Best Dispersed Camping near Central Oregon, OR

Easy to get too. BLM Land. Many spots in the area. Flat spot for our tent. Our spot already had a fire pit and we definitely made use of it! It was a Great Find! A lil noise from trucks but not a big deal.

Great secluded dispersed camping. It was obviously meant for folks with horses, but I was the only one there, so there were no horses in sight. The road getting there entailed about 5 miles of bumpy, windy dirt roads. Not totally worth it for a one night stay in a van, but might be for a 4wd car.

GPS: 44.448114, -121.102884

Fairly accessible dispersed camping just outside of Bend. The roads are easily maneuverable in a Subaru.

Pretty standard dispersed camping within the Oregon badlands. Signs for the Badlands are right off the 20 then follow the road straight until you see a dirt turnoff with a sign about no shooting, this will set you right in the correct area. Some rock fire rings, dusty, but nice.

This was a great spot to disperse camp while visiting Bend. It's only about 20 minutes out of town and is very quiet.

There is lots of space to spread out and trails nearby. You are just off the highway, but we didn't notice much road noise.

The cell service was better closer to Highway 20. 

Be careful of critters getting into your engine bay, though. After a few days I noticed a nest on the engine.

So breathtakingly beautiful. I appreciated the beauty of the painted hills around us, had a nice a campfire. I liked all the signs on the painted cove trail explaining the geological history of the area. BLM camping i.e. free

We came here about a week ago to explore the painted hills (obviously). And this camp spot was perfect! Our first night we were completely alone. Súper se Ulises space that doesn’t seem to be widely known. It seemed that most visitors were just passing through and not staying over night. It’s just down the road past the last hike on the left which I think is called red hill. You’ll find a little pullout to the right and there are at least four camp spots. If you had an suv you could probably go a bit further than we were able as the terrain was a bit rough.

Good note: You can camp on BLM and Forest Service lands without a permit! This place is amazing. It's no wonder it's one of the seven wonders of Oregon. It's a quick drive from Bend, and to see the Wallowa burn aftermath is humbling.

campsites were super easy to find & best of all..free! it was SO quiet out there, so lovely. just a little drive even from the furthest most campsite to all of the little trails around the painted hills! super lovely place to stay the night if you’re just passing through! :)

Perfect secluded spot. Larger area for everyone to come join! Trees for shade and relaxing. Nearby trails to find mud holes 😁 great time all around when we go!

Enjoyed exploring the badlands steps from our camp site. Convenient to many trails. Very quiet and relaxing. Views from camp site were beautiful and the sunsets are breathtaking. Definitely will be coming back again.

Took some trial and error to find a spot here, I recommend turning where all the large piles of gravel are to find a spot. The site where we were was surrounded by hills so felt very secluded. Beautiful scenery with lots of juniper trees around! As a heads up service here was pretty spotty but once you find a good area, you can get enough service to hold phone calls.

Stayed here one night. Very windy and very desolate. We were the only ones here. The coordinates take you to a parking lot that does not allow overnight, but you go right past it and across a cattle grade and the campsite is on your right.

This was by far my favorite place we stayed on our entire 4000+ mile road trip…. and it was free! We stayed at Priest Hole, which is a few miles past the Painted Hills visitor center on dirt roads. We saw a few vans and a pop-up trailer, but no RVs. The road was okay but not great, so not sure if regular RVs would make it or not. Fine for cars, trucks or vans.

It's Bureau of Land Management land, which means all camping is free. We camped right on the banks of the John Day River and it was amazingly beautiful. The water was the perfect temperature for swimming and crystal clear. There were people a couple hundred yards from us on either side, so not too crowded. We were there on a Thursday and pulled right up to an empty spot.

Only vault toilets. Bring your own water. No showers, picnic tables, etc. The only drawback, besides lack of a nice bathroom and not much natural shade, was quite a few earwigs and other bugs attacking the outside tent at night when we had our light on. Not the worst thing, but slightly annoying for the kiddos.

When the river is higher (sometimes in the winter) there's a large grassy area in the center of the area for tents, but a bit far away from the water. But in the summer when the river is lower you can camp in any of the rocky dry stream beds and be safely right on the water.

Our 26 foot class c had no issues and the dirt road going from the hardball to the sites would be easy for even bigger rvs. There are plenty of turnarounds. The dirt road keeps going for about a mile or two, with sites all along it, eventually splits into two east west running roads, both keep going for about another mile or so with plenty of sites along both. If you go that far up it gets really rocky so I wouldn't recommend and rv. Any campsites along the first 2 miles of the dirt road seem pretty level and big enough for bigger rigs. Passed the fork looks best for 4x4s and tent campers. You can kind of hear sounds from the highway, but at night it's dead quiet. Sites are also spread out enough that you can find a spot without being in direct view of someone's rig

Worth it. Looks as beautiful or better in person. Plenty of trails for any hiking/walking level.

Great spot for photography, meditation, exploring solo or with company. Make sure to be able to download maps when traveling in this area, as there is cell coverage, but lots of out of pocket spots as you travel to and from this area of Oregon.

My husband surprised me with a trip to the Painted Hills! The views are amazing!! The little hikes to lead you to even more spectacular views are definitely worth it!! Loved it and can't wait to go again!!

This site is just off of the main road to the Painted Hills area. There are no restrooms or facilities of any type. We had the furthest most spot from the entrance off of the road and had great access to a small stream that we could sit in and cool off.