Agency-listedBLMFree
Knowles
Drive-up · Bureau of Land Management · CO · 39.13608, -109.02328
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 →Bureau of Land Management 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 Knowles
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,350 ft.
Fire & smoke — around KnowlesNIFC · 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 Knowles · Bureau of Land Management · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel12 mi
- GGrocery12 mi
- @Mail12 mi
- HHardware15 mi
- WWater15 mi
- DDump15 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- MMechanic16 mi
- LLaundry16 mi
- +Urgent care21 mi
- RxPharmacy22 mi
- OOutfitter23 mi
- ShShower48 mi
- AAir-up48 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 12 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
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 — Knowles
Access
Drive-up
Land
Bureau of Land Management
Elevation
4,350 ft
Ground slope
11.9% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~0.1 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~3.6 mi · US Hwy 6
State
CO
Coordinates
39.13608, -109.02328
Cost
Free · dispersed public land, no fee in any source
Nearby & resupply — around Knowles · Bureau of Land Management · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureColorado River · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial river
- Nearest townWestwater · ~6.2 mi
- Nearest rail line~0.1 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~3.6 mi · US Hwy 6
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~5.4 mi
- FuelLove's · ~20.3 mi
- Propane / LPGAmeriGas · ~20.8 mi
- Dump station~15.4 mi
- GroceriesAlta Convenience · ~15.3 mi
- PharmacyCity Market · ~22.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicFamily Health West Hospital · ~15.5 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~26.4 mi
EV charging — from Knowles · Bureau of Land Management · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger15.4 mi straight-line E — Fruita, CO Rechargery Relay - Kokopelli Blvd · IONNA · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 10 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach13 within 25 mi · 20 within 50 · 61 within 100 · 119 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO15.8 mi — FRCIVICCENTER CPE 250 #1, Fruita
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)13.7 mi — Highline Lake State Park, Loma, CO (at a public site) · RIVIAN_WAYPOINTS · 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 420787 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Knowles · Bureau of Land Management · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomKnowles Canyon Overlook Restroom East · ~0.2 mi W · BLM
- RestroomKnowles Canyon Overlook Restroom West · ~0.3 mi W · BLM
- RestroomMcdonald Creek Trailhead Restroom · ~1.7 mi N · BLM
- RestroomCastle Rocks Restroom · ~1.8 mi N · BLM
Coming out here — Knowles · Bureau of Land Management · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Colorado River as a perennial river, ~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 11.9% — noticeable. 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 ~0.1 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak 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.
- US Hwy 6 is mapped ~3.6 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 Knowles elsewhere
Other camps near Knowles
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Island Camp~0.2 mi
- Black Rocks 9~1.3 mi
- Black Rocks 8~1.4 mi
- Black Rocks 7~1.5 mi
The unit that manages Knowles
Knowles is in the Grand Junction Field Office, Upper Colorado River District, Bureau of Land Management. Stay limits, permits, road closures and fire restrictions are set there, not at the campsite — check before you go. Its page maps every camp in it.
How we know this — Knowles
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
no road or trail found nearby — check manually
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 Knowles
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 — Knowles
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Cold-weather camping →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →