Mitchell City Park

Near the painted hills of Oregon! Not much to it, but there are restrooms with running water. Caught a ride from here to the hills for sunset.

Mitchell is a nice little town in central Oregon.

First come first serve spot in Mitchell. Grocery store, cafe and brewery within walking distance. Nice lay over spot with easy access to the painted hills. Sites are close and tight getting into the spot with a trailer….but doable. Friday night of July 4th weekend we were the only ones in the campground. We would stay again if passing through here.

Flush toilets (across the street), water, swing sets and plushy grass for your tent, all for $10. They even have an RV area (more of a parking lot) with water and electric hookups. If you're in the John Day area and all the other campgrounds and booked, this is a decent place to spend a few hours and sleep. There's absolutely no privacy since you're right on the road, but at least it's a bit of a drop down to the grass. You can tell the town is trying, and there's some funky/fun play structures scattered about, though you feel kind of like you're camping in someone's front yard. Mitchell Oregon has some restaurants and antique stores that looked fun but they were all closed by the time we got there. At a minimum, this is a good place to stop, stretch your legs, use the restroom and play a bit, and okay if you need a place to sleep before heading somewhere else and the state park up the road is booked.

Pros: Cheap ($10), decent facilities (watered grass, covered eating area).

Cons: Bathroom across the dusty road. Right in the middle of town/wide open area.