Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Takhlakh Lake Cg
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · WA · 46.28084, -121.59862
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 — Takhlakh Lake Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 2329026 (Takhlakh Lake Cg), 30 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as bituminous surface treatment surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 2329026 (Takhlakh Lake Cg), 30 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 2329026 (Takhlakh Lake 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 Takhlakh Lake Cg
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,425 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Takhlakh Lake CgNIFC · 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 Takhlakh Lake Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater6 mi
- +Urgent care16 mi
- DDump20 mi
- MMechanic20 mi
- FFuel20 mi
- @Mail20 mi
- HHardware22 mi
- GGrocery23 mi
- EVEV fast charger23 mi
- PPropane23 mi
- ShShower25 mi
- LLaundry25 mi
- RxPharmacy37 mi
- OOutfitter39 mi
- AAir-up40 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 20 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 — Takhlakh Lake Cg
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
4,425 ft
Ground slope
12.2% · noticeable
State
WA
Coordinates
46.28084, -121.59862
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Takhlakh Lake Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureTakhlakh Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waterWater · ~5.9 mi
- FuelAndy's Valley Services · ~19.9 mi
- Propane / LPGPropane · ~23.3 mi
- Dump station~19.5 mi
- GroceriesFood Mart · ~22.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicInfirmary · ~16.2 mi
- HardwareLittle Mountain True Value · ~21.8 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
EV charging — from Takhlakh Lake Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger23.0 mi straight-line N — ESD PACKWOOD DCFC · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 23 within 50 · 397 within 100 · 644 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)37.4 mi — LC TRANSIT MORTON E-T 1, Morton
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)23.0 mi — ESD PACKWOOD L2 · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port 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 314134 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Takhlakh Lake Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletTakhlakh Lake Cg · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletTakhlakh Day Use Area Pg · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletOlallie Lake Cg · ~1.1 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHorseshoe Lake Cg · ~2.6 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Takhlakh Lake Cg · Gifford Pinchot National Forest · WA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Takhlakh Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~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 12.2% — 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 Takhlakh Lake Cg elsewhere
Other camps near Takhlakh Lake Cg
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Olallie Lake Cg~1.1 mi · fee
- Council Lake Cg~1.9 mi
- Horseshoe Lake Cg~2.6 mi · fee
- Killen Creek Cg~2.6 mi · fee
The unit that manages Takhlakh Lake Cg
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Takhlakh Lake Cg are set by Gifford Pinchot National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Takhlakh Lake Cg
Area rules
From December 1st through March 31st area is closed to all wheeled vehicles as it is a designated recreation snow route.
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: $25 per night, single site; double site $45, additional vehicle $8 per vehicle per night, day use $5 per vehicle per day. recreation.gov publishes the same $25 and $45 for the 2026 season (Jul 10 - Sep 19). From December 1 through March 31 the area is closed to all wheeled vehicles -- it is a designated recreation snow route. Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/giffordpinchot/recreation/campground-takhlakh-lake and https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232861.
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 Takhlakh Lake Cg
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
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- 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 — Takhlakh Lake Cg
Camping near a reservoir →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Leave no trace →All field notes →