Agency-listedUSFSFree
Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · NH · 44.04960, -71.38022
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 site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. 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 — Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms · White Mountain National Forest · NH
No MVUM road within 1 mi of the pin; access may be a county road or unmapped.
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 Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,938 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent PlatformsNIFC · 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 Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms · White Mountain National Forest · NH
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail5 mi
- ShShower6 mi
- LLaundry7 mi
- GGrocery9 mi
- FFuel10 mi
- WWater11 mi
- MMechanic12 mi
- OOutfitter12 mi
- RxPharmacy13 mi
- HHardware13 mi
- EVEV fast charger13 mi
- DDump18 mi
- +Urgent care25 mi
- AAir-up38 mi
- PPropane44 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 9 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 — Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
1,938 ft
Nearest rail line
~2.8 mi · main line
State
NH
Coordinates
44.04960, -71.38022
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms · White Mountain National Forest · NH (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSawyer Pond · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Also mapped (OSM)Little Sawyer Pond (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townLivermore · ~1.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.8 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~8.9 mi
- FuelPatch's Deli and Market · ~10.5 mi
- Propane / LPGSuburban Propane · ~27.9 mi
- Dump station~18.0 mi
- GroceriesJugtown Country Store · ~9.2 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~13.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicMemorial Hospital · ~12.1 mi
- HardwareAubuchon Hardware · ~14.3 mi
EV charging — from Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms · White Mountain National Forest · NH — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger13.4 mi straight-line E — North Conway, NH - Tesla Supercharger (at a shopping center) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 37 within 50 · 286 within 100 · 808 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS26.8 mi — ECODRIVE BCAG 3, Gorham
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO26.8 mi — ECODRIVE BCAG 3, Gorham
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.6 mi — Attitash Mountain Village Resort, Glen, NH (at an other entertainment) · AMPUP · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-05-09 · hours: Contact site for information
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — The Notchland Inn - Tesla Destination, Hart's Location, 4.7 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
Level 2, restricted access — Attitash Mountain Village Resort, Bartlett, 7.8 mi · J1772 · hours: Contact station for hours of availability - 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 203258 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms · White Mountain National Forest · NH — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomMt. Tremont · ~2.8 mi NE · USFS
- RestroomSawyer River Road Snowmobile · ~2.9 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletFourth Iron Backcountry Site · ~3.0 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSawyer Rock · ~3.1 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms · White Mountain National Forest · NH
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Sawyer Pond as a perennial lake or pond, under 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.
- Rail line mapped ~2.8 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. 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 Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms elsewhere
Other camps near Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Fourth Iron Backcountry Site~3.0 mi
- Jigger Johnson~4.2 mi · fee
- Mt Langdon Camping Area~6.7 mi
- Blackberry Crossing~7.3 mi · fee
The unit that manages Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms are set by White Mountain National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
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
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review
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 Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
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 — Sawyer Pond Shelter & Tent Platforms
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Leave no trace →All field notes →