Best Dispersed Camping near Crescent, OR

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Crescent

140 Reviews of 42 Crescent Campgrounds

• M

  Mike S.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 25, 2024

  FSR 4610 Dispersed

  Decent dry camp in trees, no amenities

  Quiet, close to Bend, numerous sites in Ponderosa forest.

• 

  Jeffrey P.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 11, 2024

  Lightning Springs Backcountry Dispersed Campsite

  Quiet Spot with Incredibe Views

  After parking right off the trail head and hiking down about 0.8 miles, you have three “established” spots to chose from. I say established in quotations because they are marked with plaques but are all the way rustic sites. The middle sight is definitely the biggest and is where me and four others stayed for two nights. This is a very busy national park in the summer months but going the first week of October (as suggested by the ranger) made it so that we were the only ones in this area. We did have a couple backpackers stop for the night at the first site but other than that is was really quite. The lightning springs trail itself is incredibly long and we only went to where water was flowing so that we could fill up. We opted to hike out the first day and then drive to the Watchman Lookout Trail head and do that one first. It was only 0.8 miles long but I believe a 400 foot elevation change. Absolutely incredibly view. After that we drove north and did the Cleetwood Cove Trail which was around a mile with a 600 foot elevation change. This allows you to get right next to the water. Both hikes we semi challenging but well worth it. While the backcountry campsites do not allow fires, there are other location around Rim Village that have established sites that you can. When we went it was a little colder and windy but the tree coverage offered some shielding from that. There are plenty of other longer hikes as well in the area and other established sites if you are looking to have a more traditional camping experience. The Rim Village center was open and we were able to get a meal and visit the gift shop as well as go farther south and get our NPP stamped. Definitely recommend checking the NP website to see what is opened and closed as well as fire bans. We were lucky that the entire loop was open and got to drive all the way around the second day. While not directly at these sites, there are trash and bathroom areas really close. Really all around incredible views and an incredible weekend stay.

• J

  Justin L.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 11, 2024

  Dispersed Rock Quary

  Rock quarry = shooting range

  This is an active shooting range, so if you're looking for peace and quiet or a spot that is not littered with pulls of trash, you've come to the wing place.

  On the upside, when there is not shooting, the quarry is an ok view (if you can get past the litter), and there is endless space and open skies for solar or starlink. It's also easy to reach and rig friendly, but not far from main highway for access.

• M

  Mayre J.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 10, 2024

  China Hat Staging Area Rd 18

  Camp at OHV Trailhead

  Nice open spot with some shade. Quiet and close to town. May get busy during day with riders. A good parking spot.

• J

  Justin L.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 9, 2024

  Forest Road 960 by Pacific Crest Trail PCT

  Views in all directions, multiple spots

  Great spot. Go all the way to the end of the road to reach the top. There is ample room to turn around, in spite of a step climb.

  Was able to pull 15' trailer up with 4wd.

  Wide open sky for solar and starlink.

  Mid 60s f during day in early October. 40 f at night.

• M

  Mayre J.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 9, 2024

  China Hat Rd Dispersed Campsite

  A spot.

  Long term campers and trash. Some interesting folks for sure. Prob harmless but camp at own risk.

• G

  Garrett B.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 9, 2024

  Thousand Springs Sno-Park

  Very good spot

  Large, paved parking lot. Plenty of room for big rigs and vault toilets.  Some road noise, but nothing that bothered us. Great location for access to Glacier NP and a small town with a few restaurants was not far away.

  Huge thanks to Rogue Snowmobilers - there was Wi-Fi available while we were there, which helped out a lot!

• J

  Justin L.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 8, 2024

  Dispersed wikiup camping

  Dusty and featureless, but flat

  Only about 70 yards from main road. Super fine dust, everything will be dirty.

  Tall trees so no good vantage point for starlink or solar.

  No water features right at site.

• J

  Justin L.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 8, 2024

  Sparks Lake Recreation Area

  Perfection!

  Amazing views. Access to water. Gorgeous sunsets. Not far from toilet if you're up for a walk, or have wheels. Firepits. This site has it all.

  Room to back in 15' trailer to camp or of.

  Early October, 70 f during day 30 f at night.

• D

  Dale R.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 4, 2024

  Sparks Lake Recreation Area

  Nice spots near Spark Lake

  There are several spots off of the road to the Spark Lake Day Use area. The road is very rough, but taken slow does not require a 4wd.

• M

  Mayre J.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 19, 2024

  Deschutes Forest NFD 4600-120 Dispersed Camping

  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.

• M

  Mayre J.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 18, 2024

  Oregon Badlands Dispersed

  Awesome Oregon desert

  Cool spot, check similar reviews from folks on the Badlands Rock location page.

• M

  Mayre J.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 18, 2024

  Badlands Rock Camping

  Cool sandy area with many spots

  A good open area with lots of nice smelling juniper. Theres parking at the few trailheads or off the road. The best spot, with some nice features such as lava rocks, is the 3rd right from the main road. Some folks may be particular about their "spot". No toilet, trash nor water but good trails. About 20 mins into town. Didnt see any snakes but was checking just in case. Prob best for RV or car camping. High desert gets to 40s at night this time of year.

• 

  Zoe G.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 17, 2024

  BEND FS 4610 Dispersed

  Super easy

  This spot was close enough to town that we could call an Uber to Hayden Homes after we set up, then Uber back when the concert finished. The main red dirt road is gorgeous with various pull offs spaced decently far apart. I saw one or two neighbors to the left and right of our spot but it was far enough that our spot felt private. Really quiet and felt remote while still accessible to town and had cell service.

• 

  Catherine L.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 13, 2024

  Millsite Forest Dispersed Camping

  Easy off the main road stop

  Quiet camping area off 138. You come up to what looks like a county shop, but keep going to the left, and you're here. A handful of sites. We were easily able to park out jeep a ways in.

• 

  Juliana R.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 1, 2024

  Millsite Forest Dispersed Camping

  Open, empty, very quiet

  This was a lovely place to camp for the night. There were probably 10-15 campsites, and I was the only one there when I showed up. Campsites have picnic tables and fire pits and there is a pit toilet. Many trees which provide shade. Some mosquitos but not too bad. Very easy to find with the directions and it was also on GAIA GPS.

• K

  Kai K.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 30, 2024

  Mount Thielsen Wilderness

  Great spot but nails in the road

  BE CAREFUL got a nail in the tire here. Ended up with a flat giving me a headache 😒. Otherwise the campsite was amazing, would have been 5 stars if not for the nail.

• K

  Kai K.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 29, 2024

  Forest Road 960 by Pacific Crest Trail PCT

  Great Views

  Came here not really knowing what to expect and we were surprised with what we got. Road was was easy to get up, however 4x4 is definitely needed for the spots up on the rocks. Lovely view where we were! Lots of little camp fires scattered around the area .

• N

  Nicholas F.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 27, 2024

  Deschutes Forest NFD 4600-120 Dispersed Camping

  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.

• 

  Kaitlin B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 26, 2024

  BEND FS 4610 Dispersed

  Close to Bend

  Loved these dispersed sites close to the town of Bend. Extensive mountain biking trials throughout as well.

• 

  samuel C.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 17, 2024

  BEND FS 4610 Dispersed

  Okay spot

  There was a fair amount of shady traffic c but all was well during my night stay with my dog. Good place to crash near bend in the woods.

• P

  PJ J.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 17, 2024

  Mount Thielsen Wilderness

  Dusty

  Seemed to be plenty of spots when I got there on a Sunday. Far enough from the main highway, I didn’t hear any traffic in the middle of the night. A caveat however, the east side of hill itself seems to be an active rock quarry. That means if you are waking up on a work day, it may be somewhat of a rude awakening

• 

  Theresa N.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 13, 2024

  Deschutes Forest NFD 4600-120 Dispersed Camping

  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!

• 

  Kent G.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 12, 2024

  BEND FS 4610 Dispersed

  FS Road 4610

  A nice gravel rd with no major ruts or holes. Navigable with a van all wheel drive. Drove in about a mile+to find an empty spot. Most already taken. Seems to be a mix between a mobile and a stationary group of campers. A good spot close to Bend.

• C

  Chelsie

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 11, 2024

  BEND FS 4610 Dispersed

  Okay for a quick overnight

  I drove pretty far down this road and the further back you gp, you lost cell service and also lots of "extended stay" campers, junky trailer and one with a leather recliner next to their minivan. Somebody had hung up their laundry to dry in between two pine trees.

  The road noise was LOUD.

  Also some of the sites are very soft sand so be careful if you don't have a four-wheel drive vehicle.

  Super super dusty. It just gets all over everything. Spent an extra hour packing up just to wipe things down. Then there is a layer of dust inside the entire vehicle that we're going to have to wipe down. I've been to lots of disbursed campsites and never had dust like this before that just sticks on everything.

  And many people drive by at like 50 miles an hour and kick up huge dust clouds so be prepared for that too.

  IN THE MORNING A WHITE TRUCK WITH TWO MEN DROVE BY OUR CAMP REALLY SUPER SLOW, EYEBALLING IT. I TURNED AROUND A LITTLE BIT OF THE ROAD AND THEN CAME BACK AGAIN AND THEN DROVE SLOW PAST AGAIN. REALLY UNNERVING.

  Decent cell service for T-Mobile. 2-3 bars 5G (close to the entrance though. No cell service the further you drive in.)

• C

  Chelsie

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 11, 2024

  Badlands Rock Camping

  NO ACCESS as of July 2024 -Completely blocked off to motor vehicles

  Tried to drive in but all entrances were blocked by large rocks and signs that say no motor vehicle access.

  Same with the other entrance a couple miles down the road.

• 

  Kelda C.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 30, 2024

  Badlands Rock Camping

  Good Option Near Bend

  Basically a gravel/dirt lot about 20 minutes outside of Bend. There's a chance I needed to drive further down the road to find better options. Stayed for two nights - no complaints. Near the road but quiet enough. A solid option for a short stay.