Agency-listedUSFSFee
Sleeping Elephant
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 40.68255, -105.77274
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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Sleeping Elephant
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,842 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Sleeping ElephantNIFC · 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 Sleeping Elephant · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- WWater0 mi
- @Mail10 mi
- ShShower14 mi
- GGrocery14 mi
- EVEV fast charger24 mi
- RxPharmacy25 mi
- FFuel25 mi
- +Urgent care25 mi
- OOutfitter25 mi
- MMechanic25 mi
- DDump26 mi
- LLaundry27 mi
- HHardware34 mi
- PPropane34 mi
- AAir-up36 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 14 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 — Sleeping Elephant
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
7,842 ft
State
CO
Coordinates
40.68255, -105.77274
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Sleeping Elephant · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Nearest townRed Feather Lakes · ~13.4 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~0.0 mi
- FuelSafeway · ~24.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~26.1 mi
- GroceriesTrading Post · ~13.7 mi
- PharmacyRocky Mountain Pharmacy · ~24.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicEstes Park Health Urgent Care Center · ~24.9 mi
EV charging — from Sleeping Elephant · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger24.5 mi straight-line SE — Estes Park, CO - Tesla Supercharger (at a hotel) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 7 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 reach1 within 25 mi · 39 within 50 · 318 within 100 · 411 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS25.0 mi — DC CORRIDOR ESTES PARK PL3, Estes Park
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO25.0 mi — DC CORRIDOR ESTES PARK PL3, Estes Park
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)12.6 mi — Red Feather Lakes Library (at a library) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-01-09 · hours: 10am-6pm daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveLevel 2, restricted access — Mountain Campus (seasonal), Bellvue, 12.2 mi · J1772 · hours: Contact campus gate for station availability; seasonal campus
- 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 102083 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Sleeping Elephant · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletSleeping Elephant · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletTunnel · ~2.1 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBig Bend · ~3.1 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBig South · ~3.9 mi SW · USFS
Open Sleeping Elephant elsewhere
Other camps near Sleeping Elephant
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Big Bend~3.1 mi · fee
- Big South~3.9 mi · fee
- Tunnel~4.4 mi · fee
- Aspen Glen~5.0 mi · fee
The unit that manages Sleeping Elephant
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Sleeping Elephant are set by Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Deadman Hill at 10,240 ft, about 9 miles away. It sits about 2,398 ft higher 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 — Sleeping Elephant
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 2026-08-24: $23 per night for a single site, and the forest publishes two discounts against it: the fee drops 25% when the water is off, and Interagency Senior, Interagency Access, Golden Age and Golden Access cardholders pay half price on basic campground fees. Two Arapaho & Roosevelt NF sources agree: the campground page (updated May 22 2026, status Site Open) and the forest-wide campground status table (updated Aug 20 2026: 15 sites, 20-foot maximum spur, first-come first-served, $23, May 22 to Sep 20). First-come, first-served -- pay on site. A DATA WARNING for the next reader: the recreation.gov link carried in the agency record for this camp points at facility 233941, 'WILLOW CREEK GROUP', which is 38.5 MILES away near Lake Granby. Its $116 group rate has nothing to do with Sleeping Elephant and is not quoted here. Canyon Lakes Ranger District, Poudre Canyon. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/recreation/sleeping-elephant-campground and https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/conditions.
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 Sleeping Elephant
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 — Sleeping Elephant
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →What “dispersed” means here →Off-grid communication →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →