Campsites for a low car
12 of the 99 campsites with a page qualify.
A low car copes with gravel. What it does not cope with is gravel on a grade, where the front air dam meets the road at the bottom of the dip and the rear wheels have to find the climb out.
The app filters on the road rating; the grade cut is this page’s, from the same data.
Independent, free, and built by campers. Not a DNR service.
- Booking
- None. Sites are first come, first served.
- Fee
- $10 a night for a standard site, $20 for a group site, paid at headquarters. Maryland DNR.
- Check in
- Sign the sheet at headquarters when you arrive, then go to the site.
- Is it free tonight?
- This page cannot know. The app shows what the sign-up sheet last showed, with the photo's age.
Gravel-rated road in, and nothing steeper than 8 per cent anywhere on the approach.
- The test
- Drive rating gravel and a steepest approach grade under 8%. The steepest campsite approach in the forest is 25.6%; the median is 12.0%.
- Where it comes from
- The grade is read along the routed approach from the USGS 3DEP elevation model — the steepest single stretch, not an average over the drive.
- What it does not mean
- Grade is not ground clearance over a rut, and a model of the road surface is not a photograph of it after rain. Ask at headquarters if the week has been wet.
All 12, gentlest grade first
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Campsite 1
Valley-floor, by a creek, easy in, some noise.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 3.5%
- 0.2 mi unpaved, 9 min from headquarters
- 5 ft of climb from the pavement
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Campsite 34
Ridge-top, by a creek, easy in, quiet.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 4.3%
- 4.0 mi unpaved, 21 min from headquarters
- 141 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 100
Upper slope, by a creek, easy in, some noise.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 4.6%
- 0.1 mi unpaved, 33 min from headquarters
- 0 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 38
Upper slope, easy in, quiet, secluded.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.5%
- 4.1 mi unpaved, 27 min from headquarters
- 154 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 93
Bench, by the river, easy in, quiet.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.5%
- 6.2 mi unpaved, 52 min from headquarters
- 114 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 35
Upper slope, easy in, quiet.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.6%
- 4.4 mi unpaved, 27 min from headquarters
- 164 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 94
Bench, by the river, easy in, quiet.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.6%
- 6.2 mi unpaved, 52 min from headquarters
- 113 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 95
Bench, by the river, easy in, quiet.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.6%
- 6.2 mi unpaved, 52 min from headquarters
- 111 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 2
Hollow, by a creek, easy in, some noise.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.7%
- 1.2 mi unpaved, 12 min from headquarters
- 91 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 96
Bench, by the river, easy in, quiet.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.7%
- 6.2 mi unpaved, 52 min from headquarters
- 113 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 3
Valley-floor, by a creek, easy in, some noise.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.8%
- 2.0 mi unpaved, 14 min from headquarters
- 139 ft of climb from the pavement
-
Campsite 91
Bench, by the river, easy in, quiet.
- Steepest grade on the way in: 7.8%
- 6.2 mi unpaved, 52 min from headquarters
- 113 ft of climb from the pavement
The other shortlists
- Easy-access campsites 12
- River campsites 9
- Quiet campsites 69
- Campsites for a camper van or a trailer 14
- Campsites with the most open sky 22
- Sunny campsites 48
Every list is built from the same data, and a site can appear on several of them.
Provenance
This list is generated from open data at build time, not compiled by hand. Nothing on it is a recommendation: it is a test, run over every campsite, with the test written at the top of the page so you can disagree with it.
- Elevation, landform, slope, the horizon profile, sun times and the steepest grade on the approach come from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP).
- Roads, surfaces and watercourses come from OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed ODbL.
- Campsite coordinates and sections come from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources campsite layer.
- Pitch tags — room for a trailer, secluded, a view — come from campers, and are the only thing here that is a judgement rather than a measurement.
- Availability comes from nowhere, because there is no source for it. See above.
Independent, free, and built by campers. Not a DNR service. Greenridge is not affiliated with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources or any government agency, and the forest’s own rules always win.