Agency-listedMunicipalFree
Rocky Pond (Belleville)
Drive-up · public land · KS · 39.83085, -97.61971
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 →The land manager lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
TENTS CAMP FREE at Belleville's Rocky Pond; RVs do not. The city is explicit that tent camping and use of the shelters and picnic areas are free on a first-come first-served basis, while the 15 RV spots with water, electric and sewer run $20 a night (50-amp only). There is a sewer dump by the restrooms. No reservations are taken. Belleville is on US-36 and US-81 and is worth a stop for the high-banked dirt track. The deal these towns offer is simple: camp free, and they hope you buy fuel, groceries or dinner in town. Be a good guest and it stays free for the next traveler. Town rules change often and we have not visited -- confirm current rules with the town before you go.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Rocky Pond (Belleville)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,501 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Rocky Pond (Belleville)NIFC · 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 Rocky Pond (Belleville) · public land · KS
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- ShShower0 mi
- MMechanic1 mi
- RxPharmacy1 mi
- +Urgent care1 mi
- @Mail1 mi
- FFuel1 mi
- GGrocery1 mi
- EVEV fast charger1 mi
- HHardware18 mi
- DDump23 mi
- OOutfitter26 mi
- WWater52 mi
- LLaundry54 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 52-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 1 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 — Rocky Pond (Belleville)
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
1,501 ft
Nearest rail line
~0.2 mi · yard track
State
KS
Coordinates
39.83085, -97.61971
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Rocky Pond (Belleville) · public land · KS (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureRocky Pond (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- USGS NHDno named surface water within 1 mi
- Nearest townBelleville · ~0.8 mi
- Nearest rail line~0.2 mi · yard track
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelLove's · ~1.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesThriftway Foodmart · ~1.0 mi
- PharmacyHealth Mart Pharmacy · ~18.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicRepublic County Hospital · ~1.3 mi
- HardwareHardware · ~27.2 mi
EV charging — from Rocky Pond (Belleville) · public land · KS — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger1.0 mi straight-line W — LOVE'S 647 - KS #647 DC2, Belleville, KS · ChargePoint Network · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach5 within 25 mi · 7 within 50 · 52 within 100 · 137 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO24.0 mi — 81 EXPRESS EAST STATION, Hebron
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)0.8 mi — Belleville EV Charging Station - Tesla Destination (at a street parking) · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 6 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 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 460981 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Rocky Pond (Belleville) · public land · KS — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Rocky Pond (Belleville) · public land · KS
- Surface water mapped nearby: Rocky Pond (water). 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).
- Rail line mapped ~0.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a yard track. The nearest track the atlas classes as a main line is ~0.5 mi from the pin. 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 Rocky Pond (Belleville) elsewhere
Other camps near Rocky Pond (Belleville)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Airport Park Campground (Concordia)~19.6 mi
- Little Blue WMA~23.2 mi
- Little Blue East WMA~24.0 mi
How we know this — Rocky Pond (Belleville)
Stay limit
None published
Source
municipal park records
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
Camping rules: City of Belleville official site, https://www.cityofbellevillekansas.com/parks-department , fetched 2026-07-20, quote: 'Camping in tents and use of the shelters and picnic areas are free, on a first come first serve basis.' Same page: 'RV hookups are available at Rocky Pond for $20 per night, $125 per week or $500 per month.' Coordinates: OSM way 263536290 'Rocky Pond' via the Nominatim public geocoder -- this is the POND polygon, so the point is the water body and the campsites ring it; expect to be a short distance off this pin. No stay limit or season is stated by the city. Verified 2026-07-20.
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 Rocky Pond (Belleville)
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 — Rocky Pond (Belleville)
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →Dumping grey & black →Picking a spot →All field notes →