★ Field-verified · Dave's ownPublic land · dispersedFree
Routt County
Drive-up · public land · Routt County, CO · 40.52682, -106.74267
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 →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on public land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
A high-elevation clear area in the mountains northeast of Steamboat Springs. Has fire ring. Enough room for one or two vehicles. This mountain is very popular for boondockers and outdoor enthusiasts. There are numerous potential campsites in the area, but many will be occupied in peak season. Some cell service. Recommended due to proximity to Steamboat.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 21 June 2018. No agency publishes a season for this site, so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Routt County
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 9,608 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Routt CountyNIFC · 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 Routt County · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater4 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- RxPharmacy6 mi
- OOutfitter6 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- ShShower6 mi
- +Urgent care6 mi
- HHardware6 mi
- LLaundry6 mi
- DDump18 mi
- MMechanic28 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 6 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 — Routt County
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
9,608 ft
Ground slope
6.4% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~5.6 mi · main line
County
Routt County, CO
Coordinates
40.52682, -106.74267
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Routt County · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSpring Creek · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Also mapped (OSM)North Fork Fish Creek (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townSteamboat Springs · ~5.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~5.6 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~3.5 mi
- FuelMaverik · ~6.3 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~17.9 mi
- GroceriesNatural Grocers · ~5.5 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~6.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicYampa Valley Medical Center · ~5.8 mi
- HardwareACE Hardware · ~6.3 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
Yes
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Routt County · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger5.7 mi straight-line SW — 910 Yampa St, Steamboat Springs, CO · LOOP · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-07-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 175 within 100 · 405 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)37.3 mi — Kremmling, CO - Park Avenue - Tesla Supercharger, Kremmling
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO6.0 mi — MAVERIK SB SPRINGS PL1, Steamboat Springs
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.5 mi — Rabbit Ears Motel, Steamboat Springs, CO · Blink Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast charger$35 monthly service fee; $0.48 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 453140 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Routt County · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletDry Lake · ~2.2 mi W · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBuffalo Pass · ~3.3 mi E · USFS
- RestroomPowerline · ~3.3 mi E · USFS
- RestroomGranite Picnic Site · ~3.3 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Routt County · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Spring Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.2 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 6.4% — gentle. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (10 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 ~5.6 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.
- 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 Routt County elsewhere
Other camps near Routt County
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Dry Lake Campground~2.2 mi
- Granite Campground~3.4 mi · fee
- Summit Lake~3.4 mi · fee
- Hidden Lakes~7.2 mi · fee
The unit that manages Routt County
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Routt County are set by Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Dry Lake at 8,240 ft, about 2 miles away. It sits about 1,368 ft lower than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. 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 — Routt County
Source
Dave's own travels
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Routt County, CO). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
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
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. He camped here on 21 June 2018. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Routt County
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.
- How many rigs actually fit
- 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 — Routt County
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Camping with a dog →All field notes →