Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Malad Summit
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · ID · 42.35011, -112.27491
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Malad Summit · Caribou-Targhee National Forest · ID
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 70361 (Summit Campground), 130 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 70361 (Summit Campground), 130 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 70361 (Summit Campground): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; 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 Malad Summit
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,190 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Malad SummitNIFC · 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 Malad Summit · Caribou-Targhee National Forest · ID
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel7 mi
- GGrocery7 mi
- ShShower10 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- @Mail17 mi
- WWater18 mi
- EVEV fast charger22 mi
- MMechanic26 mi
- RxPharmacy27 mi
- +Urgent care27 mi
- DDump35 mi
- OOutfitter36 mi
- AAir-up44 mi
- PPropane48 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 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 — Malad Summit
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
6,190 ft
Ground slope
27.5% · steep
Nearest rail line
~9.2 mi · passing siding
Nearest highway
~2.5 mi · Interstate 15
State
ID
Coordinates
42.35011, -112.27491
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Malad Summit · Caribou-Targhee National Forest · ID (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureMill Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townDowney · ~9.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~9.2 mi · passing siding
- Nearest highway~2.5 mi · Interstate 15
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~7.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~7.4 mi
- PharmacyPreston Drug · ~26.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicWillow Valley Family Medicine (Clinic) · ~26.9 mi
- HardwareWard's ACE & Country Store · ~11.5 mi
EV charging — from Malad Summit · Caribou-Targhee National Forest · ID — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger21.7 mi straight-line N — Flying J 641, Mccammon, ID · eVgo Network · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 17 within 50 · 56 within 100 · 168 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)38.8 mi — Pocatello, ID - Tesla Supercharger, Pocatello
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO38.0 mi — Hirning Buick GMC, Pocatello
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)37.4 mi — Fairfield by Marriott, Pocatello, ID · Blink Network · 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 374739 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Malad Summit · Caribou-Targhee National Forest · ID — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletMalad Summit · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMalad Summit Gs · ~0.6 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHawkins Reservoir Rec Site - Vault Toilet 1 · ~11.5 mi N · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletHawkins Reservoir Rec Site - Vault Toilet 2 · ~11.6 mi N · BLM
Coming out here — Malad Summit · Caribou-Targhee National Forest · ID
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Mill Creek as a perennial stream, 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 27.5% — 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.
- Rail line mapped ~9.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a passing siding. 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.
- Interstate 15 is mapped ~2.5 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 Malad Summit elsewhere
Other camps near Malad Summit
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Third Creek Group Area~13.5 mi · fee
- Heart Mountain Springs Recreation Site~17.1 mi
- Skalkaho-011~18.5 mi
- Goodenough Creek Campground~21.0 mi
The unit that manages Malad Summit
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Malad Summit are set by Caribou-Targhee National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Oxford Spring at 6,790 ft, about 10 miles away. It sits about 600 ft higher 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 — Malad Summit
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 2026-08-20: $20 per night, single site (standard nonelectric), for recreation.gov's 2026 season (May 22 to Sep 27); a double site is $40 and the group site $80. Caribou-Targhee's own Malad Summit page publishes no figure -- it says only 'For current fees, please go to Recreation.gov'. Source: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233969.
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 Malad Summit
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
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- 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 — Malad Summit
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Power off-grid →All field notes →