Agency-listedVermont Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation · dispersedFree
Washington State Forest primitive camping area
Dispersed · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT · 44.04183, -72.38085
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 →Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation 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.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Washington State Forest primitive camping area
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,778 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Washington State Forest primitive camping areaNIFC · 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 Washington State Forest primitive camping area · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel5 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- GGrocery5 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- ShShower9 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- MMechanic10 mi
- WWater12 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- EVEV fast charger13 mi
- RxPharmacy13 mi
- OOutfitter16 mi
- DDump18 mi
- AAir-up18 mi
- PPropane48 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 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 — Washington State Forest primitive camping area
Access
Dispersed
Land
Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · dispersed
Elevation
1,778 ft
Ground slope
7.2% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~10.0 mi · industrial lead
State
VT
Coordinates
44.04183, -72.38085
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Washington State Forest primitive camping area · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureCookville Brook · ~0.4 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Also mapped (OSM)Cookeville Brook (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townSouth Washington · ~1.9 mi
- Nearest rail line~10.0 mi · industrial lead
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~4.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~17.5 mi
- GroceriesWashington Village Store · ~5.2 mi
- PharmacyHannaford Drive-thru Pharmacy · ~13.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicLittle Rivers Health Care Clinic · ~12.9 mi
- HardwareNelson Ace Hardware · ~12.4 mi
EV charging — from Washington State Forest primitive camping area · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger13.0 mi straight-line E — Norwich EV - Bradford Charging Center (at a parking lot) · AMPUP · CHAdeMO, J1772, CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-07-03 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach19 within 25 mi · 77 within 50 · 226 within 100 · 848 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)15.3 mi — Berlin, VT - Tesla Supercharger, Berlin
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)12.5 mi — VERMONT BGS GMP LEVEL 2-1, Barre, VT · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast charger$0.35 per kWh (as listed by AFDC)
- 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 398036 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Washington State Forest primitive camping area · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaRandolph South Rest Area · ~13.0 mi W
- Highway rest areaBradford South Parking Area · ~13.0 mi E
- Highway rest areaBradford North Rest Area · ~13.1 mi E
- Highway rest areaRandolph South Parking Area · ~14.2 mi SW
Coming out here — Washington State Forest primitive camping area · Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation · VT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Cookville Brook as a perennial stream, ~0.4 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 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 ~10.0 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as an industrial lead. No track the atlas classes as a main line is mapped within 10 mi. 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 Washington State Forest primitive camping area elsewhere
Other camps near Washington State Forest primitive camping area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Groton State Forest primitive camping area~9.6 mi
- Pine Mountain WMA primitive camping area 1~12.9 mi
- L.R. Jones State Forest primitive camping area~12.9 mi
- Pine Mountain WMA primitive camping area 2~13.6 mi
Who holds the land at Washington State Forest primitive camping area
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Washington State Forest, for which PAD-US names no manager; it records the owner as VT Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Washington State Forest primitive camping area
Stay limit
3 nights (up to three consecutive nights)
Source
public land records
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
Designated primitive camping area mapped by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Polygon OBJECTID 1 in the FPR atlas layer "Primitive Camping Areas" (https://anrmaps.vermont.gov/arcgis/rest/services/map_services/MAP_ANR_ANRATLASFPR_WM_NOCACHE/MapServer/22, read 2026-08-16), on Washington State Forest. The state maps this area in 1 separate part(s); this pin is inside the largest, about 357 acres, and sits about 490 m (1608 ft) from that part's nearest boundary. The coordinate was round-tripped against the state's own server: an intersects query at this exact point returns OBJECTID 1 and nothing else. THIS PIN IS AN AREA, NOT A SITE. Vermont publishes a polygon inside which dispersed camping is legal, not a tent pad. The coordinate here is the interior point of that polygon that is farthest from its own boundary, computed from the state's published geometry -- it is a 'somewhere in here' pin. Because Vermont's rule is a setback rule, you still have to walk 1,000 ft off any road and 200 ft off any trail once you are inside. Re-pin before shipping. ELEVATION AT THIS PIN: 1778 ft, from the USGS Elevation Point Query Service (https://epqs.nationalmap.gov/v1/json, read 2026-08-16). That is below the 2,500 ft line above which Vermont prohibits primitive camping, so the pin itself clears that rule -- but the area extends uphill in places and you do not. Washington State Forest, Central Vermont district office (802) 476-0171. VERMONT PRIMITIVE CAMPING RULES (Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation, quoted from https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/activities/camping/primitive-camping, read 2026-08-16): "Primitive camping is available in state forests, at some undeveloped state parks as well as some Wildlife Management Areas. This is not car camping. You must backpack in at least 1,000 feet from any road. There is no public drinking water or toilet facilities, no reservations or assigned sites. Vermont does not offer free, dispersed car camping on its state lands." Guidelines, same page: camping must be at least 100 ft from any stream or body of water; at least 200 ft from any trail or property line and 1,000 ft from any traveled road; "Camping is allowed up to three consecutive nights in the same area"; "Groups of eleven or more individuals must obtain a permit from the District Office"; "Only dead and down trees or branches may be used for firewood"; "Camping above 2500 feet in elevation is prohibited unless otherwise designated." Permits are not required for small parties. NO FEE. WATER: the state says there is no public drinking water at primitive camping areas. Carry your own. Do not treat any stream, pond or spring here as potable. Cross-checked against the FPR primitive camping page, which lists a downloadable camping guide for this unit. NEAREST TOWN: the point falls inside the town of Washington, Vermont (VCGI town boundary layer, read 2026-08-16). Vermont towns cover the whole state, so this is the municipality, not necessarily the nearest place with a store. SOURCE PAGES: https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/activities/camping/primitive-camping ; https://vtfishandwildlife.com/hunt/find-a-place-to-hunt/find-a-wildlife-management-area/authorized-and-prohibited-activities-on-fw-lands/primitive-camping-on-wmas ; https://fpr.vermont.gov/sites/fpr/files/documents/camels_hump_trails.pdf | 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 Washington State Forest primitive camping area
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 — Washington State Forest primitive camping area
Finding water out here →Cold-weather camping →Stay limits →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →