charger23 mi
- RxPharmacy23 mi
- +Urgent care28 mi
- OOutfitter40 mi
- LLaundry57 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 9 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 — Independence Lakes Cg
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
7,744 ft
Ground slope
8.1% · noticeable
State
ID
Coordinates
42.21827, -113.67436
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Independence Lakes Cg · Sawtooth National Forest · ID (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureDry Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townElba · ~6.1 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~9.0 mi
- FuelTracy General Store · ~8.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~9.8 mi
- GroceriesBake Central · ~16.7 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~22.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicCassia Regional Hospital · ~22.5 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~21.8 mi
EV charging — from Independence Lakes Cg · Sawtooth National Forest · ID — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger22.7 mi straight-line N — Burley, ID - Pomerelle Ave - Tesla Supercharger (at a grocery store) · 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 reach4 within 25 mi · 9 within 50 · 35 within 100 · 142 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS24.4 mi — Burley, ID, Burley
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO47.5 mi — VOLVO CAR USA TWIN FALLS DC1, Twin Falls
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)24.4 mi — Burley, ID - Rivergate Crossings (at a public site) · RIVIAN_WAYPOINTS · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours 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 328516 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Independence Lakes Cg · Sawtooth National Forest · ID — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletIndependence Lakes Cg · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletIndependence Trailhead · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomRestroom · ~6.4 mi S · NPS
- RestroomRestroom · ~6.5 mi S · NPS
Coming out here — Independence Lakes Cg · Sawtooth National Forest · ID
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Dry Creek as a perennial stream, 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 8.1% — 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.
- 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 Independence Lakes Cg elsewhere
Other camps near Independence Lakes Cg
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Twin Lakes Campground~7.4 mi
- Lake Cleveland Cg~7.5 mi · fee
- Thompson Flat Cg~8.0 mi · fee
- Bennett Springs Cg~8.5 mi
The unit that manages Independence Lakes Cg
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Independence Lakes Cg are set by Sawtooth National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Howell Canyon at 8,010 ft, about 8 miles away. It sits about 266 ft higher than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. 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 — Independence Lakes Cg
Stay limit
14 nights (Campers who remain longer than 14 consecutive days and/or camp more than 14 days within a 28 day period may receive violation notices and fines under the authority described under Special Order Number: 0414-01-028.)
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
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review || Water: Sawtooth National Forest's own site page for Independence Lakes Campground, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/sawtooth/recreation/independence-lakes-campground (read 2026-08-24; page "Last updated" May 21, 2025), "Facility and Amenity Information > Water": "Potable water is not available at this site.". Corroborated by the USFS EDW Recreation Sites layer (apps.fs.usda.gov/arcx/rest/services/EDW/EDW_RecInfraRecreationSites_02/MapServer/0, re-queried live 2026-08-24 for SITE_ID 7846 / MANAGING_ORG 041401), WATER_AVAILABILITY = "No drinking water is available". No natural water anywhere near this site is claimed to be potable. Agency record only -- not field-verified. Nightshift fire 1680 (Idaho batch 2).
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
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 Independence Lakes Cg
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
- Cell coverage by carrier
- 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 — Independence Lakes Cg
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Camping near a reservoir →Leave no trace →All field notes →