Agency-listedUSFSFeeOpen todayRoad season: open (MVUM)
South Fork
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CO · 39.79561, -106.02891
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.
Can I go now? — South Fork · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
Open today Season Jun 5 – Oct 11. Closes after Oct 11.
U.S. Forest Service record: “June 5 - Oct 11” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — South Fork · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 138.2 (Sugarloaf Cg), 50 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 138.2 (Sugarloaf Cg), 50 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 138.2 (Sugarloaf Cg): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; 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 South Fork
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,959 ft.
Fire & smoke — around South ForkNIFC · 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 South Fork · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater0 mi
- FFuel11 mi
- GGrocery11 mi
- AAir-up11 mi
- EVEV fast charger11 mi
- HHardware11 mi
- OOutfitter11 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- @Mail12 mi
- PPropane12 mi
- LLaundry12 mi
- ShShower14 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- MMechanic16 mi
- DDump28 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 11 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 — South Fork
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
8,959 ft
Ground slope
2.3% · flat
Nearest highway
~9.0 mi · Interstate 70
State
CO
Coordinates
39.79561, -106.02891
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around South Fork · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSouth Fork Williams Fork · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townSilverthorne · ~9.9 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~9.0 mi · Interstate 70
- Drinking waterWater · ~0.1 mi
- FuelMaverik · ~10.7 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~11.7 mi
- Dump station~27.6 mi
- GroceriesMaverik · ~10.7 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~11.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicThe Steadman Clinic & Steadman Philippon Research Institute · ~14.8 mi
- HardwareBighorn · ~10.8 mi
EV charging — from South Fork · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger10.7 mi straight-line S — Silverthorne, CO - Ruby Ranch Rd - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · 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 reach25 within 25 mi · 99 within 50 · 378 within 100 · 451 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS11.2 mi — VOLVO CAR USA SILVERTHORN PL2, Silverthorne
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO11.2 mi — VOLVO CAR USA SILVERTHORN PL2, Silverthorne
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)10.8 mi — BLUE RIVER EV BR 2, Silverthorne, CO · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 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 194064 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around South Fork · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletSouth Fork · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSugarloaf · ~0.4 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWilliams Fork Boardwalk Th · ~0.6 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletColumbine Landing · ~6.2 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — South Fork · Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps South Fork Williams Fork 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 2.3% — 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 is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) — abandoned, lifted and out-of-service track excluded, so a rail-trail does not count as one.
- Interstate 70 is mapped ~9.0 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 South Fork elsewhere
Other camps near South Fork
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Sugarloaf~0.4 mi · fee
- Blue River~7.3 mi · fee
- Horseshoe~8.0 mi · fee
- Byers Creek~8.9 mi · fee
The unit that manages South Fork
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at South Fork 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 Middle Fork Camp at 8,960 ft, less than a mile away. That is about the height of this camp, so it is a fair proxy. 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 — South Fork
Open season
June 5 - Oct 11
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: $27 per single site per night and $70 for the reservable group site. Three Arapaho & Roosevelt NF sources agree: the campground page (updated Jun 5 2026, status Site Open), the forest-wide campground status table (updated Aug 20 2026: 21 sites, 50-foot spur, first-come first-served with a reservable group site, $27 / $70, Jun 5 to Oct 11), and recreation.gov, which lists only the group site at $70 for Jun 5 to Oct 10 2026. The single sites are not reservable -- pay on site. Sulphur Ranger District. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/recreation/south-fork-campground, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/conditions and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234211.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
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 South Fork
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
- 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 — South Fork
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →What “dispersed” means here →Reading your camp page →All field notes →