Agency-listedUSFSFeeOpen todayRoad season: open (MVUM)
Meadows
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 40.37421, -106.72377
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? — Meadows · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO
Open today Season Jun 25 – Oct 15 (about). Closes after Oct 15. Weather can shorten it.
U.S. Forest Service record: “Late June - Mid October (weather dependent)” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Meadows · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 297.1 (Meadows Cg), 40 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 297.1 (Meadows Cg), 40 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Jul 1 – Dec 1. That season ends after Dec 1.
MVUM record for FR 297.1 (Meadows Cg): “07/01-12/01” 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 Meadows
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 9,314 ft.
Fire & smoke — around MeadowsNIFC · 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 Meadows · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO
▲ 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
- WWater8 mi
- RxPharmacy8 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- +Urgent care8 mi
- EVEV fast charger8 mi
- ShShower9 mi
- DDump10 mi
- OOutfitter10 mi
- HHardware11 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- MMechanic34 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 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 — Meadows
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
9,314 ft
Ground slope
3% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~6.4 mi · main line
State
CO
Coordinates
40.37421, -106.72377
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Meadows · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureWalton Creek (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- USGS NHDno named surface water within 1 mi
- Nearest townSteamboat Springs · ~9.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~6.4 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.9 mi
- FuelSinclair · ~7.1 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~9.5 mi
- GroceriesSouthside Station · ~7.1 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~8.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicYampa Valley Medical Center · ~7.8 mi
- HardwareACE Hardware · ~11.3 mi
EV charging — from Meadows · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger8.5 mi straight-line NW — MAVERIK SB SPRINGS PL1, Steamboat Springs, CO · 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 reach4 within 25 mi · 13 within 50 · 214 within 100 · 431 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)28.0 mi — Kremmling, CO - Park Avenue - Tesla Supercharger, Kremmling
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.2 mi — GONDOLA SQUARE GONDOLA PARKING, Steamboat Springs, CO · ChargePoint 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 261276 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Meadows · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletMeadows · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomWest Summit North · ~1.0 mi W · USFS
- RestroomWest Summit South · ~1.0 mi SW · USFS
- RestroomBruces · ~1.2 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Meadows · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: Walton Creek (stream). That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink. USGS maps no named surface water within 1 mi of the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022).
- Ground slope around the pin: about 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 ~6.4 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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 Meadows elsewhere
Other camps near Meadows
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Dumont Lake~5.7 mi · fee
- Granite Campground~8.6 mi · fee
- Routt County~10.6 mi
- Hidden Lakes~11.0 mi · fee
The unit that manages Meadows
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Meadows are set by Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Rabbit Ears at 9,390 ft, about a mile away. That is about the height of this camp, so it is a fair proxy. 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 — Meadows
Open season
Late June - Mid October (weather dependent)
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 2026-08-24: $26 per night for a single site. Pay on site in EXACT cash or check only -- the forest warns there is no change given and that NO CREDIT CARDS are accepted; payment instructions are on the kiosk. Confirmed by two sources: the Medicine Bow-Routt NF campground page (updated Jun 22 2026, status Site Open) and recreation.gov, which charges $26 for both standard and tent-only non-electric sites Jul 1 to Sep 12 2026. Season late June to mid-October, weather dependent. Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District, Rabbit Ears Pass. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/mbrtb/recreation/meadows-campground and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/10168496.
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 Meadows
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 — Meadows
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Camping with a dog →All field notes →