Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Lake Camp
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 37.26718, -119.06248
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 — Lake Camp · Sierra National Forest · CA
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 Lake Camp
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 9,796 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Lake CampNIFC · 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 Lake Camp · Sierra National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery6 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- +Urgent care7 mi
- LLaundry8 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- WWater10 mi
- DDump17 mi
- FFuel18 mi
- MMechanic18 mi
- HHardware18 mi
- OOutfitter18 mi
- EVEV fast charger26 mi
- RxPharmacy26 mi
- AAir-up38 mi
- PPropane48 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 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 — Lake Camp
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
9,796 ft
Ground slope
19% · steep
State
CA
Coordinates
37.26718, -119.06248
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Lake Camp · Sierra National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLakecamp Creek · ~0.2 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townSnow Bend · ~3.5 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelNorco Texaco · ~26.8 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~17.0 mi
- GroceriesBob's Market · ~18.0 mi
- PharmacyVons Pharmacy · ~26.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicMammoth Hospital · ~26.6 mi
- HardwareYoung's Shaver Lake Hardware · ~18.0 mi
EV charging — from Lake Camp · Sierra National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger26.0 mi straight-line N — Mammoth Lakes, CA - Old Mammoth Road - Tesla Supercharger (at a municipal building) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 12 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 31 within 50 · 148 within 100 · 418 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS26.6 mi — Mammoth Lakes, CA, Mammoth Lakes
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO33.1 mi — DC CORRIDOR OAKHURST DC2, Oakhurst
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)26.0 mi — Mammoth Lakes, CA - Old Mammoth Rd - Tesla Destination · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-27 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Juniper Springs Resort - Tesla Destination, Mammoth Lakes, 25.8 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 321156 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Lake Camp · Sierra National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletBadger Flat · ~2.9 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBadger Flat · ~2.9 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBadger Flat · ~2.9 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBolsillo · ~3.5 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Lake Camp · Sierra National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Lakecamp Creek as an intermittent stream, ~0.2 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 19% — steep. 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.
- 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 Lake Camp elsewhere
Other camps near Lake Camp
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Mallard Lake~1.3 mi
- Badger Flat~2.9 mi · fee
- Portal Dispersed Camp~3.5 mi
- Bolsillo~3.5 mi
The unit that manages Lake Camp
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Lake Camp are set by Sierra National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Lake Camp
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 Lake Camp
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 — Lake Camp
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Camping near a reservoir →Reading your camp page →All field notes →