Agency-listedUSFSFeeClosed for the seasonRoad season: closed (MVUM)
Pawnee
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 40.07898, -105.56705
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.
Can I go now? — Pawnee · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
Closed for the season Season Jun 26 – Sep 13. Opens Jun 26.
U.S. Forest Service record: “June 26 - Sept 13” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Pawnee · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 112.A (Pawnee Cg Loop A), 20 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as asphalt surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: closed (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 112.A (Pawnee Cg Loop A), 20 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Jul 1 – Sep 15; today is outside that window. Opens Jul 1.
MVUM record for FR 112.A (Pawnee Cg Loop A): “07/01-09/15” 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 Pawnee
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 10,325 ft.
Fire & smoke — around PawneeNIFC · 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 Pawnee · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater0 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- FFuel8 mi
- MMechanic8 mi
- HHardware9 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- ShShower11 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- DDump15 mi
- RxPharmacy16 mi
- OOutfitter16 mi
- PPropane16 mi
- AAir-up18 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, 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 — Pawnee
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
10,325 ft
Ground slope
5.8% · gentle
State
CO
Coordinates
40.07898, -105.56705
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Pawnee · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSouth Saint Vrain Creek · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townWard · ~2.8 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~0.0 mi
- FuelFerncliff Food & Fuel · ~8.2 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~16.4 mi
- Dump station~15.4 mi
- GroceriesJackleggers Mercantile · ~3.2 mi
- PharmacyPharmaca · ~15.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicAddiction Exchange · ~15.2 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~8.7 mi
EV charging — from Pawnee · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger15.3 mi straight-line S — GILPIN COUNTY GILPIN LIB L3B, Black Hawk, 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 reach41 within 25 mi · 255 within 50 · 371 within 100 · 434 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)16.7 mi — Boulder, CO - 28th Street - Tesla Supercharger, Boulder
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)8.0 mi — BVSD NEDERLAND E1 · 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 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 420257 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Pawnee · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletPawnee · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBrainard Lake Day Use · ~0.2 mi SW · USFS
- RestroomBrainard Lake · ~0.3 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletArickaree · ~0.5 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Pawnee · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps South Saint Vrain Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.2 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 5.8% — gentle. 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 Pawnee elsewhere
Other camps near Pawnee
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Ruby Gulch Dispersed Camping~3.7 mi
- Beaver Reservoir Dispersed Camping~3.8 mi
- Camp Dick~4.3 mi · fee
- Rainbow Lakes~4.7 mi · fee
The unit that manages Pawnee
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Pawnee are set by Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Niwot at 9,940 ft, about 3 miles away. It sits about 385 ft lower 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 — Pawnee
Open season
June 26 - Sept 13
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 2026-08-22: $29 per single site per night and $58 for a double site. Three Arapaho & Roosevelt NF sources agree: the campground page (updated Aug 3 2026, status Site Open), the forest-wide campground status table (updated Aug 20 2026: 47 sites, 100-foot spur, reservable, $29/58, Jun 26 to Sep 13), and recreation.gov, which charges $58 for a standard non-electric site and $29 for tent-only, Jun 26 to Sep 12 2026. IMPORTANT EXTRA COST: the forest states that Pawnee visitors are also subject to Brainard Lake Recreation Area fees, which are charged separately and are not included in the nightly rate above. Boulder Ranger District. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/recreation/pawnee-campground, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/conditions and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232282.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
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 Pawnee
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
- 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 — Pawnee
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Off-grid communication →All field notes →