Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 47.07312, -112.37063
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.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
No MVUM road within a quarter mile of the pin; the nearest mapped segment is FR 4083 (Pass Creek), 0.6 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 Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 5,613 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, MontanaNIFC · 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 Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail15 mi
- FFuel15 mi
- GGrocery15 mi
- HHardware17 mi
- WWater22 mi
- OOutfitter27 mi
- DDump32 mi
- MMechanic34 mi
- +Urgent care34 mi
- EVEV fast charger35 mi
- RxPharmacy36 mi
- LLaundry36 mi
- PPropane46 mi
- ShShower48 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 22-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 15 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 35-mi run (and back).
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 — Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
5,613 ft
Ground slope
11.1% · noticeable
State
MT
Coordinates
47.07312, -112.37063
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurePass Creek · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townStrom · ~12.9 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelExxon · ~15.1 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesCanyon Store · ~15.1 mi
- HardwareGrizzly Home Center · ~16.6 mi
EV charging — from Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger35.3 mi straight-line SE — Target T1282 (Helena, MT) · Electrify America · CCS · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 5 within 50 · 17 within 100 · 38 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)35.8 mi — Helena, MT - Tesla Supercharger, Helena
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO36.4 mi — L146 DC1, Helena
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)35.7 mi — Bill Roberts Golf Course, Helena, MT (at a recreation facility) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-04-14 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Trixi's Saloon - Tesla Destination, Ovando, 35.6 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas 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 279481 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletAlice Creek Trailhead · ~6.1 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletFlesher Pass Trailhead · ~7.1 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCummings Cabin · ~8.7 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletAspen Grove Picnic Area · ~10.0 mi SW · USFS
Coming out here — Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Pass Creek 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 11.1% — 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.
- 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 Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana elsewhere
Other camps near Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Pass Crk-Rd 4083-006~0.6 mi
- Pass Crk-Rd 4083-007~1.0 mi
- Pass Crk-Rd 4083-005~1.2 mi
- W Prong-Rd-1807-001~1.5 mi
The unit that manages Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana are set by Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Copper Bottom at 5,200 ft, about 11 miles away. It sits about 413 ft lower than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. 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 — Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
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 — Dispersed camp #796, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Forest road numbers →Picking a spot →All field notes →