Best Campgrounds near Denio, NV

Free, primitive campground along Capnip Reservoir in the Sheldon National Antelope Refuge. Backcountry permit not required to camp here. There are a handful of large sites, with metal firerings. Sites are level dirt surfaces surrounded by sagebrush. Can be muddy when wet. There are some tire ruts on the two tracks off of County Road 34A that you need to drive into the campground. 34A itself is a well maintained gravel road. Nice view of reservoir and surrounding hills. Very quiet. One vault toilet, clean & with tp. No water. Reservoir active with waterfowl & other birds. Coyotes at night. Fishing for cutthroat trout. Other than fishing and star gazing, there is not much to do here, but I really liked this location.

Loved the sound of the creek by the camp, hot springs wasn’t to hot, no shade so come prepared in the summer

Stayed 3 nights just off the parking area. The ground was a powdery dirt off the parking area and was everywhere. The hot springs were good in the morning and after 6 in the evening(water temp upper 80’s lower 90’s). Anytime in between they were too hot between 100-120 degrees. Won’t camp there again, made me nervous when people pulled up after 10 at night . I understand everyone has a right to. My dog found used toilet paper with feces dried on it, saw a lot of used toilet paper around. If checking out the hot springs or camping in the parking lot for one night it is a good place.

I think a lot of people go there for the hot springs, only a few stayed and camped. It was tidy, be sure to bring your own toilet paper just in case. Quiet and beautiful!

First of all there is this weird moon sand alkali ash dirty shit everywhere. Shit gets in your socks lol so wear sandals or something.

Don’t tent camp at the first road at the entrance, it may be private from the river but at night all the way to 1am visitors are walking and talking up and down that road it kinda pissed me off but I probably chose a bad spot. Maybe just go a bit further up stream, yes it’s a great idea to camp further up stream so you don’t have to deal with visitors and shit who aren’t even spending the night.

Don’t forget to check out dinio junction for supplies and gossip.

AMAXING spot tho the night ski was crackling with white stars. It was windy during the day to keep the heat off and strangle not windy at all night. (Peaceful sleep if not for the guests talking ) And again fuckin windy in the morning lol.

pretty cool site in the desert with mountain ranges surrounding you. the drive in goes from pavement, to gravel, to dirt roads with some gnarly trenches at the end but it’s not too bad and definitely worth it

First, do not use Apple Maps to get here. It will take you a turnoff two miles away and leave you wondering what to do next. Google maps will take you right to the vault toilet.

Second, if you’re looking for a HOT spring, this one might disappoint. It’s warm for sure but not hot at all.

Contrary to a previous poster, I saw no nudists here. Also disappointing but in this area, maybe I should count myself lucky.

The bathroom had no toilet paper. We left a roll, but it seems this is a continual problem.

That’s all the negatives.

Star gazing here is incredible. You’re 150 miles from any real metro (McDermit doesn’t count).

Nice deep fire rings that are safe with nice grill racks on them. Some sites can get muddy after a rain or melt off and one or two were actually under water when we were there.

We had a blast here though. Lots of walking around room. I would imagine this place gets packed on a weekend or holiday. We had the place to ourselves in a Tuesday night with the exception of an older gentleman in a bus who was very friendly.

Any vehicle can make it in here. It’s 25 miles of dirt road but it’s well maintained and 40mph is perfectly doable until you get to the turnoff to the site. The one mile stretch getting in there from the main road isn’t as well kept but you could still do it in a corolla.

We were also lucky enough to see a herd of antelope on the way in. Photos attached.

On Thursday (10/12/23)  I left home with the plan of driving to the Virgin Valley Hot Springs via 299/8A to see the Annular Solar Eclipse.  I arrived at the state line a tad later than expected and followed a beautiful graded 'dyrt' road.  The first camp I came across was Fish Spring.  I saw some open spaces and figured things were going to get busy with the eclipse, so I grabbed a spot.  Beautiful simplicity!!!  No real defined spots, but several areas of access.  Some pull-throughs were occupied by RVs, other spots had nothing but a car/tent combo.  One vault toilet was very clean & well-stocked with paper.  I could not find the spring or water spigot.  There is a horse corral but looks to be in poor condition.  A sign requests "pelletized feed only'.  There were only a handful of fire rings and no picnic tables.  This was my camp for 2 nights.  The following day I drove the rough Mud Spring Canyon Rd to the Royal Peacock Mine & Virgin Valley, and on Saturday, witnessed the Annular Eclipse from here.

I love this place, but be warned. It usually has people bathing in the hot springs nude. Some older people treat this location as a nudist colony. Luckily I don't mind and my kids are all adults and don't do adventures with me anymore. If you have kids, tread carefully. Usually there are many locals here and I never get the chance to jump in the hot springs since many monopolies the spring. I do like this area for 4X4 excursions, and off trail hiking. Sometimes Coyotes can be heard howling in the early morning hours of around 4:00 AM. Lots of birds for bird watchers, and a nice little creek. Stargazing is a must and very beautiful. The road is gravel and I suggest a truck or a 4X4 vehicle. It is not a must, but it makes it easier. I would have given this area five stars, but having no real access to the hot spring is a bummer so I give it three stars. Anywhere in Oregon's outback is a good day.

Chalk one up for private enterprise: The Alvord Ranch (which also owns the Alvord Hot Springs) is charging $60/night to camp at Pike Creek with no amenities other than open-air vault toilets (be sure to bring your own toilet paper!) I like the idea of paying for a campsite on private land to show the owners that there is intrinsic value in land in its natural state and that you can make money off your land without exploiting it. However, this land owner is trying to have it both ways, because the cows are not fenced out of the campground land (there was cow manure in our campsite.) Also, if you are going to charge for camping, you need to do some work on the land to make it into a campground and maintain it, such as: make it clear where the campsites are (there are no signs or markers), block off unnecessary side roads causing devegetation and erosion, make it clear where day-use hikers should park (they parked in our campsite), fix the road (2WD low clearance vehicles would have difficulty), provide level areas for tents (I saw only 2 places), provide picnic tables (there are none), and pick up litter (there was used toilet paper in our campsite.) The camping fee includes access to the hotspring, but when we drove there, both pools were totally full of people so we didn’t go in. We would rather have the option of paying less just for the campsite, or else let us reserve a time to use the hotspring and set a reasonable limit on the number of people in the pools at one time. The camping fee also includes access to the Indian Creek Canyon trail, but hiking the Pike Creek trail takes all day so we didn’t have time for another hike. The camping fee also includes the use of their private road to the playa, but you can drive onto it for free at Frog Springs just down the road, which is where we camped the night before. The gate to the campground is supposed to be locked, but both times we drove up, the lock was open. There are 2 locks on the chain and they only give you the combination to one of them, so whoever is using the other lock could accidentally lock you in or out. The Pike Creek trail is great and we enjoyed listening to the creek gurgling, the crickets singing, and the coyotes howling.

Well groomed dirt/gravel roads and many pullout/sites to choose from. Sites are pretty spread out and we only saw one other person out here. A local recommended we not go in the hot springs due to lots of biting bugs though

This is a simple campground...spaces laid out across the desert, pit toilets and a water spigot. The warm springs are awesome... a large pool with 90 degree water, and a bathhouse with two continuous flow springwater showers. Remember to take your trash with you.

The road here, yes, it’s 25 miles of gravel. The first 3 miles were great! We drove top speed of 55, then for the next 22 miles our top speed was 10mph. With having a camper truck the washboard road was more than it could handle.

We stayed in the spot next to the last spot in the camp, right next to a stream. At night we heard animals walking through it, it was beautiful. The most beautiful sunset also.

We took 2 dips in the pools. One during the day light and one after dark when the air cooled off.

The bathroom was very clean and no TP. We left a roll there and noticed someone else did too. So bring TP because there might not be any. No water resources so pack enough for your stay. We only stayed one night then headed off to Heart Mountain.

It was so beautiful and peaceful here, we would definitely stay again. Not a lot of campers as we stayed on a Tuesday night.

Choose tent wisely. A late night sandstorm came through and ripped our rainfly and tent was covered in sand. Had to sleep in car. I should have brought the smaller backpack tent. Beautiful place though. One night was enough.

Camped here on my way west. It was 100 degrees when I arrived. But after sunset the hot spring felt amazing. If stargazing is your thing, it doesn’t get much more dark sky than here.

Our trip was so amazing when we visited this camp site. We went opal mining and this campsites are right there at the entrance. It was so convent and beautiful. My favorite things about this spot.

• the view
• the fact that this is a free site and they still have bathrooms.
• the shower ( it's not temperature controlled and in a creepy spider webbed filled barn thing. But I totally loved that it added to the experience.)
• the little pod! So wonderful after a day in the sun mining. Things I didn't like
• it's right in the valley the wind was CRAZY! almost blew over the tent. We had to put everything in the tent to keep it down. It was also INCREDIBLY difficult to get the fire started because of the wind. With all the fire starters we had it took us a long time to get the logs to catch because the wind kept changing and putting it out.
• be aware some people drive ATV, motorcycles and stuff around the camp area.
• the ducks or what ever screaming all night. Normally I love the sound of nature at night but it sounded like people were murdering ducks all night. It was a bit much.

Great little gem. Just off the highway it made for a quick overnight stay on our road trip with the bonus of a hot spring river. The area was very desolate. But had a beautiful hot spring river right next to your camp spot. Slow moving river so it wasn’t had to sit in but still very clean. Great with my young kids.

Basic campsites, but some are very private. Either sides of camp offer amazing longer hikes to gorges coming off the steens mountain range. Fall colors were amazing, and still some water from the little Indian and blitzen rivers. Coyotes at night, pit toilets, solitude, plenty of trees. Is hot and dry in summer, but the exploration around it is breathtaking. Long dusty road but worth it. Wild horses and scenic

To truly feel the awe of this place it is best done driving out onto the lake bed and sleeping in the wild. You need to bring everything you’ll need. And very important: tag or mark your spot with gps if planning time leave playa to come back. The desert plays tricks on your eyes. The stunning steens mountain range and quiet are unmatched. Hot springs and good hikes and milkshakes nearby. Treat yourself