Planning a dispersed camping trip near Camas Valley? Dispersed camping gets you off the grid so you can disconnect from the hecticness of everyday life. You're sure to find the perfect dispersed campgrounds for your Oregon camping adventure.
Elderberry Flat Campground provides 11 campsites along the tranquil and beautiful West Fork of Evans Creek, a tributary to the famous Rogue River. There is a paved road that provides easy access to the campground which is typically open from late May to September. The area offers a variety of recreation activities including camping, biking, hiking, hunting, OHV riding, picnicking, swimming, and wildlife viewing. The campground provides multiple access points to the creek to enjoy the cool water on hot summer days. Granite sand bars, calm water, and gentle sloping access provide family friendly access to the water. Campsites are equipped with picnic tables and grills and there is one pit toilet. There is no fee to use the campground but a 14 day limit is enforced.
Ennis Riffle is located along the Rogue River and provides camping and day use recreation. Ennis is a gravel/ sand bar that provides river access and is a popular location for fishing. The lower section of Ennis is owned and maintained by BLM. Non-designated camping sites (Upper area) RV's and tent camping allowed Campfires are allowed seasonally with a fire pan / restrictions exist during fire season No water or power available Overnight camping (fee)
$15 / night
Guide
The road getting up to it wasn't too bad. Some bigger potholes that we're easy enough to avoid. The pond at the top was beautiful with tons of bats flying around at night. Super cool!
Scout
Elk dispersed camping starts 8 miles up elk river rd. Everything past the fish hatchery is fair game. We found a great pull off that led under a bridge. Beautiful spot and no bothersome traffic
GuideFull time van lifers who work remote. Very dense in a valley spot, starlink would not work great for a work day. So many bugs when we arrived at night.
Wouldn’t dare try going down the steep rough dirt road knowing internet wouldn’t be great.
TravelerSite was very easy access after driving down a long back road. Quiet, clean, and pretty. No phone service.
Guide
This spot is a gravel pull off that is about 25ftx15ft. You can fit a small pull behind, truck, and/or van. The 6.5 mile road (FS-25) is paved so the accessibility of the site is a plus. The only downside is the logging operation that you can hear during the week further up the mountain.
GuideWe needed a place to set up for a quick sleep on our way down to Yosemite from Washington. I navigated using Google Maps due to other reviews saying Apple made it confusing. This led us right to the pond/camp sites. The road is a little rough with potholes but it’s not terrible if you just drive slow over the holes. There is a few split offs/2-way roads along this dirt road, the last one being a tree with a smiley face and an arrow leading you where to go. Didn’t get lost at all and it was already dark when we got there. No one was there, it was peaceful, clean and quiet. There is a pit toilet/bathroom with toilet paper. No trash cans so you’ll have to pack out your trash. I recommend this spot for anyone willing to drive 10-15 minutes off the freeway for some dispersed camping.
Traveler
My husband and I were looking for a place to camp close to the coast during 4th of July weekend when every other campground was full. It was a nice drive, saw maybe 2 other cars the whole night. Our site backed right up to a little creek. The only downfall was the flys and bugs were killer - there were huge horseflies everywhere
Traveler10 miles up a fire road with some spots along road. All are tiny pullout spots just enough for a van to park, would not recommend for an rv or trailer. Very gorgeous though! And paved road the whole way!
Guide
It looked like a decent place to camp with river access. I was disappointed the camp was closed due to fire. I saw a couple campers but I didn't stay.
ScoutThis is a lovely spot. Just a few campsites around a pond. Just overnighted here. Saw some folks camping and fishing. A bit of a challenge to find. Take speaker road to the end of pavement and then follow the dyrt map carefully. The correct location is pinned.
ScoutThe Elliott State Forest has more than 550 miles of roads and trails, but only a primary network has been maintained over the past 10 years since the 90,000 acre area was shut down with environmental lawsuits. Many of these roads lead to excellent camping sites, including old lookouts, fishing holes, secluded springs, and an undeveloped campground favored by local mudrunners. Met organization has worked with the local Community College the past seven years regarding recreational research on the Elliott, with our most recent (and likely final) focus being on historic trails and primitive campsites. The pandemic caused much of this work to be documented on student-level videos, indexed on YouTube: http://www.orww.org/Elliott\_Forest/Recreation/index.html and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1JyKCHg2GmHjLtQzXXDks4Rb-LE9HoJ-
TravelerThis was beautiful but the only options were on the side of the gravel road. There were a few of these pull outs along the road but the road did have a few other cars driving by.
ScoutWe were looking for a last minute place to camp when our last site didn’t work out. This place was perfect! They have dammed up a bit of the creek to make a perfect deep area to take a bath. It’s nice a secluded behind trees to shield you from the other campers.
We went on a Friday night and there were three other groups but plenty of space for a another couple of people. The road to access this is paved and very accessible BUT there is a steep gravel hill to get down into the campground. It is pitted and difficult to get up/down but we managed in an AWD Subaru crosstrek. Someone else brought down an entire trailer. I have no idea how but I guess it’s possible.
The entrance is marked with a large rock painted red. You can’t miss it. Just put in the coordinates and you’ll take you right to it.
Perfect secluded little campground. Highly recommend!!
ScoutNeeded a last minute to car camp that was close to the coast, found these dispersed sites online and figured it try it out. There was surprisingly multiple spots that I had cell service (AT&T) so I was able to navigate myself around through a satellite map. Lots of nice spots with good views, just takes a bit of driving around to find the perfect one. Didn’t see anyone up there and I was there from Tuesday to Wednesday. Hope to return at some point! Just beware some of the side roads are a bit overgrown and can scratch up your car.
ScoutSuper large campsite! I think only one other car passed by the whole night/morning. Ground was relatively level and decently cleared.
ScoutSubaru Impreza got up the road just fine! Location is about 20 minutes off i5. Hard to find with Apple Maps but we switched over to google maps and it was a lot easier!
Legend
I'll add another review since we did go back there this summer and stay there for a night. But I'd check on the effects of the Rum Fire if you're planning to go to this area. Not sure what the river area looks like now. :(
We couldn't really find a flat place to park, and so ended up parking just along the bathroom, which was rhe flattest spot here. It was a nice and peaceful stay, quiet, watching boaters and rafting companies coming and going all day. Nobody else was there at night.
The area is beautiful but there's not much to do unless you have a boat or a car. No nearby hikes within walking distance.
Still zero cell service. 14 day stay limit. Garbage bins and recycling and bathrooms on site. Free!
LegendWe stayed all day but decided not to stay a night. Our day stay was due to the road being too steep for my 1993 truck camper. It got too hot and blew the transmission, made a nice long trail in the steep road.
We made it to the 6 mile marker, where a nice couple of people stopped and went into town for us to get what we needed to not be stranded.
If we could have drove further up I’m sure our experience would have been different.
TravelerGoogle maps will take you right to this one. The drive in is pretty short, making this a convenient place to stop if you’re driving through.
Three spots, two of which are very close together. We were there in August. It was hot and the pond was scummy, but not buggy.
Pretty woods and good stars up here. We didn’t explore.
GuideVery secluded but spacious sites. From the start of Marlow Creek Road to where I chose to camp was 8.5 miles. There are several forks in the road that you can follow to more campsites, but I opted to camp right off the main road. I was the only car out there. Really beautiful spots aside from the trash that was unfortunately scattered in several sites. Worth the long drive in.
TravelerFound this spot on our way down to California. Not a bad spot to camp, it’s very quite and we were the only ones there.
Getting there is pretty easy, we made it a lot more difficult by going down a bunch of roads. Stick to the main road, the road to the campsite is on the right and has a tree that’s spray painted with a stick figure. It’s very steep like the other review said but isn’t too bad for a truck.
There aren’t a lot of spots here. We parked right by the lake, there was another spot in the middle of the loop, and a few others.
It looks like there’s a trail that goes around the lake. We found some ticks on the dogs immediately so we didn’t end up exploring it. Overall a nice spot, it’s right off the highway so you don’t have to worry about driving deep in the mountains.
ScoutSaw lots of trash and toilet paper. Decent spot otherwise.
LegendWe checked this spot out and ended up moving on to keep looking, but would come back here if ever in the area.
This is a recreation site / boat ramp, and it's wide open for camping as well. When you pull in, you first see a large area that looks like a parking lot. It wasn't until we left the spot and looked back on it from the higher road that we saw that the camp area extended a bit past the bathrooms into more camp friendly spots, with some shade and greenery.
No cell service in this whole area.
There is a pit toilet, and trash and recycling bins. No fires at this time!
LegendThis BLM area is a quick turn off the main road. Take a right or left to start the loop and you’ll find various spots for dispersed camping. The road is mostly ok with some areas of high rocks but we made it in our 26ft Class C with only one ding on the steps. Larger vehicles might have problems along the lower half of the loop, but the upper half was doable. There are some spots close to the river and others up above it more with nice views as well as shade.
There are a few “long term residents" here. One was right on the water with a big mirror and a homemade sign warning of “thieves among us." The sheriff and ranger came by the next day and left citation on his camp. Nothing scary nor anything that made us feel unsafe at all.
This is a dry camp with no amenities. Tent/car campers welcome but must have port-a-potties. You must pack out your waste and trash. We found several trash piles which we cleaned up. There are NO fires allowed at this time. Also be aware that there is a lot of poison oak around.
Also there were unleashed dogs, one in particular that wandered into our camp site every morning. A lot of rafters and kayakers, especially on weekends, but they stay mostly on the water but can become quite loud at times. River access in this area is available in a only few spots that you have to walk to. There is no real shoreline to hang out in unless someone is not camped right in those areas.
Zero cell reception from ATT, verizon and TMobile in this whole area.
LegendThis was quite a way in on a fairly smooth but steep dirt road. Along the road were random deep pot holes so be aware they sneak up on you when the road is shadowed. The last .3 miles was steep and though we made it in 26ft rig I would not attempt it again. I could see major problem if rain was expected.
The pond was peaceful and so beautiful with a couple of level options to set up. The area as a whole is very small though, so if someone else is already there when you arrive it’s going to feel very cozy and/or awkward.
There was a handicap accessible bathroom with pit toilets that someone shot up the lock (boooo) so at the moment is open despite the "closed for covid" sign. There was a pile of garbage near the garbage cans. Bullet casings littered the ground as well.
The fish were jumping and the water clear. Overall nice, just wish people would respect public lands more and not trash these areas so much. The road is narrow with very few turn arounds. The way down I was in 1-2 gear riding the break on some of the hills. Good place to let the dogs run and swim. If we had a smaller rig we would come here again. Very weak / unusable Verizon service, no service with TMobile or ATT.
TravelerYou have to drive some winding forest service roads to get to a spot then find one on or near the road but there's a couple good camp spots.
ScoutWe stayed for a night on our way down the coast. Nice and close to Bandon. No trouble accessing in our midsize suv. It was muddy at the site, and unfortunately, those before us left a lot of trash. Did my best to clean up when was left behind. There was a fire pit but we did not use it due to fire restrictions. Nice misty views over the trees in the morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Camas Valley, OR?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Camas Valley, OR is Elliott State Forest Dispersed with a 3.9-star rating from 12 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Camas Valley, OR?
TheDyrt.com has all 15 dispersed camping locations near Camas Valley, OR, with real photos and reviews from campers.
