Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Kathryn Lake
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · WI · 45.20034, -90.62016
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 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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Kathryn Lake · Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest · WI
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 1431 (Fr 1431), 0.1 mi 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 1431 (Fr 1431), 0.1 mi from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 1431 (Fr 1431): “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 Kathryn Lake
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,508 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Kathryn LakeNIFC · 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 Kathryn Lake · Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest · WI
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel9 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- GGrocery10 mi
- MMechanic10 mi
- @Mail10 mi
- ShShower12 mi
- HHardware14 mi
- EVEV fast charger14 mi
- LLaundry15 mi
- WWater27 mi
- DDump28 mi
- OOutfitter36 mi
- AAir-up36 mi
- RxPharmacy42 mi
- PPropane50 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 27-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 9 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 — Kathryn Lake
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
1,508 ft
Ground slope
1% · flat
Nearest rail line
~9.6 mi · main line
State
WI
Coordinates
45.20034, -90.62016
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Kathryn Lake · Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest · WI (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureKathryn Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelCenex · ~9.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~27.8 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~9.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicAspirus Gilman Clinic · ~9.5 mi
- HardwareMedford Farm-Home Center · ~14.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~9.6 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
EV charging — from Kathryn Lake · Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest · WI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.4 mi straight-line E — Wheelers Chevrolet of Medford · FLO · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 17 within 50 · 62 within 100 · 280 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)41.3 mi — Kwik Trip #1267, Chippewa Falls
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)13.3 mi — Medford - Jaycee Diamond Park · FLO · 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 310772 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Kathryn Lake · Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest · WI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletKathryn Lake Bl · ~0.2 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletChippewa Bl · ~3.8 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBayview Bl · ~4.0 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletChippewa Campground · ~4.4 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Kathryn Lake · Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest · WI
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Kathryn Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~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 1% — flat. 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 ~9.6 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.
- 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 Kathryn Lake elsewhere
Other camps near Kathryn Lake
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Chippewa Campground~4.4 mi · fee
- North Twin~10.2 mi · fee
- Picnic Point~11.5 mi · fee
- West Point~12.0 mi · fee
The unit that manages Kathryn Lake
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Kathryn Lake are set by Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Kathryn Lake
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
Developed FEE campground (not free) - review | auto:usfs-fee 2026-08-20: US Forest Service developed campground, agency coordinates, agency states a fee. No dollar amount in the agency record -- expect a charge and confirm the current rate before you go. Not field-verified. | Fee 2026-08-30: no rate published by the agency. The forest's own page for this site carries no fee section at all, describes an accessible boat landing with no restrooms and no potable water, and tells campers that 'Chippewa Campground is a nearby Forest Service campground that is near Kathryn Lake'. A recreation.gov search on this pin within 25 miles returns no campground listing here. Treat the fee flag in the agency database as unconfirmed and ask the Medford office (715-748-4875) before you count on camping here. Checked https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/chequamegon-nicolet/recreation/kathryn-lake-recreation-area.
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 Kathryn Lake
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 — Kathryn Lake
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Leave no trace →All field notes →