Sufficient forest spot for car
With car or tent ideally need to go way back about 44.0309672, -121.3956555 or further. With van can park with dozen or so other folks near entrance.
SiteForest Rd
Month of VisitSeptember
Solid spot!
I went and stayed there two nights back to back and got a great spot both times. There is two different types of areas you can stay depending on what you want,
1: parking lot - quick and simple for an easy in easy out access.
2: trails - I stayed here for more of the trees and quiet areas which felt more like camping.
There are a lot of options and you can bet on this place never being completely full.
Month of VisitJuly
great place to crash
perfect place to sleep if you’re looking to explore downtown bend - only about a 10 minute drive out of town. mostly 1 big parking lot with lots of vans and RVs with some pullouts for tents. we did pop a tent in the larger open space and felt safe, just no privacy. pit toilet at entrance but no potable water that we could find. however easy to find potable water in town. overall great!
Month of VisitJuly
Great quite campsite close to bend
Easy to find using the directions. You just ignore the signs that says no camping and keep going and you will see the Forrest roads that allow camping. Sites are not that secluded (just pine trees) but they are very far from each other. I arrived about 5:30 and saw two dirt bike riders but after that nothing.
Literally complete silence throughout the night and close enough to come back and have breakfast in Bend ! (Be warned it got cold in October, my 30 f rated bag was not warm enough but lucky I brought a liner)
Month of VisitOctober
Free camping in Bend
This site is open, you just have to drive a lil farther back to the sites and get out of the restricted area.
The entrance to the sites is about 10 minutes from the middle of Bend, so it's really close which is nice. From the entrance it's maybe 5-7min farther back until you get out of the restricted area until pullouts for camping become noticeable. I took a left at the fork; I think the right side also has sites but I'm not sure how far back.
The road is really dusty and not the smoothest, but my sedan made the trip a dozen times so it's doable, you just have to go slow. Plenty of people were van camping, but an RV/trailer might have some trouble getting back.
I stayed here for 2 nights, then camp back to do some longer camping since Bend is so close and has everything you'd need. It looks like some others might be doing some long term camping; between when I left and came back (bout 5 days) two of the campers were there, but it was van campers who were quiet and respected the space. There was one setup that was gone when I got back, but it was on the messier side and I could never tell if it was a permanent set up. However the area is a hotspot for mountain bikers and people generally seemed to respect the area, so I felt really safe.
The sites also are pretty small and right off the road. They're not the smoothest, but some are definitely better than others. There isn't a ton of privacy between the sites (I can see both my neighbors) but if you just need a place to crash this will do. There's cell service which is nice.
The biggest cons of this site is that the road isn't amazing and it's super dusty. But it's really hard to beat the location. There is supposedly other free camping off the Cascade Lakes Byway, so if you want to try and find something else there are still other free spots in the area.
Month of VisitJuly
Nice dispersed campground
People on here are concerned with the No Camping signs. You need to keep driving on that road to get out of the "no camping" zone. They are doing reclamation in the area right off the highway. The camp sites are rather small, only acceptable to small moterhomes, small trailers or tents.
Month of VisitAugust
Fine dispersed camping close to town
Just a forest service road. The area close to the road is closed to camping entirely. I showed up at 1am and missed that part since I'm so used to seeing no campFIRES and was hassled by a local for making their scenic walk less pretty. But if you look at the map posted you just need to be further in from the road - you'll see new signs for 14-day limits. Lots of mountain bikers riding past since there are a ton of trails out here. They also seem to be grumpy about seeing a vehicle parked out here, but oh well.
I don't know who is marking this area for services and water and toilets and RV hookups.... it's just a dirt road. However I do get 2-3 bars LTE on AT&T and Verizon even further in where you can camp.
Gate open, closed to camping
Appears to still be open to camping, if you want to drive further in off the highway.
SiteApril 9th, 2021
Month of VisitApril
Closed for winter?
Gate is still closed. Maybe for winter? We ended up going down to the dispersed Rock Quarry, by Sunriver, which is much higher in elevation and colder than this place.
Gate is closed.
Gate was closed not sure if due to winter, or something else.
Nice free camping
Free for 14 days, state land. Many other trailers and RVs parked throughout. Lots of mountain bikers, plenty of places to ride and also a paved path that runs alongside the road. Lots of trees, very dispersed, close to Bend for easy restocking. Pretty easy to drive into as well. Only one star off because it was very dusty and we experienced a lot of in and out traffic that made the dust worse, especially since we spend a lot of time outside. Spent almost a week here and enjoyed! Please make sure you pack out your trash!
