Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Smarts Mountain Campsite
Dispersed · U.S. Forest Service · NH · 43.82413, -72.03441
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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Smarts Mountain Campsite
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,194 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Smarts Mountain CampsiteNIFC · 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 Smarts Mountain Campsite · 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
- MMechanic6 mi
- HHardware6 mi
- FFuel7 mi
- +Urgent care7 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- LLaundry8 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- WWater14 mi
- AAir-up15 mi
- OOutfitter18 mi
- ShShower28 mi
- DDump30 mi
- PPropane32 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 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 — Smarts Mountain Campsite
Access
Dispersed
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
3,194 ft
State
NH
Coordinates
43.82413, -72.03441
Cost
Free · no fee, per the land manager's own page (https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/whitemountain/recreation/smarts-mountain-campsite, read 2026-09-26)
Nearby & resupply — around Smarts Mountain Campsite · White Mountain National Forest · NH (OpenStreetMap)
- Nearest townFairlee · ~7.9 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelShawnee's General Store · ~6.8 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~29.7 mi
- GroceriesPatterson's Grocery and Deli · ~7.6 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~11.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicDartmouth-Hitchcock Lyme · ~7.1 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~6.2 mi
Nearby restrooms — around Smarts Mountain Campsite · White Mountain National Forest · NH — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomDOC Smarts Mtn Fire Warden's Cabin Privy 1 · ~0.2 mi W · NPS
- RestroomHexacuba Shelter · ~3.6 mi N · USFS
- RestroomDOC Trapper John Shelter Privy · ~4.8 mi SW · NPS
- RestroomTrapper John Shelter · ~4.8 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Smarts Mountain Campsite · White Mountain National Forest · NH
- No surface water within about a mile and a half in our records — which is not proof there is none, only that we found none. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- 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 Smarts Mountain Campsite elsewhere
Other camps near Smarts Mountain Campsite
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Hexacuba Shelter~3.6 mi
- Trapper John Shelter~4.8 mi
- Ore Hill Tentsite~7.8 mi
- Moose Mountain Shelter~8.8 mi
The unit that manages Smarts Mountain Campsite
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Smarts Mountain Campsite are set by White Mountain National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Smarts Mountain Campsite
Source
public land records
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
USFS Recreation Area Activities, activity 'Dispersed Camping', pulled 2026-09-19: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whitemountain/recarea/?recid=74723 | state resolved by forest(one state); other sources disagreed | agency openstatus: none || REVIEW 2026-09-26 (nightshift-verified, fire 2510): The recid URL above now 301s to the forest's recreation landing page. Live page https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/whitemountain/recreation/smarts-mountain-campsite (read 2026-09-26): Summit of Smarts Mountain (3,240 ft) on the Appalachian Trail: the former fire warden's cabin, maintained by the Dartmouth Outing Club, 'accommodates eight'; privy; 'Three primitive tent-sites are available just south on the Lambert Ridge Trail (Appalachian Trail)'. 'Water is accessed via the blue-blazed Daniel Doan Trail at the marginally reliable Mike Murphy spring.' 'No Fee Required.' Page lat/lon 43.82413495,-72.03441221 = this pin. APPROVED: the page states a shelter cabin and three tent sites at this point. EDW SMARTS MOUNTAIN SHELTER agrees to 1 m. Nothing published within 4 km. camp_type backcountry, because this is a summit reached only on foot. The page gives NO trail distance and I did not invent one. Water: the spring is 'marginally reliable' and is natural water, not potable; treat it. WMNF alerts: the Rattlesnake Fire (Pemigewasset RD) areas reopened 2026-08-26 and do not include Smarts | No fee 2026-09-26: "No Fee Required." Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/whitemountain/recreation/smarts-mountain-campsite -- statement verified on that page (camp_type before this review: None)
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 Smarts Mountain Campsite
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 — Smarts Mountain Campsite
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →