★ Field-verified · Dave's ownPublic land · dispersedFree
Presidio County
Drive-up · public land · Presidio County, TX · 30.27542, -103.88331
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 →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on public land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
Roadside picnic area near Marfa, Texas. Ground tents not allowed. This is a suitable place to spend the night if you're in a vehicle-based sleeping platform. No campfires. Not a campground. This is the Marfa Lights observation area. The Marfa Lights are vehicle headlights visible on a distant mountain, but it's fun to pretend that they're atmospheric anomalies. Be prepared for a small crowd and social experience between sunset and 11 PM. It's a non-conventional place to spend a few nights, but was a mostly positive experience. Sort of recommended. Good cell service.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 25 March 2019. An earlier night here is in his diary without a usable date. No agency publishes a season for this site, so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Presidio County
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,900 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Presidio CountyNIFC · 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 Presidio County · public land · TX
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- HHardware8 mi
- FFuel8 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- @Mail9 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- +Urgent care14 mi
- RxPharmacy14 mi
- MMechanic15 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- ShShower22 mi
- WWater22 mi
- DDump47 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 22-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 8 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 — Presidio County
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
4,900 ft
Ground slope
1.1% · flat
Nearest rail line
~0.1 mi · main line
County
Presidio County, TX
Coordinates
30.27542, -103.88331
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Presidio County · public land · TX (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLong Draw (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- USGS NHDno named surface water within 1 mi
- Nearest townNopal · ~2.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~0.1 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelSunoco · ~8.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesPorter's Thriftway · ~8.9 mi
- PharmacyCity Drug · ~14.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicPermiaCare · ~14.4 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
No
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
No
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Presidio County · public land · TX — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.8 mi straight-line E — Alpine, TX - South Cockrell Street - Tesla Supercharger · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 2 within 50 · 10 within 100 · 15 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS49.5 mi — SWTCH Energy, Balmorhea
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO72.1 mi — Walmart 897 (Fort Stockton, TX), Fort Stockton
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)68.0 mi — Big Bend StarGazer, Terlingua, TX (at a b and b) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-01-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Hampton Inn Alpine - Tesla Destination, Alpine, 12.5 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas 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 326661 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Presidio County · public land · TX — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomHB 20 Enlisted Mens Barracks IA · ~22.2 mi N · NPS
Coming out here — Presidio County · public land · TX
- Surface water mapped nearby: Long Draw (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. USGS maps no named surface water within 1 mi of the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022).
- Ground slope around the pin: about 1.1% — flat. 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 ~0.1 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak 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 Presidio County elsewhere
Other camps near Presidio County
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Presidio County~0.0 mi
How we know this — Presidio County
Source
Dave's own travels
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Presidio County, TX). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
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
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. He camped here on 25 March 2019. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Presidio County
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.
- How many rigs actually fit
- 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 — Presidio County
Finding water out here →Dumping grey & black →Hot-weather camping →Picking a spot →All field notes →