Agency-listedUSFSFee
Summerdale
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · CA · 37.48923, -119.63371
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Summerdale · Sierra National Forest · CA
No MVUM road within a quarter mile of the pin; the nearest mapped segment is FR 05S009Y (Pine City), 0.3 mi away. 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 Summerdale
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,913 ft.
Fire & smoke — around SummerdaleNIFC · 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 Summerdale · Sierra National Forest · CA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater0 mi
- @Mail1 mi
- GGrocery1 mi
- EVEV fast charger1 mi
- DDump4 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- OOutfitter9 mi
- HHardware11 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- RxPharmacy11 mi
- ShShower17 mi
- MMechanic18 mi
- PPropane36 mi
- AAir-up39 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 1 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 — Summerdale
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
4,913 ft
Ground slope
14.1% · noticeable
State
CA
Coordinates
37.48923, -119.63371
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Summerdale · Sierra National Forest · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBig Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townFish Camp · ~0.8 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~0.2 mi
- FuelChevron · ~3.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~3.6 mi
- GroceriesFish Camp General Store · ~0.8 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~10.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicKaiser Permanente · ~10.6 mi
- HardwareBryant's Ace Hardware · ~10.6 mi
EV charging — from Summerdale · Sierra National Forest · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger1.1 mi straight-line S — Fish Camp, CA - Tesla Supercharger (at a hotel) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 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 reach8 within 25 mi · 66 within 50 · 211 within 100 · 1057 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS11.0 mi — DC CORRIDOR OAKHURST DC2, Oakhurst
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO11.0 mi — DC CORRIDOR OAKHURST DC2, Oakhurst
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.6 mi — Wawona Store and Post Office - P2, Yosemite Valley, CA (at a public site) · RIVIAN_WAYPOINTS · J1772 · 24 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveLevel 2, restricted access — Explorer Cabins at Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, Fish Camp, 0.8 mi · J1772 · hours: For guest use only · AFDC lists it “Free”
- 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 102020 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Summerdale · Sierra National Forest · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletSummerdale · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomWaB 4650 Mariposa Grove Picnic Area Vault Toilet · ~1.1 mi NE · NPS
- RestroomWaB SE 4606 South Entrance Restroom · ~1.2 mi N · NPS
- RestroomWaB 4702 Swinging Bridge Vault Toilet · ~1.5 mi NE · NPS
Coming out here — Summerdale · Sierra National Forest · CA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Big Creek as a perennial stream, 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.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 14.1% — noticeable. 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 and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on 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 Summerdale elsewhere
Other camps near Summerdale
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Goat Meadow Dispersed Campsite~0.5 mi
- Big Sandy~3.2 mi · fee
- Summit Camp~3.5 mi
- Nelder Grove~4.9 mi
The unit that manages Summerdale
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Summerdale are set by Sierra National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Summerdale
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: $47 per night, single site, plus $10 per extra vehicle and $2 more per night on holidays. recreation.gov 233837 books the same $47 standard non-electric for the 2026-05-08 to 2026-09-12 season. Bass Lake Ranger District, (559) 877-2218. Sources: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/sierra/recreation/summerdale-campground and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233837.
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 Summerdale
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 — Summerdale
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Hot-weather camping →Power off-grid →All field notes →