Agency-listedUSFSFeeOpen todayRoad season: open (MVUM)
Roberts Tract
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · NE · 42.67862, -103.15112
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.
Can I go now? — Roberts Tract · Nebraska National Forest · NE
Open today Year-round per the agency record.
U.S. Forest Service record: “Year-round” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Roberts Tract · Nebraska National Forest · NE
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 737 (Roberts Tract), 60 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 737 (Roberts Tract), 60 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 737 (Roberts Tract): “01/01-12/31” 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 Roberts Tract
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,951 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Roberts TractNIFC · 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 Roberts Tract · Nebraska National Forest · NE
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- DDump7 mi
- ShShower7 mi
- @Mail9 mi
- MMechanic12 mi
- GGrocery12 mi
- FFuel12 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- LLaundry13 mi
- RxPharmacy13 mi
- WWater13 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 12 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 — Roberts Tract
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
3,951 ft
Ground slope
6.7% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~8.9 mi · main line
State
NE
Coordinates
42.67862, -103.15112
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Roberts Tract · Nebraska National Forest · NE (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureIndian Creek · ~0.9 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townWhitney · ~9.1 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.9 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- Fuelnone within 30 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~7.4 mi · permit required · Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- GroceriesWalmart Supercenter · ~12.2 mi
- PharmacyPetersen Drug · ~12.9 mi
- Mapping is thin out hereAn empty row means nothing is mapped within that radius — not that nothing exists. Small stores, seasonal resorts and single fuel pumps out here often never make it onto the map. Treat these as unconfirmed and ask locally.
EV charging — from Roberts Tract · Nebraska National Forest · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger12.4 mi straight-line NE — NPPD EV STATION CHDRN BGBTS DCS, Chadron, NE · 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 reach2 within 25 mi · 2 within 50 · 14 within 100 · 40 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)66.3 mi — Lusk, WY - Tesla Supercharger, Lusk
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)12.1 mi — CCH 825 CCH 2, Chadron, NE · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · 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 311796 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Roberts Tract · Nebraska National Forest · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletRoberts Tract · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRed Cloud · ~7.6 mi E · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCliffs · ~11.5 mi E · USFS
- RestroomBox Butte Recreation Management Area -Precast Restroom Building · ~15.1 mi S · BoR
Coming out here — Roberts Tract · Nebraska National Forest · NE
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Indian Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.9 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 6.7% — gentle. 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 ~8.9 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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.
- 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 Roberts Tract elsewhere
Other camps near Roberts Tract
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Bighorn WMA~4.4 mi
- West Ash~6.0 mi
- Chadron SP~7.0 mi · fee
- Red Cloud Campground~7.6 mi · fee
The unit that manages Roberts Tract
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Roberts Tract are set by Nebraska National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Roberts Tract
Open season
Year-round
Source
U.S. Forest Service recreation data
Confidence
Agency-confirmed — The managing agency's own record names this as a campsite and puts it at these coordinates. About as good as it gets short of standing here.
How it was placed
Developed FEE campground (not free) - review | nightshift-verified 2026-08-18: PROMOTED later -> approved. The old note said only "Developed FEE campground (not free) - review" with no source. Sourced today from the Forest Service itself: the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands camping index https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/nebraska/recreation/camping-cabins and the site page https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/nebraska/recreation/roberts-tract-camping-area-trailhead. Listed "Site Open", open year-round. 3 tent sites with tables and fire rings, plus one site in the parking area with a table and fire ring sized for horse trailers or campers; horse corrals, rider ramp and stock water (weather permitting). Overnight Use: Single Site $15/night including one vehicle, additional vehicle $7.50/night, pay onsite. Roberts Loop Trail begins at the campground: Pine Ridge National Recreation Area 0.5 mi, Pine Ridge Trail 2 mi, Coffee Mill Trailhead 8.2 mi, East Ash Trailhead 10.1 mi. Non-motorized travel only within the Pine Ridge NRA. FS page last updated 2026-06-30. FS-published coordinate 42.67861111,-103.1511111 matches our stored point to ~1 m. WATER: The Forest Service states "Potable water is not available at this site." The stock water is for livestock and is weather-dependent; treat it as NOT potable.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
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 Roberts Tract
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
- 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 — Roberts Tract
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →How to read this page →All field notes →