Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Kelly Lake Trailhead
Dispersed · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 41.91331, -123.51111
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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Kelly Lake Trailhead
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,354 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Kelly Lake TrailheadNIFC · 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 Lake Trailhead · Klamath National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery10 mi
- @Mail10 mi
- FFuel11 mi
- RxPharmacy11 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- MMechanic18 mi
- HHardware19 mi
- ShShower24 mi
- WWater26 mi
- DDump31 mi
- LLaundry36 mi
- PPropane37 mi
- AAir-up39 mi
- OOutfitter42 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 26-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 10 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 Lake Trailhead
Access
Dispersed
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
4,354 ft
State
CA
Coordinates
41.91331, -123.51111
Cost
Free · no fee, per the land manager's own page (https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/klamath/recreation/kelly-lake-trailhead, read 2026-09-26)
Nearby & resupply — around Kelly Lake Trailhead · Klamath National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureKelly Lake (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townHappy Camp · ~10.7 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelConnor Cardlock · ~10.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~30.6 mi
- GroceriesParry's Market · ~10.4 mi
- PharmacyClinic Pharmacy · ~10.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicKaruk Community Health Center · ~10.8 mi
- HardwareTrue Value Hardware · ~19.1 mi
Nearby restrooms — around Kelly Lake Trailhead · Klamath National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletKelly Lake · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPoker Flat Trailhead · ~2.1 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWest Branch · ~2.2 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPage Mt. Sno Park · ~6.7 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Kelly Lake Trailhead · Klamath National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: Kelly Lake (water). 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.
- 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 Kelly Lake Trailhead elsewhere
Other camps near Kelly Lake Trailhead
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- West Branch~2.2 mi
- Stevens Camp~7.1 mi
- Bolan Lake Cg~8.1 mi · fee
- Rogue-River Siskiyou National Forest~10.6 mi
The unit that manages Kelly Lake Trailhead
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Kelly Lake Trailhead are set by Klamath National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Kelly Lake Trailhead
Fire rules
A current California Campfire Permit is required to use a camp stove, barbecue or have a campfire. Local fire restrictions supersede the campfire permit.
Stay limit
14 nights (stay limit 14 consecutive days)
Source
public land records
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
USFS Recreation Area Activities, activity 'Dispersed Camping', pulled 2026-09-19: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/klamath/recarea/?recid=13095 || REVIEW 2026-09-26 (nightshift-verified, fire 2510): The recid URL above now 301s to the forest's recreation landing page. Live page https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/klamath/recreation/kelly-lake-trailhead (read 2026-09-26): 'A short, easy 1/4 walk and you are at beautiful little Kelly Lake. There are two campsites here: one on the southeast end and one on the northwest end.' Vault toilet at the trailhead, 'Open 24 hours/day', water and garbage not provided, no wilderness permit needed, California Campfire Permit required. Page lat/lon 41.9133137,-123.5111106. APPROVED: the page states two campsites a quarter-mile walk from this trailhead. COORDINATE MOVED 0.15 km to the page's own point: EDW KELLY LAKE TRAILHEAD (41.913319,-123.511125) agrees to 1 m, and it is 55 m from MVUM 18N34 'KELLY LAKE'. The pin is the trailhead; the two sites are at the lake ends. Nothing published within 3.6 km (#3827 West Branch). Klamath alerts: stay limit 14 consecutive days / 30 days a year (order 05-05-00-26-09). Grayback Road (FS 48, the access road) has repair delays at the Granite Creek slide through 2026-09-29, not a closure. The Beaver Creek closure is on roads 47N01/47N44, elsewhere. Confirms fire 2350's pre-written verdict | No fee 2026-09-26: "No fees are required for this site" Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/klamath/recreation/kelly-lake-trailhead -- statement verified on that page (lead coordinate before this review: 41.9135,-123.5129) (camp_type before this review: None)
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 Lake Trailhead
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 the fire rule stated above still stands today — what we have is a dated reading of the agency's listing, not a live restriction feed
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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 Lake Trailhead
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading your camp page →All field notes →