Best Equestrian Camping near Adel, OR

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.

It’s a nice spot for a night but plan to stay inside the entire time. When I pulled up people were leaving and told me it’s infested with mosquitoes to the point they’d rather go into town and get a hotel for the night. If you dare to go outside you’ll be eaten alive spray or not I tried. I’m from a rural farm town in Alabama. We get a good amount of mosquitoes down south but this is out of this world. Oregon should look into spraying the area truly.

I’d also like to add I’m towing a 30 foot TT and my roof was touching The tree branches on the way in. I would not recommend a 5th wheel or anything longer. It’s tight.

Edit: after I got to my next spot I noticed tears on my rubber roof. Highly recommend no 5th wheels and tts be extra careful if you decide to try and boondock here.

This campground has a vault toilet, a water pump, and a brown water dump site. It has 7 back in camping spots, and there is fishing nearby. I would suggest smaller trailers and Rvs or tent camping. If you need phone or internet service this site is not for you.

Cows… you will see many open range cows while you drive down a long gravel road and again when you reach your destination at Mud Creek. The creek is somewhat seasonal, but you can find a small stream on the road across from the campsite. Not enough water to go fishing or swimming. There is no cell service out there, but many hiking trails and peace and quiet if that is what you are searching for. There is a trailhead a mile up the road with parking. There are vault toilets and space for both tent and RV camping. Be on the look out for rattlesnakes, ticks, and cows out here.

This campground is small and only has around 10 sites. Typically either pine needle floor or 3 ft tall grass. Not maintained well. Picknick benches, fire rings, pot bathroom and manual water pump for water. During August there was no creeknor lake here. Other times of the year it looks to floor.

Easy to find. Road is well maintained. Paved roadway.

Camped here in Oct 2020. This is a USFS campground in the Fremont Winema NF. No hookups but large private sites with fire rings and ginormous picnic tables plus vault toilets. There’s water but only in season. Close to Hart Mtn Antelope Refuge. Would camp here again.

We had the place to ourselves till our friends showed up for the weekend.

Not much to report here, other than be aware of snow in May. We tried to get to this campground but were blocked by too much snow in the road. Other than the snow the road was in good condition and easy to drive in our class c. The website lists the status for this campground as “area not cleared,” so presumably if you have a vehicle that can get through the snow, then you’re ok to go camp here. 

Also as of Spring 2023 there will be a $15/night fee, so no longer free. Zero cell service here.

I swung thru this camp on a previous ride, and remembered it fondly. (dunno why I didn't review it then).

Up a decent gravel road, only about a mile in.  A beautiful, small reservoir with about 10 sites.  I got the primo site across the water, solo spot with my own pit toilet.  No cell service solitude with the high-passing jets as my only company.  Still a few patches of snow on the ground (5/2) and 26 degree morning.