Agency-listedIDNR · dispersedFree
Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
Dispersed · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA · 40.95776, -93.59143
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 →Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Nearest town per agency page/address: Woodburn.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,078 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2NIFC · 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 Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2 · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail4 mi
- FFuel8 mi
- GGrocery10 mi
- MMechanic10 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- LLaundry10 mi
- HHardware11 mi
- RxPharmacy15 mi
- DDump25 mi
- EVEV fast charger27 mi
- OOutfitter27 mi
- AAir-up28 mi
- ShShower32 mi
- WWater33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 33-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 8 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
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 — Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
Access
Dispersed
Land
Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · dispersed
Elevation
1,078 ft
Ground slope
7.2% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~3.4 mi · main line
State
IA
Coordinates
40.95776, -93.59143
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2 · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurenone named within 1 mi (USGS NHD)
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelCasey's · ~8.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~25.0 mi
- GroceriesCasey's General Store · ~10.4 mi
- PharmacyHy-Vee Pharmacy · ~14.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicUnityPoint at Home · ~10.4 mi
- HardwareTrue Value · ~11.0 mi
- Nearest rail line~3.4 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
EV charging — from Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2 · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger27.1 mi straight-line N — ROUTE 65 HARLEY DCFAST HOG, Indianola, IA · ChargePoint Network · CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 29 within 50 · 68 within 100 · 188 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)28.1 mi — Lamoni, IA - Tesla Supercharger, Lamoni
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO29.7 mi — 101 E IA-92, Bevington
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)16.1 mi — Hotel Pommier Chariton - Tesla Destination · 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 183101 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2 · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 9 · ~11.3 mi W
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 13 · ~11.4 mi W
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 8 · ~25.0 mi SW
Coming out here — Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2 · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA
- No named surface water mapped within 1 mi of the pin in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset (data refreshed October 2022), and none within about a mile and a half in our OpenStreetMap pull — which is not proof there is none, only that neither map has one. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 7.2% — gentle. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~3.4 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak 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.
- 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 Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2 elsewhere
Other camps near Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 1~0.5 mi
- Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 3~1.5 mi
- Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 4~1.9 mi
- Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 5~1.9 mi
Who holds the land at Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Stephens State Forest, manager on record: a state department of natural resources. That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
Stay limit
14 nights (up to 14 consecutive nights)
Source
public land records
Confidence
Agency-confirmed — The managing agency's own record names this as a campsite and puts it at these coordinates. About as good as it gets short of standing here.
How it was placed
One of five backcountry pack-in campsites on the Woodburn Unit backpacking trail system, Clarke County. Picnic table and fire ring at the site; no modern restrooms, no electricity. IDNR Stephens State Forest: "Additionally, five backcountry pack-in campsites in the Woodburn Unit have picnic tables and fire rings at each campsite, along with a water hydrant available at the trailhead. There is no fee for these pack-in sites and they are first-come, first-serve. They do not have modern restroom facilities or electricity." Trailhead/parking for the backpack trail system is on 330th Avenue in Clarke County; the Woodburn Unit has more than six miles of backpacking trails. Source: https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-forests/stephens-state-forest (read 2026-08-16). The DNR GIS layer publishes exactly five backcountry campground points inside the Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Unit polygon, matching the five sites described. IDNR: "The backpacking campsites at the state forests are not available on the reservation system and are only available as walk-in sites." Source: https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-parks/make-reservation/overnight-camping (read 2026-08-16). Stay limit: "Campers may camp up to 14 consecutive nights in a state park, recreation area, or forest. Campers must then vacate the park (including removing the camping unit) for a minimum of 3 nights before camping in that park again." Source: https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-parks/make-reservation/overnight-camping (read 2026-08-16). Coordinates are Iowa DNR published points from the DNR Recreation Amenities GIS layer https://programs.iowadnr.gov/geospatial/rest/services/Recreation/Recreation/MapServer/8 (Type = Campground - Primitive / Campground - Remote), spatially joined to the DNR Public Areas layer https://programs.iowadnr.gov/geospatial/rest/services/Recreation/Recreation/MapServer/11 for the land manager. Both read 2026-08-16. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
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 Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
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 — Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Backpack Site 2
Water on public land →Stay limits →Your first dispersed night →Gear & rig loadout →All field notes →