Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Winding Stair
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · OK · 34.71499, -94.67898
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 — Winding Stair · Ouachita National Forest · OK
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR A56B (Winding Stair Mtn Trailhead), 0 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR A56B (Winding Stair Mtn Trailhead), 0 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR A56B (Winding Stair Mtn Trailhead): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; 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 Winding Stair
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,914 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Winding StairNIFC · 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 Winding Stair · Ouachita National Forest · OK
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail6 mi
- GGrocery14 mi
- FFuel17 mi
- RxPharmacy21 mi
- MMechanic21 mi
- HHardware21 mi
- +Urgent care21 mi
- LLaundry35 mi
- DDump37 mi
- ShShower37 mi
- OOutfitter38 mi
- EVEV fast charger39 mi
- WWater42 mi
- AAir-up48 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 42-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 14 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 39-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
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 — Winding Stair
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
1,914 ft
Ground slope
11.4% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~3.8 mi · main line
State
OK
Coordinates
34.71499, -94.67898
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Winding Stair · Ouachita National Forest · OK (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurenone named within 1 mi (USGS NHD)
- Nearest townHodgen · ~9.0 mi
- Nearest rail line~3.8 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelMountain Country Store · ~17.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesCJ's Corner Store · ~13.9 mi
- PharmacyLawson Pharmacy · ~21.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicRuben White Health Center · ~21.2 mi
- HardwareBargain Shack · ~21.2 mi
EV charging — from Winding Stair · Ouachita National Forest · OK — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger38.7 mi straight-line W — Kiamichi, Wilburton, OK · FCN · CHAdeMO, J1772, CCS · 4 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 · 7 within 50 · 49 within 100 · 167 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)54.5 mi — Van Buren, AR - Tesla Supercharger, Van Buren
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)24.5 mi — Best Western Prime Inn & Suites - Tesla Destination, Poteau, OK (at a hotel) · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-04-21 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- 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 156502 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Winding Stair · Ouachita National Forest · OK — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletWinding Stair · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWinding Stair · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPipe Springs · ~2.2 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHorsethief Springs · ~3.1 mi NW · USFS
Coming out here — Winding Stair · Ouachita National Forest · OK
- No named surface water mapped within 1 mi of the pin in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset (data refreshed October 2022), and none within about a mile and a half in our OpenStreetMap pull — which is not proof there is none, only that neither map has one. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 11.4% — 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.
- Rail line mapped ~3.8 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.
- 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.
- 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 Winding Stair elsewhere
Other camps near Winding Stair
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Winding Stair~0.2 mi · fee
- Billy Creek~3.4 mi
- Cedar Lake~4.1 mi · fee
- Ouachita WMA (Le Flore Unit) primitive camp #3~5.6 mi
The unit that manages Winding Stair
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Winding Stair are set by Ouachita National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Winding Stair
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.
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 Winding Stair
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 — Winding Stair
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Reading the aerial →All field notes →