Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Redbank Spring
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · SD · 43.99042, -103.98102
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Redbank Spring · Black Hills National Forest · SD
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 294.2A (Redbank Spring Cg), 130 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 294.2A (Redbank Spring Cg), 130 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles May 15 – Dec 15. That season ends after Dec 15.
MVUM record for FR 294.2A (Redbank Spring Cg): “05/15-12/15” 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 Redbank Spring
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,661 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Redbank SpringNIFC · 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 Redbank Spring · Black Hills National Forest · SD
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery14 mi
- @Mail14 mi
- FFuel15 mi
- HHardware21 mi
- WWater23 mi
- MMechanic24 mi
- LLaundry24 mi
- RxPharmacy24 mi
- OOutfitter24 mi
- EVEV fast charger25 mi
- ShShower34 mi
- DDump34 mi
- +Urgent care35 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 23-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 14 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 — Redbank Spring
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
6,661 ft
Ground slope
14.4% · noticeable
State
SD
Coordinates
43.99042, -103.98102
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Redbank Spring · Black Hills National Forest · SD (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurenone named within 1 mi (USGS NHD)
- Nearest townNewcastle · ~14.4 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~14.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesTrading Post & Medical Station · ~13.9 mi
- PharmacyCarson Drug · ~24.5 mi
- HardwareHill City Hardware · ~21.0 mi
EV charging — from Redbank Spring · Black Hills National Forest · SD — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger24.7 mi straight-line SE — Custer, SD - Tesla Supercharger (at a grocery store) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 12 within 50 · 21 within 100 · 27 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS35.2 mi — ELKHORNRIDGE EV-2, Spearfish
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO35.2 mi — ELKHORNRIDGE EV-2, Spearfish
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)29.3 mi — DMG DMG CHARGER, Deadwood, SD · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Bavarian Inn - Tesla Destination, Custer, 23.8 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 102406 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Redbank Spring · Black Hills National Forest · SD — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletDitch Creek · ~7.2 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLake Shore · ~8.5 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWhitetail · ~9.0 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMountain City · ~9.2 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Redbank Spring · Black Hills National Forest · SD
- No named surface water mapped within 1 mi of the pin in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset (data refreshed October 2022), and none within about a mile and a half in our OpenStreetMap pull — which is not proof there is none, only that neither map has one. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- About the name: this site is called Redbank Spring, but no named stream, river or lake is mapped near the pin — none within 1 mi in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset and none named within 1.6 mi in our OpenStreetMap pull. Neither search looks for springs, so whether a spring is mapped here is something this page cannot tell you.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 14.4% — 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.
- 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 Redbank Spring elsewhere
Other camps near Redbank Spring
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Beaver Creek Campground~6.8 mi · fee
- Ditch Creek Campground~7.2 mi · fee
- Whitetail~9.0 mi · fee
- Custer Trail - USFS~9.4 mi
The unit that manages Redbank Spring
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Redbank Spring are set by Black Hills National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Redbank Spring
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.
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 Redbank Spring
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 — Redbank Spring
Winter vs summer roads →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Leave no trace →All field notes →