Agency-listedUSFSFeeSeason: check firstRoad season: open (MVUM)
Kite Lake
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 39.32868, -106.12872
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? — Kite Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
Season: check first Season stated, but not plainly enough to read as a date.
U.S. Forest Service record: “Kite Lake Campground is operated by a concessionaire and is operational between mid May and mid October weather depending.” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Kite Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 8 (Buckskin), 20 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 8 (Buckskin), 20 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Jun 2 – Dec 31. That season ends after Dec 31.
MVUM record for FR 8 (Buckskin): “06/02-12/31” 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 Kite Lake
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 12,023 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Kite 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 Kite Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- HHardware4 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- GGrocery10 mi
- FFuel10 mi
- LLaundry10 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- MMechanic11 mi
- WWater11 mi
- OOutfitter21 mi
- PPropane21 mi
- RxPharmacy21 mi
- AAir-up22 mi
- ShShower32 mi
- DDump33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Kite Lake
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
12,023 ft
Ground slope
5.3% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~2.9 mi · main line
State
CO
Coordinates
39.32868, -106.12872
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Kite Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureKite Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townAlma · ~4.3 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.9 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelShell · ~9.8 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~21.0 mi
- GroceriesShell · ~9.7 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~21.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicTimberline Clinic · ~10.3 mi
- HardwareAlma Super Storage · ~4.1 mi
EV charging — from Kite Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger10.2 mi straight-line SE — DC CORRIDOR FAIRPLAY PL1 · 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 reach15 within 25 mi · 61 within 50 · 366 within 100 · 472 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)12.3 mi — Frisco, CO - Frontage Road - Tesla Supercharger, Frisco
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)10.8 mi — Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center, Breckenridge, CO · Blink Network · J1772 · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Mountain Comfort B&B - Tesla Destination, Alma, 6.0 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- 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 257262 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Kite Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletKite Lake · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletFourmile · ~8.4 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHorseshoe · ~9.2 mi S · USFS
- Flush restroomSki Cooper · ~9.5 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Kite Lake · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Kite Lake as a perennial lake or pond, 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 5.3% — gentle. 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 ~2.9 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. 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 Kite Lake elsewhere
Other camps near Kite Lake
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Mosquito Peaks~3.5 mi
- Four Mile Creek Campground~8.4 mi
- Horseshoe Campground~9.2 mi
- Selkirk~9.9 mi · fee
The unit that manages Kite Lake
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Kite Lake are set by Pike and San Isabel National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Buckskin Joe at 11,160 ft, about 2 miles away. It sits about 863 ft lower 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 — Kite Lake
Open season
Kite Lake Campground is operated by a concessionaire and is operational between mid May and mid October weather depending.
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 2026-08-21: no rate published by the agency. The Pike-San Isabel NF Kite Lake Campground page, updated Jan 23 2026, has no fee section and no dollar figure anywhere on it; it says only that the campground is run by a concessionaire and is open mid May to mid October. The Forest Service recreation-site record carries no fee amount, and there is no recreation.gov listing for it at all. Call the South Park Ranger District for the current rate. Checked https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/psicc/recreation/kite-lake-campground and https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/psicc/recreation/camping-cabins. | Fee 2026-08-22: no rate published by the agency. The Pike-San Isabel NF page for this campground has no fee section and no dollar figure anywhere on it; what it does say is that Kite Lake Campground is run by a concessionaire and operates mid-May to mid-October, weather depending -- and concessionaire rates are set by the operator, which is very likely why the forest publishes none. There is no recreation.gov listing to cross-check. Expect to pay something at the trailhead kiosk; we will not guess how much. South Park Ranger District, the DeCaLiBron trailhead above Alma. Checked https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/psicc/recreation/kite-lake-campground (page updated Jan 23 2026, status Site Open).
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 Kite 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
- 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 — Kite Lake
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Getting unstuck →All field notes →