Best Dispersed Camping near Dorris, CA

I don’t know who’s adding these dispersed camping spots on The Dyrt (as there are no reviews or any additional info other than the location) but it’s much appreciated. We stopped to check this place out and would have stayed here for the night but decided to keep going and check out one more place first. 

The location is easily accessed from the main road, no problems for our 26ft Class C. Cell service was surprisingly good for both Verizon and ATT. There’s a messy little fire pit here, but no other markers. The spot is off the road and has some sad blackened or dead trees surrounding it. 

This area is still recovering from a big fire in 2020 and there are piles of burned logs and debris all over the area, giving it a desolate feel. The area is nice and quiet though, and very little traffic. Would make a great stop for a few days.

Needed a place stay for just two nights. This spot was not too far off the road, there were some bumps getting there but my Chevy Trax was able to get there just fine. The area was flat and no one else was there. Our T-Mobile phones had a small amount of Service in our campsite but not on the road to get there.

Seems like it would’ve been a cool spot to stay out there, but there were some serious red flags.

First off, there was a rusted out old truck on one of the dirt roads by the spots. Next to that was a makeshift beat up tin shed and a pickup truck leaning on it. I went close to it, but didn’t feel great about truly investigating without a gun.

Second, there was trash everywhere. And not like camping trash. In addition to the beer cans and bottles were bags of who knows what in them. The few wrappers I saw were for frozen burritos.

Lastly was the furniture around one of the campsites as well as some rope tied around the tree and on the ground. Almost looked like someone got tied to a tree and freed themselves.

I didn’t take pics of everything but there was enough there to trust my gut and leave.

I’m an athletic man and confident I could defend myself, but something felt wrong about everything back there.

Maybe someone else is braver than I and will go investigate the trash and the trucks, but I’d advise you just to go closer to the park and even suck it up and pay a fee to avoid whatever is going on back there.

After checking out South Lava Beds and West Tionesta (so named on The Dyrt app) this was the winner for us. There was greenery and living trees all around and it made for such a nicer environment. On Sunday, the area was completely silent, except for birds chirping. One logging truck drove by, as well as one park ranger truck, otherwise we didn’t see anybody.  However. On Monday morning all the trucks started rolling through. We left about 9 or 10am and maybe 10 trucks had gone by.  And they're noisy.  And the dirt they kick up is fine and silty, so it just floats around long after they've passed. Definitely a buzz kill! We were debating staying two nights, but the trucks convinced us to leave.

 Good enough (not great) cell service for both Verizon and ATT. We actually didn’t need to use our levels for this spot, which is always a treat. Easy access for our 26ft class c and I believe bigger rigs would be ok here as well. No amenities here, obviously, so please pack out your trash.

There is no camping here, its strictly a parking lot used for bathroom use, rest area, or use of seasonal trails. If you use the trails and leave your vehicle for a long period, you must have a permit otherwise an officer will give you a ticket. There is an area to let pets out off leash and occasional pond between seasons.

There’s nothing here except the highway but you can drive down the bike trail and stay there as well, just so your further away from the lot and the road.

Dirt road leads too many places to camp. Most vehicles should have no problem getting to a site. Some places can be difficult turning around for larger campers. My Crosstrek loved it.