★ Field-verified · Dave's ownUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
San Bernardino National Forest
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · San Bernardino County, CA · 34.23190, -116.98004
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 U.S. Forest Service land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
Very serene, designated (yellow post) campsite located in San Bernardino National Forest, near Big Bear Lake. Surrounded by rock formations and beautiful pine trees. Has picnic table and fire ring. Popular area for primitive camping, so site may be occupied in peak season. First come, first serve. The surrounding area is worthy of exploration, and there may be other comparable camping opportunities. Sufficient space for several vehicles. Recommended. Poor cell service.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 13 July 2017. No agency publishes a season for this site itself (the road season below is the road's), so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — San Bernardino National Forest · San Bernardino National Forest · CA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 2N86B (Bear View), 20 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 2N86B (Bear View), 20 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 2N86B (Bear View): “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 San Bernardino National Forest
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,455 ft.
Fire & smoke — around San Bernardino National ForestNIFC · 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 San Bernardino National Forest · San Bernardino National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater2 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- EVEV fast charger4 mi
- MMechanic4 mi
- ShShower4 mi
- LLaundry4 mi
- DDump4 mi
- PPropane5 mi
- RxPharmacy6 mi
- HHardware6 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- AAir-up17 mi
- OOutfitter21 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 3 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 — San Bernardino National Forest
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
7,455 ft
Ground slope
2.1% · flat
County
San Bernardino County, CA
Coordinates
34.23190, -116.98004
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around San Bernardino National Forest · San Bernardino National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureKidd Creek · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townBig Bear Lake · ~5.0 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~1.8 mi
- FuelChevron · ~3.6 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~4.8 mi
- Dump station~4.3 mi
- GroceriesFawnskin Market · ~3.2 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~5.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~13.4 mi
- HardwareDIY Home Center · ~5.6 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
No signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
Yes
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from San Bernardino National Forest · San Bernardino National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger3.7 mi straight-line E — Big Bear Lake, CA - Tesla Supercharger (at a shopping center) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach64 within 25 mi · 266 within 50 · 1089 within 100 · 1308 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS5.6 mi — Homestreet Bank Big Bear, Big Bear Lake
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO5.6 mi — Homestreet Bank Big Bear, Big Bear Lake
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.8 mi — Sierra Blue Hotel and Swim Club - Tesla Destination, Big Bear Lake, CA · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 2 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 316899 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around San Bernardino National Forest · San Bernardino National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Flush restroomSerrano Cg · ~4.3 mi NE · USFS
- RestroomThurman Flats Picnic Area · ~9.0 mi S · USFS
- RestroomMorton Peak Lo · ~9.6 mi S · USFS
- RestroomMomyer Trailhead · ~10.7 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — San Bernardino National Forest · San Bernardino National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Kidd Creek as a perennial stream, ~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 2.1% — flat. 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.
- 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 San Bernardino National Forest elsewhere
Other camps near San Bernardino National Forest
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Bluff Mesa Group Campground~0.7 mi
- Boulder Group Cg~2.0 mi · fee
- Coldbrook Cg~2.9 mi
- Yellow Post 1~2.9 mi
The unit that manages San Bernardino National Forest
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at San Bernardino National Forest are set by San Bernardino National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — San Bernardino National Forest
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 (San Bernardino County, CA). 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.
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
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. He camped here on 13 July 2017. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about San Bernardino National Forest
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
- 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 — San Bernardino National Forest
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Stay limits →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →