Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Road Side Drive
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 46.78119, -114.47692
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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 Road Side Drive
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 Road Side DriveNIFC · 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 Road Side Drive · Lolo National Forest · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- WWater4 mi
- FFuel15 mi
- GGrocery15 mi
- @Mail15 mi
- MMechanic19 mi
- +Urgent care19 mi
- HHardware19 mi
- LLaundry19 mi
- ShShower20 mi
- EVEV fast charger20 mi
- OOutfitter21 mi
- RxPharmacy21 mi
- AAir-up23 mi
- DDump25 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 15 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 — Road Side Drive
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
State
MT
Coordinates
46.78119, -114.47692
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Road Side Drive · Lolo National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLolo Creek (river) · nearby
- Nearest townLolo Hot Springs · ~4.7 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~4.4 mi
- FuelConoco · ~18.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~24.7 mi
- GroceriesLolo Super Stop · ~18.7 mi
- PharmacyFlorence Pharmacy · ~21.3 mi
- Hospital / clinicCommunity Medical Center · ~20.8 mi
- HardwareLolo Hardware · ~18.9 mi
EV charging — from Road Side Drive · Lolo National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger20.2 mi straight-line NE — Missoula, MT - Highway 93 North - Tesla Supercharger (at a rest stop) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 12 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 reach7 within 25 mi · 10 within 50 · 20 within 100 · 66 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS20.8 mi — L267 EXPP PL PUBLIC1, Missoula
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO21.8 mi — Walmart 3259 (Missoula, MT), Missoula
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)21.4 mi — Snowfarm Apartments, Missoula, MT · LOOP · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-07-15 · 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 327426 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Road Side Drive · Lolo National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletHoward Creek Trailhead · ~1.9 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWest Fork Butte Lookout · ~4.3 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLolo Creek Campground And Picnic Area · ~4.4 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLee Creek Campground · ~5.9 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Road Side Drive · Lolo National Forest · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: Lolo Creek (river). 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 — Dave gets service credit if you sign up through it. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Road Side Drive elsewhere
Other camps near Road Side Drive
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Howard Creek 4398~1.1 mi
- Howard 1~1.8 mi
- Earl Tennant Campground~2.0 mi
- Howard Creek 4236-1~2.2 mi
The unit that manages Road Side Drive
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Road Side Drive are set by Lolo National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Lolo Pass at 5,280 ft, about 11 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 — Road Side Drive
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 Road Side Drive
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 — Road Side Drive
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Leave no trace →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 →