Agency-listedUSFSFeeOpen todayRoad season: open (MVUM)
Kelly Dahl
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 39.93221, -105.49751
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.
Can I go now? — Kelly Dahl · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
Open today Season May 15 – Oct 11. Closes after Oct 11.
U.S. Forest Service record: “May 15 - Oct 11” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Kelly Dahl · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 210.A (Kelly Dahl Cg Loop A), 50 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 210.A (Kelly Dahl Cg Loop A), 50 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 15 – Sep 30. That season ends after Sep 30.
MVUM record for FR 210.A (Kelly Dahl Cg Loop A): “05/15-09/30” 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 Kelly Dahl
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,616 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Kelly DahlNIFC · 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 Kelly Dahl · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater0 mi
- MMechanic1 mi
- @Mail1 mi
- GGrocery2 mi
- HHardware2 mi
- FFuel2 mi
- LLaundry4 mi
- ShShower4 mi
- EVEV fast charger4 mi
- DDump5 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- OOutfitter13 mi
- RxPharmacy13 mi
- PPropane14 mi
- AAir-up15 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 — Kelly Dahl
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
8,616 ft
Ground slope
2.1% · flat
Nearest rail line
~1.1 mi · passing siding
State
CO
Coordinates
39.93221, -105.49751
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Kelly Dahl · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLos Lagos Reservoirs Number Three · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townRollinsville · ~1.1 mi
- Nearest rail line~1.1 mi · passing siding
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~0.0 mi
- FuelGasamat · ~2.2 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~14.1 mi
- Dump station~4.7 mi
- GroceriesB&F Mountain Market · ~2.0 mi
- PharmacyPharmaca · ~13.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicAddiction Exchange · ~12.3 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~2.1 mi
EV charging — from Kelly Dahl · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger4.5 mi straight-line S — GILPIN COUNTY GILPIN LIB L3B, Black Hawk, CO · ChargePoint Network · 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 reach68 within 25 mi · 265 within 50 · 371 within 100 · 433 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)13.2 mi — Idaho Springs, CO, Idaho Springs
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)1.1 mi — Rollinsville Country Store and Liquor · CHARGELAB · 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 420257 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Kelly Dahl · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletKelly Dahl · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletForsythe Canyon · ~4.9 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCold Springs · ~6.2 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCold Springs · ~6.3 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — Kelly Dahl · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Los Lagos Reservoirs Number Three as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.2 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 2.1% — 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 ~1.1 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.
- 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 Kelly Dahl elsewhere
Other camps near Kelly Dahl
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- West Magnolia~1.5 mi
- Gordon Gulch~5.4 mi
- Caribou Dispersed Camping Area~5.4 mi
- Gordon Gulch Dispersed Camping Area~5.6 mi
The unit that manages Kelly Dahl
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Kelly Dahl are set by Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Lake Eldora at 9,700 ft, about 5 miles away. It sits about 1,084 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 — Kelly Dahl
Open season
May 15 - Oct 11
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 2026-08-22: $29 per single site per night in peak season, dropping to $18.75 off peak. Double campsites are not available here -- the forest says so explicitly. Three Arapaho & Roosevelt NF sources agree on the $29: the campground page (updated May 15 2026, status Site Open), the forest-wide campground status table (updated Aug 20 2026: 46 sites, 45-foot spur, reservable, $29, May 15 to Oct 11), and recreation.gov, which charges $29 May 15 to Sep 19 2026 and $18.75 Sep 20 to Oct 10. Boulder Ranger District, near Nederland. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/recreation/kelly-dahl-campground, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/conditions and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232280.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
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 Kelly Dahl
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
- 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 — Kelly Dahl
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →What “dispersed” means here →Power off-grid →All field notes →