Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Milton Reservoir
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 39.52270, -120.57599
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 — Milton Reservoir · Tahoe National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 0301-045, 50 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 0301-045, 50 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 1 – Dec 31. That season ends after Dec 31.
MVUM record for FR 0301-045: “05/01-12/31” 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 Milton Reservoir
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 5,704 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Milton ReservoirNIFC · 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 Milton Reservoir · Tahoe National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery4 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- WWater4 mi
- ShShower4 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- HHardware14 mi
- DDump14 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- MMechanic17 mi
- OOutfitter21 mi
- RxPharmacy21 mi
- PPropane24 mi
- +Urgent care26 mi
- LLaundry32 mi
- AAir-up33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — Milton Reservoir
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
5,704 ft
Ground slope
14.2% · noticeable
State
CA
Coordinates
39.52270, -120.57599
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Milton Reservoir · Tahoe National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureMilton Reservoir · under 0.1 mi · USGS: reservoir, no flow class
- Nearest townSierra City · ~4.4 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~3.3 mi
- FuelSierra City Gasoline · ~4.3 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~14.2 mi
- GroceriesWild Plum Provisions Store · ~4.2 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~24.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~20.4 mi
- HardwareSierra Hardware · ~13.7 mi
EV charging — from Milton Reservoir · Tahoe National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.9 mi straight-line S — DC CORRIDOR LUCKYS SS DC2, Soda Springs, CA · 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 reach10 within 25 mi · 47 within 50 · 288 within 100 · 675 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)14.9 mi — Soda Springs, CA - Tesla Supercharger, Soda Springs
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)14.9 mi — DC CORRIDOR LUCKYS SS L2, Soda Springs, CA · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Whitehawk Lodge and Golf - Tesla Destination, Clio, 13.5 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 181599 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Milton Reservoir · Tahoe National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletMilton Reservoir · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletJackson Meadows Vista · ~1.5 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAspen · ~2.3 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletJackson Point Boat In · ~2.4 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Milton Reservoir · Tahoe National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Milton Reservoir as a reservoir (no flow class in the record), under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). The record carries no flow class for it. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 14.2% — 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.
- 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.
- 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 Milton Reservoir elsewhere
Other camps near Milton Reservoir
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Aspen Group Campground~2.2 mi
- Jackson Point Campground~2.4 mi
- Pass Creek Campground~2.5 mi
- East Meadow Campground~2.7 mi
The unit that manages Milton Reservoir
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Milton Reservoir are set by Tahoe National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Milton Reservoir
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
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review
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 Milton Reservoir
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 — Milton Reservoir
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Power off-grid →All field notes →