Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Saddlebag Lake Cg
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 37.96451, -119.27081
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 — Saddlebag Lake Cg · Inyo National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 01N04E (Saddlebag Cg), 20 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 01N04E (Saddlebag Cg), 20 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 01N04E (Saddlebag Cg): “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 Saddlebag Lake Cg
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 10,183 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Saddlebag Lake CgNIFC · 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 Saddlebag Lake Cg · Inyo National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater7 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- LLaundry8 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- FFuel8 mi
- MMechanic8 mi
- DDump8 mi
- EVEV fast charger9 mi
- AAir-up16 mi
- OOutfitter20 mi
- +Urgent care23 mi
- HHardware28 mi
- RxPharmacy28 mi
- PPropane45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 8 mi out.
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 — Saddlebag Lake Cg
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
10,183 ft
Ground slope
7.7% · gentle
State
CA
Coordinates
37.96451, -119.27081
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Saddlebag Lake Cg · Inyo National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSaddlebag Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townVirginia Lakes · ~5.5 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~7.3 mi
- FuelChevron · ~8.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~8.4 mi
- GroceriesTuolumne Meadows Store · ~7.8 mi
- PharmacyVons Pharmacy · ~28.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicYosemite Medical Clinic · ~22.6 mi
- HardwareHigh Country Lumber (Ace Hardware) · ~27.9 mi
EV charging — from Saddlebag Lake Cg · Inyo National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger8.7 mi straight-line E — Lee Vining, CA (at a public site) · RIVIAN_ADVENTURE · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 17 within 50 · 159 within 100 · 647 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO34.9 mi — GF4EVA RUSH CREEK DC, Groveland
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.9 mi — Yosemite National Park - Tuolumne Meadows (at a public site) · RIVIAN_WAYPOINTS · J1772 · 4 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 391225 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Saddlebag Lake Cg · Inyo National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletSaddlebag Lake Cg · at this camp · USFS
- Flush restroomTrailhead Group Cg (At Saddlebag Lake) · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomSaddlebag Lake Th · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSaddlebag Lake Day Use · at this camp · USFS
Coming out here — Saddlebag Lake Cg · Inyo National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Saddlebag Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.1 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 7.7% — 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.
- 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 Saddlebag Lake Cg elsewhere
Other camps near Saddlebag Lake Cg
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Sawmill Walk-in Campground~0.5 mi
- Sawmill Walk-In Cg~0.6 mi
- Junction Campground~2.1 mi · fee
- Ellery Cg~2.3 mi · fee
The unit that manages Saddlebag Lake Cg
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Saddlebag Lake Cg are set by Inyo National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Saddlebag Lake Cg
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. | Fee 2026-08-22: $30 per night, single site, plus $10 per vehicle per night for each additional vehicle. Bear boxes are provided and their use is required. Mono Basin Ranger District. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/inyo/recreation/saddlebag-lake-campground.
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 Saddlebag Lake Cg
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 — Saddlebag Lake Cg
Camping at altitude →When the high country opens →Camping near a reservoir →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →