Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Old Elk Creek
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 37.11782, -106.37675
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 — Old Elk Creek · Rio Grande National Forest · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 128.1A (Elk Cr Th), 0 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 128.1A (Elk Cr Th), 0 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 128.1A (Elk Cr Th): “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 Old Elk Creek
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,847 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Old Elk 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 Old Elk Creek · Rio Grande National Forest · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- DDump18 mi
- +Urgent care18 mi
- @Mail19 mi
- EVEV fast charger19 mi
- RxPharmacy20 mi
- FFuel20 mi
- GGrocery20 mi
- HHardware20 mi
- LLaundry20 mi
- MMechanic25 mi
- OOutfitter36 mi
- WWater36 mi
- AAir-up46 mi
- ShShower52 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 36-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 20 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 — Old Elk Creek
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
8,847 ft
Ground slope
8.5% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~5.4 mi · main line
State
CO
Coordinates
37.11782, -106.37675
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Old Elk Creek · Rio Grande National Forest · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLa Manga Creek · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townOsier · ~7.6 mi
- Nearest rail line~5.4 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~0.7 mi
- FuelStandard Service · ~24.5 mi
- Propane / LPGPropane · ~29.5 mi
- Dump station~18.2 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~6.1 mi
- PharmacyPharmacy · ~19.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicChama Dunham Memorial Clinic · ~18.3 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~20.0 mi
EV charging — from Old Elk Creek · Rio Grande National Forest · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger18.7 mi straight-line SW — Chama · LOOP · CHAdeMO, CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-07-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 18 within 50 · 65 within 100 · 202 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)36.4 mi — CENTENNIAL PARK PAGOSA SPGS PL2, Pagosa Springs
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)33.5 mi — WCSA LEVEL 2 - RIGHT, Pagosa 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 charger$1 activation fee; $0.59 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 348900 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Old Elk Creek · Rio Grande National Forest · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomElk Creek · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletElk Creek · ~0.6 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletElk Creek Overflow · ~0.8 mi NE · USFS
- RestroomRed Lakes · ~4.5 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Old Elk Creek · Rio Grande National Forest · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps La Manga Creek as a perennial stream, ~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 8.5% — 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 ~5.4 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. 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.
- 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 — 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 Old Elk Creek elsewhere
Other camps near Old Elk Creek
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Elk Creek Overflow Campground~0.6 mi · fee
- Elk Creek Campground~0.8 mi · fee
- Spectacle Lake Campground~4.8 mi
- Conejos Campground~5.2 mi
The unit that manages Old Elk Creek
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Old Elk Creek are set by Rio Grande National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Cumbres Trestle at 10,030 ft, about 8 miles away. It sits about 1,183 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 — Old Elk 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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Old Elk 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 — Old Elk Creek
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Finding water out here →How to read this page →All field notes →