Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Rd 271 Site 3
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · ID · 47.56002, -115.92710
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 Rd 271 Site 3
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at the elevation shown above.
Fire & smoke — around Rd 271 Site 3NIFC · 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 Rd 271 Site 3 · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- @Mail5 mi
- GGrocery5 mi
- FFuel5 mi
- MMechanic6 mi
- LLaundry6 mi
- RxPharmacy6 mi
- HHardware6 mi
- OOutfitter6 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- DDump10 mi
- PPropane38 mi
- ShShower40 mi
- WWater40 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 40-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 5 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 — Rd 271 Site 3
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
State
ID
Coordinates
47.56002, -115.92710
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Rd 271 Site 3 · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBeaver Creek (stream) · nearby
- Nearest townDelta · ~3.4 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelG & G Riverstop · ~6.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~9.8 mi
- GroceriesWatson's Market · ~4.9 mi
- PharmacyKohal's · ~6.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicShoshone Medical Center · ~9.5 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~28.4 mi
EV charging — from Rd 271 Site 3 · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.6 mi straight-line W — 76 Station - Tesla Supercharger, Kellogg, ID (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-07-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 6 within 50 · 75 within 100 · 91 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS12.1 mi — Walmart 4249 (Smelterville, ID), Smelterville
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO12.1 mi — Walmart 4249 (Smelterville, ID), Smelterville
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)40.7 mi — The Coeur D'Alene Resort - Tesla Destination (at a hotel) · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-27 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- Pricing at the fast charger$0.55 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 463501 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Rd 271 Site 3 · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletPrichard Bridge · ~7.1 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPulaski 1910 Fire · ~7.2 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAvery Creek · ~8.9 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletThompson Pass Trailhead And Rest Area · ~9.9 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Rd 271 Site 3 · Idaho Panhandle National Forests · ID
- Surface water mapped nearby: Beaver Creek (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.
- 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 Rd 271 Site 3 elsewhere
Other camps near Rd 271 Site 3
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Rd 957 Site 1~5.0 mi
- Rd 2361 Site 1~5.9 mi
- Rd 7623 Site 8~7.3 mi
- USFS dispersed camp — ID #593~7.6 mi
The unit that manages Rd 271 Site 3
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Rd 271 Site 3 are set by Idaho Panhandle National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Sunset at 5,570 ft, about 5 miles away. 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 — Rd 271 Site 3
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 Rd 271 Site 3
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 — Rd 271 Site 3
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Forest road numbers →Power off-grid →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 →