Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Northfork 03
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 47.09925, -112.96211
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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Northfork 03
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,625 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Northfork 03NIFC · 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 Northfork 03 · Lolo National Forest · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- @Mail10 mi
- FFuel17 mi
- GGrocery17 mi
- HHardware17 mi
- WWater19 mi
- DDump20 mi
- ShShower20 mi
- +Urgent care24 mi
- LLaundry25 mi
- PPropane31 mi
- EVEV fast charger49 mi
- OOutfitter51 mi
- MMechanic51 mi
- RxPharmacy51 mi
- AAir-up52 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 17 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 49-mi run (and back).
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 — Northfork 03
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
4,625 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
47.09925, -112.96211
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Northfork 03 · Lolo National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLake Creek (stream) · nearby
- Nearest townGeary · ~5.5 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelExxon · ~16.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesD & D Foodtown · ~16.6 mi
- HardwareGrizzly Home Center · ~16.7 mi
EV charging — from Northfork 03 · Lolo National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger48.7 mi straight-line S — Sinclair - Tesla Supercharger, Deer Lodge, MT (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-14 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 1 within 50 · 20 within 100 · 37 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS52.6 mi — Missoula Chevrolet, Missoula
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO53.0 mi — Walmart 3259 (Missoula, MT), Missoula
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)49.4 mi — JD Self Service Storage, Deer Lodge, MT (at an office building) · AMPUP · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2023-12-13 · hours: Contact site for information
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Trixi's Saloon - Tesla Destination, Ovando, 9.3 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast charger$0.56 per kWh (as listed by AFDC)
- 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 466520 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Northfork 03 · Lolo National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletBig Nelson Campground Complex · ~2.8 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMonture Creek Trailhead · ~8.7 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMonture Guard Station · ~9.2 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCopper Creek Campground · ~16.2 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Northfork 03 · Lolo National Forest · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: Lake 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.
- 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 — Dave gets service credit if you sign up through it. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Northfork 03 elsewhere
Other camps near Northfork 03
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Northfork 04~0.2 mi
- Northfork 05~0.7 mi
- Northfork 06~0.7 mi
- Northfork 07~1.2 mi
The unit that manages Northfork 03
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Northfork 03 are set by Lolo National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Copper Camp at 6,980 ft, about 11 miles away. It sits about 2,355 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 — Northfork 03
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).
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 Northfork 03
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 — Northfork 03
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Forest road numbers →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →