Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: closed (MVUM)
Nichols Lake Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MI · 43.72306, -85.90362
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 — Nichols Lake Campground · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 5140 (Nichols Lake), 120 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as bituminous surface treatment surface and maintenance level 5 – high degree of user comfort.
Road season: closed (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 5140 (Nichols Lake), 120 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 3 – Sep 23; today is outside that window. Opens May 3.
MVUM record for FR 5140 (Nichols Lake): “05/03-09/23” 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 Nichols Lake Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 843 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Nichols Lake CampgroundNIFC · 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 Nichols Lake Campground · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- DDump9 mi
- @Mail11 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- MMechanic18 mi
- LLaundry18 mi
- EVEV fast charger20 mi
- ShShower21 mi
- WWater21 mi
- OOutfitter22 mi
- AAir-up24 mi
- PPropane50 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 21-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 3 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 — Nichols Lake Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
843 ft
Ground slope
2.9% · flat
Nearest rail line
~2.3 mi · main line
State
MI
Coordinates
43.72306, -85.90362
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Nichols Lake Campground · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureNichols Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townWalkerville · ~11.1 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.3 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~2.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~8.7 mi
- GroceriesBitely Grocery · ~2.7 mi
- PharmacyPattie Drug of Baldwin · ~12.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicBaldwin Family Health Care Clinic · ~12.8 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~11.8 mi
EV charging — from Nichols Lake Campground · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger19.5 mi straight-line E — Big Rapids, MI - Tesla Supercharger (at a grocery store) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 10 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach7 within 25 mi · 48 within 50 · 187 within 100 · 517 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS19.7 mi — JOHNNY'S MARKET BIG RAPIDS DC1, Big Rapids
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO19.7 mi — JOHNNY'S MARKET BIG RAPIDS DC1, Big Rapids
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.6 mi — Red Moose Lodge - Tesla Destination, Baldwin, MI · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-27 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- 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 102224 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Nichols Lake Campground · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletNichols Lake Campground · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletNichols Lake North Recreation Area · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWalk Up Lake Campground · ~0.8 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCondon Lake Backcountry Campsites · ~2.4 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Nichols Lake Campground · Huron-Manistee National Forest · MI
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Nichols Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~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 2.9% — flat. 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 ~2.3 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 Nichols Lake Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Nichols Lake Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Walkup Lake Campground~0.8 mi
- Condon Lakes West~2.4 mi
- Sawkaw Lake Campsites~2.7 mi
- Highbanks Campground~3.4 mi · fee
The unit that manages Nichols Lake Campground
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Nichols Lake Campground are set by Huron-Manistee National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Nichols Lake Campground
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: $30 per night, single site, plus day use at $10 per vehicle per day. The forest publishes this camp as Nichols Lake South Campground, and recreation.gov books it under the same name at the same $30 for the 2026 season (May 9 - Oct 12). Interagency Senior and Access passes take 50% off single campsites only. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/huron-manistee/recreation/nichols-lake-south-campground and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/251845.
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 Nichols Lake Campground
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 — Nichols Lake Campground
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →