Mills River Dispersed
TThe Dyrt PRO User
Reviewed May. 5, 2023

Beautiful, mostly peaceful, inconvenient

*this is just for the free campsites- there appears to be paid campsites and maybe RV hook ups very close by.

Pros:

  1. Gorgeous lush forest
  2. ice-cold flowing stream (in May) immediately off most camp spots
  3. well maintained and leveled places to pitch a tent.
  4. except for occasional cars, very very peaceful and far from any urban life or freeway.

Cons:

  1. No cell service (Verizon) without driving 10 minutes, and then patchy for another 10-15
  2. camp spots are mostly immediately off the road. It’s a very isolated place, so you have inconsistent privacy and peace and quiet.
  3. several cars drove by and woke me up after 11pm.
  4. the dirt road to get there as well as the pull off for the campsite are rough and a bit dangerous for low/regular cars. It’s doable but you should go very slow and watch out for giant holes and ridges. I bottomed out going into the parking space, and I lifted my Prius 1.5in

TO NOTE: Google maps incorrectly told me to take a right once I was on the dirt road that doesn’t exist. Just ignore it and keep going forward.

Explored up to campsite 4 the next day. Campsite 3 is a larger group site and a bit further off the road.

It’s not true “dispersed” camping because they have designated site you are supposed to stay at. Im not sure how many there are, but I only got up to #4, driving about 5-10 min down the dirt road.

Site#1
Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Play button icon
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023
  • Review photo of Mills River Dispersed by Tavi C., May 5, 2023