Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Oak Creek
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 38.29642, -105.26570
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 — Oak Creek · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 303 (Lion Canyon), 0 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 303 (Lion Canyon), 0 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 303 (Lion Canyon): “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 Oak Creek
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,607 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Oak CreekNIFC · 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 Oak Creek · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail8 mi
- FFuel8 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- MMechanic9 mi
- WWater10 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- LLaundry10 mi
- HHardware11 mi
- RxPharmacy11 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- ShShower27 mi
- PPropane34 mi
- OOutfitter35 mi
- AAir-up40 mi
- DDump40 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 8 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 — Oak Creek
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
7,607 ft
Ground slope
8.2% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~7.2 mi · other track
State
CO
Coordinates
38.29642, -105.26570
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Oak Creek · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureOak Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townRockvale · ~7.2 mi
- Nearest rail line~7.2 mi · other track
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~9.9 mi
- FuelFuel · ~8.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesForge Mini Mart · ~8.5 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~10.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicDermatology Clinic · ~11.2 mi
- HardwareTrue Value · ~10.6 mi
EV charging — from Oak Creek · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger10.0 mi straight-line N — HION NETWORK CANON CITY PL2, Cañon City, 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 reach7 within 25 mi · 41 within 50 · 174 within 100 · 452 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)34.5 mi — Colorado City, CO Rechargery Relay @ Circle K - South I-25, Colorado City
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.9 mi — White Water Rooftop Social - Tesla Destination, Cañon City, CO · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 1 Level 2 port 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 257138 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Oak Creek · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomDe Weese Restroom #1 · ~11.7 mi SW · BLM
- RestroomDe Weese Restroom #2 · ~12.2 mi SW · BLM
- RestroomAhra - Spikebuck Restroom · ~15.5 mi NW · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletMingus Ranch · ~16.0 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Oak Creek · Pike and San Isabel National Forests · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Oak 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 8.2% — 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.
- Rail line mapped ~7.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as other track. No track the atlas classes as a main line is mapped within 10 mi. 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 Oak Creek elsewhere
Other camps near Oak Creek
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Stoney Point~3.1 mi
- Temple Canyon Park (Canon City)~8.2 mi
- Gold Belt Recreation Management Area~11.1 mi
- Dispersed Campsite~17.0 mi
The unit that manages Oak Creek
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Oak Creek are set by Pike and San Isabel National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Oak Creek
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 Oak Creek
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 — Oak Creek
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Finding water out here →Camping with a dog →All field notes →