Planning a dispersed camping trip near Orovada? Dispersed camping means that no facilities or amenities are provided, so that you can truly disconnect and get back to nature. Each dispersed site offers quick access to one or more of Orovada's most popular destinations.
24-hour stay limit. Overnight parking permitted; no camping or sleeping outside of vehicle.
Dispersed camping pull off near I-80
Ranger
This review is for Black Rock Desert, a BLM area to the West of this campground. As home to the famed Burning Man festival, its usually a serene desert when its not crowded with the Burning Man's 50,000 festival-goers. You can still see wagon tracks here from the Oregon trail! Word to the wise: there are no established campgrounds, but free camping is allowed throughout the park (probably why it's not on this site). One thing some people get confused by is that the sculptures that you've seen photos of are not permanent installations, they are only there during the festival-time.
Scoutfree camping. peaceful trails. wildlife.
GuideFree camping for up to three nights here and it’s beautiful! Lots of trails to hike around and a creek running through some of the spots. First come first serve but I got there late evening on a week day and was able to get a spot.
RangerThis wonderful 10 large spot free camp has a 9 hole disk course. The course has legit "tee pads" and manicured "greens" around each basket. But. .. the rest of the course is wild rough, I had to shoot for the 4' wide trail to avoid loosing my disks
RangerThis is a BLM camping spot. The entrance to the recreation area marks the beginning of a gravel road which leads back about 2 miles. The road was fine for us to drive on in our 2WD. We counted 10 campsites with around 3 vault toilets, no showers along the 2 mile stretch. Camp sites are free. We saw two dumpsters and no water. We got in around 2pm on a Friday and it was pretty full. We snagged the last campsite, site 10, before the road turns into a more treacherous dirt road which marks the end of the camping area, and atvs were driving down this section along with hikers. Campsite 10 was large- could probably fit 3-4 tents- with a table. Next to a stream and in a field of aspens. Was beautiful. However, most of the spots to pitch were a bit slanted- nothing crazy but not flat. It was windy so we guyed our tent. One drawback was that we were right next to the entrance to hiking/atv area so got a fair amount of traffic coming through. We heard atvs coming through up until midnight. By the evening, folks who didn’t get a spot were starting to camp anywhere they could, on the hills, random spots along the side of the road, etc. Overall a nice spot for BLM camping with minimal amenities that gets busy on weekends.
GuideThis location reminded me of a county park. Maybe I'm jaded for spending too much time in the outback doing disperse camping. This reminded me of a lot of county parks in California. I looked at campsite 9 which was one of the better sites, and not much in the way of excitement came to mind. The creek was a minimal trickle, and lots of flies. It was hot and mucky and I decided to not camp out here and drive two hours north into Oregon and back to the wild. The positive about this location is the other campers who all wave when you drive by. That is nice hospitality.
ScoutWe boondocked here for one night on our way home from a 12 day camping trip. It was a little hard to figure out where to camp at first; just follow the road up past the day use area which has a pavilion, parking and pit toilet. A little bit after that the sites begin. The sites are spread along the road, sometimes a single camp site and sometimes a couple of sites next to each other. It was dusk when we arrived and we actually didn't see the first couple of sites - we realized the next day on our way out that we'd driven right by. Then we saw some that were occupied. We ended up at site 8. It's large but quite uneven. It took us a bit to level out our A-frame pop up camper. It was gorgeous there. Surrounded by hills, Birch trees, and the stream running behind. Our site had a picnic table, fire pit, and BBQ area. The pit toilet and large garbage were just across from sites 8/9. The pit toilet is ADA, very clean, and didn't smell bad.
We would happily have spent a couple of more days here if we hadn't had to return home.
TravelerHeading south to Vegas from Bend OR and stopped in Winnemuka NV. This is. BLM managed spot. Free with fire pits tables and bathrooms. Most spots not level- but free! Good places for quick hike and saw several deer
ScoutSeveral dispersed campsite and pit toilets. Not too close to the neighbors. No problem for a Ram pulling a 30 foot travel trailer.
TravelerGot lucky, rolled in about 5pm and got the last of about 10 shady, free campsites. It's a lovely tree-lined stream, what a relief from the day of Nevada desert. Don't believe the Dyrt directions (Sept 2021) as they lead you to a suburban cul-de-sac. Just Google Water Canyon and go there.
TravelerI loved how far apart the campgrounds were. You can’t see or hear other campers, which makes you feel really isolated and gives you the full outdoor experience. There was a native plant garden, and we saw many hummingbirds and butterflies. Very peaceful spot.
ScoutWhat an amazing camp site! Free, 3 nights, and by a creek. Unreal sunset. Super clean and sites are huge for big rigs (easy turn around)! Dirt road is an easy drive. We will absolutely be back!
GuideCampsites are right on the main gravel road. Maybe its COVID or maybe its just because its a free campsite, but there were cars going up and down the gravel road until very late and again early in the morning. There were also several campers who appeared to be living out of their cars, no campers, no tents just lots of junk in junky cars. Several guys felt that urinating beside the pit toilet was preferable, despite the toilet being clean and well stocked.
I did see antelope on the hillside and also had a late night visit by a skunk.
ScoutI was the only person there. Quiet. Secluded. You pass through a very nice upscale residential neighborhood to get here. Didn’t seem sketchy. No issues. Nice covered picnic area and fire pit. Good roads. No issues with an adventure van.
TravelerNice level and spacious campsite with a covered cement picnic table and fire pit at campsite #1. Arrived during an amazing sunset and couldn’t believe it was both clean and available! Only concern was dog poo in the grass within 6 feet of the fire pit. People! Sign says 3 day limit.
GuideRolled in at night....got my pick of camp sites. Not too cold, but awesome morning view
ScoutNot too far from town which is good. Campgrounds are right next to a creek so you can get your feet a little wet. Each campsite is very large.
GuideThis was a handy stop over on the 80, easy access to campsites along a small stream. It’s just outside Winnemucca, which boasts a full range of services and stores such as Walmart. Will keep this location saved for future use when traveling through the area
GuideThis campsite felt like a little oasis after driving two days in the desert. The creek cools down the temperature a lot and the trees provide some relief from the scorching sun. There aren't very many sites, but they're fairly big and apart from each other.
TravelerThis was a great pit stop on our trip from California to Idaho. It is free and first come, first served so get there early enough to snag a spot. Some spots are big enough for a few cars or vans to park, some big enough for RVs, most had spaces for a tent and every designated spot had a table. If you do get there and it’s full, there is space to get creative and find a neat spot off the main road. We stopped there for just one night and had a nice hike in the AM before leaving. It seems there is a lot you can do there! One dude looked like he was having a blast on his ATV. I think a dirt bike or a mountain bike would be lots of fun there too. Hiking was beautiful as you get a mixture of desert, cool rock formations, streams and beautiful aspen trees. We were there late October on a Tuesday and found the last designated spot around 6pm. Thankfully we didn’t need to pitch a tent because our spot was really slanted and small but it had a table, bbq pit and was next to a beautiful stream. We just parked our van and were happy campers. The limit on the sites are 3 days and your not too far from a grocery store. There are several bathrooms along the path, and a few dumpsters. I didn’t see showers and I found the bathroom to be disgusting but, hey, it’s camping. Drive slow as you pass campsites because it kicks up a ton of dust and pack out all your trash. I can’t say if the sites have spigots, our space didn’t. We were next to the stream so we gathered water, boiled it, and used that to wash dishes. We discarded all food scraps in trash bags and put in dumpster before leaving. I would not recommend washing dishes in the stream as it will affect the habitat. Lastly, star gazing is unbeatable out here. It’s worth checking out if you need a pit stop on your travels.
TravelerReally clean and well put together campgrounds. Has tables and fire pits around each site. There’s options between single camper sites to larger group sites. I stayed initially at a group site but realized some of the larger pull offs had people driving in during the day so I switched to a single campsite for more privacy. The only downside I have is that the sites are pretty close to the main road, but otherwise they are good.
LegendIt is about 5 miles south of Winnemucca in a canyon with camping on both sides of the gravel road. The road is in great condition. Campsites are simple: picnic table and fire pit. Ours was along the stream and across from the vault toilet and dumpster. We were there mid week in mid October and it was quiet after day use people left. We had some smaller colorful boulders at our site. The stream was soothing and the aspens/willows were colorful. All amenities in Winnemucca.
I accidentally chose yes for sanitary dump. This is wrong.
TravelerStopped here with my dog for one quick night in early May because my travel plans changed suddenly. Didn't make a fire. Beautiful sunset. For a free spot that's super close to I-80, it was great! The creek gave some nice white noise and there weren't too many bugs--except for the half dozen crickets/grasshoppers I woke up to on my tent!
Ranger10 sites well separated along the dirt road. Most will fit 25' rvs, a few will take larger rigs. Pit toilets, picnic tables, fire pits, BBQ grills, vault toilets and trash pick up! And did I mention it's free! AND. A Legit 9 hole disk golf course. Way to much rough, you'll spend a bit of time looking for disks unless your very good.
GuideGreat campground in a surprisingly green area. Sites are well layed out and sit right next to a small creek. Nice play to stay when driving through Nevada.
Guide
On a recent trip to Reno, (June 2021) we stayed here once on the way down and once on the way back. While there were a few RVs each time we used the location, mainly big trucks shared the large space.
I gave it 4-stars because only because one night the idling trucks and off again on again refer units made for a restless night. The second time it was quieter, but still several idling trucks all night. Nearest town is McDermitt, with fuel and a small casino on the Oregon border about 20 minutes away from the rest area, going North towards or South from. The rest area is about a half hour or so North of Winnemucca, Nevada.
There are pit-toilets and a dumpster on the site, and two small picnic tablets under a shelter with a historical marker between the tables. As this is immediately off the highway, there were vehicles driving by or stopping all night long, but those vehicles were generally not a bother.
As we were a self-contained 5th wheel, we didn't use either the bathrooms or the tables other than walking are the grounds to see what was there. The rest area is all black-top right off the highway (Highway 95, the Veteran's Memorial Highway, North or South). It had a really nice view of the area from the location. Along the east edge of the large paved parking area, it is lined with K-Rails. And fenced off to the land beyond the parking area except for access at the North East end of the parking area to take public lands towards the mountains.
TravelerWe went through the cattle guard up about a mile on the dirt road with our 37 ft fifth wheel. It was a little tight but well worth it.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Orovada, Nevada, where you can immerse yourself in nature without the constraints of traditional campgrounds. This area offers a variety of spots that cater to different preferences, from scenic views to quiet nights under the stars.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Orovada, NV?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Orovada, NV is Water Canyon Recreation Area with a 4.5-star rating from 36 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Orovada, NV?
TheDyrt.com has all 5 dispersed camping locations near Orovada, NV, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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