Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Kunk Lake Camping Area
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · AK · 56.28166, -132.41392
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Kunk Lake Camping Area · Tongass National Forest · AK
No MVUM road within 1 mi of the pin; access may be a county road or unmapped.
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 Kunk Lake Camping Area
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 274 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Kunk Lake Camping AreaNIFC · 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 Kunk Lake Camping Area · Tongass National Forest · AK
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery13 mi
- HHardware13 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- RxPharmacy13 mi
- @Mail13 mi
- WWater24 mi
- FFuel30 mi
- LLaundry42 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 24-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 13 mi out, no EV fast charger is listed within 150 mi.
Not within 60 mi: Dump, Propane. Plan those before you head up.
EV fast charger: none listed within 150 straight-line mi (US DOE data). Charge before the turn-off.
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 — Kunk Lake Camping Area
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
274 ft
State
AK
Coordinates
56.28166, -132.41392
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Kunk Lake Camping Area · Tongass National Forest · AK (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurenone named within 1 mi (USGS NHD)
- Nearest townWrangell · ~16.4 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelLast Chance Gas · ~29.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesCity Market · ~13.1 mi
- PharmacyStikine Drug · ~13.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicAlaska Island Community Services · ~13.1 mi
- HardwareSentry Hardware and Marine · ~13.1 mi
EV charging — from Kunk Lake Camping Area · Tongass National Forest · AK — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast chargerNone listed within 150 straight-line miles. Plan the charge before the turn-off.
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)87.2 mi — ELECTRIC BUS MPL ELEC BUSS, Metlakatla, AK · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- 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 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Kunk Lake Camping Area · Tongass National Forest · AK — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletKunk Lake Shelter · ~0.3 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAnita Bay Overlook · ~2.5 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletThree Sisters · ~2.7 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletYunshookuh Loop · ~3.1 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Kunk Lake Camping Area · Tongass National Forest · AK
- No named surface water mapped within 1 mi of the pin in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset (data refreshed October 2022), and none within about a mile and a half in our OpenStreetMap pull — which is not proof there is none, only that neither map has one. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- About the name: this site is called Kunk Lake Camping Area, but no named stream, river or lake is mapped near the pin — none within 1 mi in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset and none named within 1.6 mi in our OpenStreetMap pull. Either the lake is not on those maps or it is further off than the name suggests.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- 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 Kunk Lake Camping Area elsewhere
Other camps near Kunk Lake Camping Area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Anita Bay Overlook~2.5 mi
- Three Sisters~2.7 mi
- Yunshookuh Loop~3.1 mi
- Nemo Campsite~3.3 mi
The unit that manages Kunk Lake Camping Area
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Kunk Lake Camping Area are set by Tongass National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Kunk Lake Camping Area
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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Kunk Lake Camping Area
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 — Kunk Lake Camping Area
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Camping with a dog →All field notes →