Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Peterson Creek Area
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 48.06719, -113.92898
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 Peterson Creek Area
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,765 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Peterson Creek AreaNIFC · 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 Peterson Creek Area · Flathead National Forest · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- HHardware7 mi
- LLaundry7 mi
- ShShower7 mi
- @Mail7 mi
- WWater14 mi
- MMechanic17 mi
- EVEV fast charger18 mi
- +Urgent care19 mi
- OOutfitter19 mi
- RxPharmacy20 mi
- DDump33 mi
- PPropane42 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Peterson Creek Area
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
3,765 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
48.06719, -113.92898
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Peterson Creek Area · Flathead National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Nearest townBear Creek Village · ~2.4 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelConoco · ~14.1 mi
- Propane / LPGAmeriGas · ~19.4 mi
- GroceriesBigfork Harvest Foods · ~6.9 mi
- PharmacySmith's Drive Through Pharmacy · ~19.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicEvergreen Clinic · ~19.3 mi
- HardwareGlacer Ace Hardware · ~19.3 mi
EV charging — from Peterson Creek Area · Flathead National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger17.8 mi straight-line W — CLARK HYUNDAI SERVICECUSTOMER, Kalispell, MT · 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 reach4 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 18 within 100 · 36 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)21.9 mi — Kalispell, MT - Tesla Supercharger, Kalispell
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)22.9 mi — Wonderstone at Glacier - Tesla Destination, Columbia Falls, MT · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 3 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-27 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Red Lion Hotel Kalispell - Tesla Destination, Kalispell, 20.0 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
Level 2, restricted access — Mountain Lake Lodge, Bigfork, 7.2 mi · J1772 · hours: 8am-9pm daily; for guest use only · AFDC lists it “Free” - 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 227212 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Peterson Creek Area · Flathead National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletCamp Misery Trailhead · ~6.5 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletGraves Creek Campground · ~6.8 mi NE · USFS
- RestroomHandkerchief Lake Campground · ~7.1 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSwan Lake Swim · ~9.7 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — Peterson Creek Area · Flathead National Forest · MT
- No surface water within about a mile and a half in our records — which is not proof there is none, only that we found none. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- 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 Peterson Creek Area elsewhere
Other camps near Peterson Creek Area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- 5398-2 Bear Creek Road~0.1 mi
- Crater_Lake_007~3.8 mi
- Crater_Lake_012~3.8 mi
- Quintonkon Cr #1~3.9 mi
The unit that manages Peterson Creek Area
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Peterson Creek Area are set by Flathead National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Noisy Basin at 6,070 ft, about 6 miles away. It sits about 2,305 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 — Peterson Creek Area
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 Peterson Creek Area
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 — Peterson Creek Area
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Reading the aerial →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 →