Agency-listedUSFSFree
Velvet Rocks Shelter
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · VT · 43.70267, -72.26475
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 — Velvet Rocks Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · VT
No MVUM road within 1 mi of the pin; 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 Velvet Rocks Shelter
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 998 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Velvet Rocks ShelterNIFC · 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 Velvet Rocks Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · VT
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery1 mi
- FFuel1 mi
- MMechanic1 mi
- AAir-up1 mi
- +Urgent care1 mi
- @Mail1 mi
- RxPharmacy1 mi
- LLaundry2 mi
- EVEV fast charger2 mi
- HHardware3 mi
- OOutfitter5 mi
- WWater13 mi
- ShShower15 mi
- PPropane24 mi
- DDump42 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Velvet Rocks Shelter
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
998 ft
Ground slope
31.5% · steep
Nearest rail line
~1.5 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~1.7 mi · Interstate 91
State
VT
Coordinates
43.70267, -72.26475
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Velvet Rocks Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · VT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureGirl Brook · ~0.7 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townHanover · ~0.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~1.5 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~1.7 mi · Interstate 91
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelMobil · ~0.9 mi
- Propane / LPGT-Bird Mini Mart · ~23.7 mi
- GroceriesCo-Op Food Stores - Hanover · ~0.8 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~1.3 mi
- Hospital / clinicDick's House · ~1.2 mi
- HardwareFogg's Hardware & Building Supply · ~2.7 mi
EV charging — from Velvet Rocks Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · VT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger2.4 mi straight-line W — Dan & Whit's General Store, Norwich, VT · VIALYNK · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach25 within 25 mi · 64 within 50 · 394 within 100 · 1027 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO3.3 mi — HYUNDAI LEBANON CPE 250 #1, Lebanon
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)0.7 mi — DC TRAN SVCS THOMPSON LOT #1, Hanover, NH · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 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 — Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, 1.9 mi · J1772 · hours: 5am-8pm daily; for staff, patient, and visitor 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 448033 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Velvet Rocks Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · VT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomVelvet Rocks Shelter · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomDOC Velvet Rocks Shelter Privy · ~3.3 mi S · NPS
- Highway rest areaLebanon Rest Area · ~3.7 mi S
- RestroomMoose Mountain Shelter · ~6.0 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Velvet Rocks Shelter · White Mountain National Forest · VT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Girl Brook as a perennial stream, ~0.7 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 31.5% — steep. 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 ~1.5 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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.
- Interstate 91 is mapped ~1.7 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 Velvet Rocks Shelter elsewhere
Other camps near Velvet Rocks Shelter
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Happy Hill Shelter~5.2 mi
- Moose Mountain Shelter~6.0 mi
- Trapper John Shelter~9.5 mi
- Thistle Hill Shelter~10.6 mi
The unit that manages Velvet Rocks Shelter
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Velvet Rocks Shelter are set by White Mountain National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Velvet Rocks Shelter
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
Free but developed (not dispersed) - review
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 Velvet Rocks Shelter
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 — Velvet Rocks Shelter
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Camping with a dog →All field notes →