Mapped · not agency-listedPublic land · dispersedFree
Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
Drive-up · public land · CA · 35.31446, -118.03765
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 →A mapped lead, not an agency listing. Somebody marked this as a campsite; we could not match it to a land-manager record. Worth checking rather than counting on. 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 Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,399 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Jawbone Canyon Dispersed CampingNIFC · 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 Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping · public land · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel2 mi
- GGrocery2 mi
- WWater4 mi
- DDump5 mi
- LLaundry13 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- HHardware13 mi
- @Mail14 mi
- RxPharmacy14 mi
- MMechanic15 mi
- EVEV fast charger19 mi
- ShShower25 mi
- PPropane26 mi
- AAir-up28 mi
- OOutfitter47 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 2 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 — Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
2,399 ft
Ground slope
22.4% · steep
Nearest rail line
~2.3 mi · main line
State
CA
Coordinates
35.31446, -118.03765
Cost
Free · dispersed public land, no fee in any source
Nearby & resupply — around Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping · public land · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureJawbone Wash (river) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- USGS NHDno named surface water within 1 mi
- Nearest townRancho Seco · ~3.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.3 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~4.5 mi
- FuelJawbone Canyon Store · ~2.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~4.8 mi
- GroceriesJawbone Canyon Store · ~2.2 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~13.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicCalifornia City Family Health Center · ~13.2 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~13.3 mi
EV charging — from Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping · public land · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger18.7 mi straight-line SW — Mojave, CA - Tesla Supercharger (at a restaurant) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 12 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach12 within 25 mi · 43 within 50 · 685 within 100 · 1238 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS19.3 mi — Mojave Air & Spaceport (Building 1), Mojave
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO19.3 mi — Mojave Air & Spaceport (Building 1), Mojave
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)13.4 mi — California City (at a standalone station) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-05-12 · 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 102041 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping · public land · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletJawbone Vc -Vault Toilet · ~2.3 mi SE · BLM
- RestroomJawbone Vc · ~2.3 mi SE · BLM
- RestroomJawbone Vc Interpretive Center · ~2.3 mi SE · BLM
- RestroomDove Springs Ohv - Staging Area #1 Cxt · ~7.8 mi N · BLM
Coming out here — Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping · public land · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: Jawbone Wash (river). 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. USGS maps no named surface water within 1 mi of the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022).
- Ground slope around the pin: about 22.4% — steep. 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 ~2.3 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping elsewhere
Other camps near Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Jawbone Canyon Ohv Area~0.7 mi
- Dove Springs Ohv Area~8.2 mi
- Bright Star Wilderness~16.4 mi
- Kiavah Wilderness~18.9 mi
Who holds the land at Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Eastern Kern County Onyx Ranch State Vehicular Recreation Area, manager on record: California Department of Parks and Recreation (state). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
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.
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
Contributed, not agency-listed. A mapper marked this as a campsite. We have not matched it to a land-manager record, so it stays at Likely.
What we don’t know about Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
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 — Jawbone Canyon Dispersed Camping
Finding water out here →Hot-weather camping →Bugs & critters →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →