Best Dispersed Camping near Gilchrist, OR

Great dispersed camping spot, close to Bend with full cell service. 25 mins to jump into Bend for breakfast on the way back to Portland. Loud Coyotes.

It’s free camping so who can complain! Pull off from the main road onto a dirt single lane road. Many “campsites” along the road. No amenities. Quiet place.

Dispersed National Forest

Wonderful backcountry camping accessed by a mostly uphill 2 mile hike. You are surrounded by the peaks of South Sister and Broken Top and are welcomed each morning and night with the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises. These camping sites make for a perfect spot to catch some rest before making the hike up to the summit of South Sister. The lake sits below the Lewis glacier and, like many alpine lakes, the lake stays frozen for several months out of the year and the trail can be packed with snow as late as August.

Campsites are located above the lake on two sides and are under tree cover for those rainy nights. To reach the sites you will need to take a right at 1.5 miles in on the trail. There is no potable water nearby. Pack in and out all waste and everything you will need for the night. Make sure to bring bug spray as the mosquitoes love that chilly lake.

This is about 20 minutes east of Bend Oregon. You have a number of options here. Right off the road there is a lot where I saw an RV camped. I’m sure there would be some road noise there. If you go down the road, there are some more dispersed camping sites. I parked in the one with no neighbors, and it was sagebrush and desert landscape, sagebrush, etc, with some hills and it was quite beautiful. My only complaint was, and this isn’t much of a complaint, the coyotes woke me up sometime in the night when they were very close to my vehicle and howling. Quite the experience.

We picked this dispersed camping near Lemolo Lake since it was an open area that we could run our Starlink. There was also some cell service. Lemolo lake also has several Campgrounds to choose from if you want to pay. In the area we visited Lemolo Falls and Warm Spring Falls. We weren't disappointed. The area does have mosquitoes to contend with. Where we camped there was a picnic table and rock fire ring. Be mindful of the no fire season.

If you love boondocking and wilderness trails. This is a must stay place. 20 minutes from hot springs and waterfalls. Tons of fishing spots near bye. Hundreds of miles of OHV trails.

This proved a convenient spot to connect with some friends who were traveling through the area.  In the pouring rain (early May) there were enough mud puddles in the roads that others had recommended here.  So, we stayed a quick overnight in the parking lot to the Badlands Rock trail heads.  No one else there all night and a few hikers came in the next morning.  We took advantage of a nice hike and then walked around other dispersed camping sites along this gravel road.  There were several spots that looked pretty cool including one here:  

43°57'00.5"N 121°01'02.4"W

Strictly dry camping.  Likely hot and dusty in the summer with OHV's in the area, but the wide expansive views were lovely!

Plenty of different types of camping spots: trailer and RV to serious offroad spots. I found a very secluded place with my 4by4 down rough road but plenty of other options. Best thing about it was I was able to be in the park to watch the sunrise.

Lovely big boondocking spaces with plenty of room. Close to Crater Lake NP. Road in is excellent, passable by any vehicle when we were here in late October. Mostly flat sites with varying privacy. The further you drive in the more privacy you will get. No service as this is just a spot to park for the night but perfect for self contained folks or hardy tent campers. It snowed when we were here in late October! At around 5,000ft elevation

This site is open, you just have to drive a lil farther back to the sites and get out of the restricted area.

The entrance to the sites is about 10 minutes from the middle of Bend, so it's really close which is nice. From the entrance it's maybe 5-7min farther back until you get out of the restricted area until pullouts for camping become noticeable. I took a left at the fork; I think the right side also has sites but I'm not sure how far back.

The road is really dusty and not the smoothest, but my sedan made the trip a dozen times so it's doable, you just have to go slow. Plenty of people were van camping, but an RV/trailer might have some trouble getting back.

I stayed here for 2 nights, then camp back to do some longer camping since Bend is so close and has everything you'd need. It looks like some others might be doing some long term camping; between when I left and came back (bout 5 days) two of the campers were there, but it was van campers who were quiet and respected the space. There was one setup that was gone when I got back, but it was on the messier side and I could never tell if it was a permanent set up. However the area is a hotspot for mountain bikers and people generally seemed to respect the area, so I felt really safe.

The sites also are pretty small and right off the road. They're not the smoothest, but some are definitely better than others. There isn't a ton of privacy between the sites (I can see both my neighbors) but if you just need a place to crash this will do. There's cell service which is nice.

The biggest cons of this site is that the road isn't amazing and it's super dusty. But it's really hard to beat the location. There is supposedly other free camping off the Cascade Lakes Byway, so if you want to try and find something else there are still other free spots in the area.

The Dyrt app led right to the camping spot, I pulled off and found a couple of 👍 good flat spots to pitch a tent, a rock 🔥 fire ring and absolutely no litter, other than a couple of cig butts that I hauled out when I left. Pretty quiet and no neighbors, just unimproved camping in the ponderosa pine country six miles ouside Bend toward Mount Hood...pull off the road more than you would normally as you will be be lulled to sleep with the occasional noisy logging truck going by. Please leave it cleaner than you found it, so this free spot will continue to be nice for the next guest.

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When it comes to camping you simply can’t beat FREE!!! But often times it is hard to find a good campsite which is close to some of the larger National Parks that is not overrun with people. 

When I visited the Crater Lake area, I was well aware that finding last minute accommodations was difficult to impossible. Hotels in the area charge high premiums and depending on when you visit the campground is typically booked well in advance or even closed due to weather. It just so happened that I arrived late in the season, campground was already closed and I was wondering just what else would be out there for me as a tent/car camper. 

I found a small forest road, FR960 and took my chances driving down a few hundred yards before realizing that there were a few established campaigns for dispersed camping. My signal with AT&T was sparse so finding this site was strictly by chance(the Dyrt hadn’t yet released their offline PRO Version just yet). 

Driving down the road it was gravel and had a few small ruts here and there but nothing so serious I couldn’t make it down the path taking it at a slower pace. I discovered a small pull out right at the beginning of the roadway which looked to be about the size of a small RV, very level and established with a fire ring. As I continued onward a small campground road spurred off to the right with what looked to be several sites alongside it as well. I opted to keep going as there were already a couple people there and the beauty of forest camping is that you don’t have to be right on top of your neighbors unless you want to. 

Further down the road pull offs to both the right and left with spaces perfect for large rigs and smaller ones as well. The one on the left seemed to be calling my name as I noticed it was almost a cove of trees which would serve as a great protectant and blockade to the crisp night winds which I knew were coming this time of year. I settled in and explored the remainder of the camp on foot including a small climb which went to a few spaces with amazing views of the peaks above but looked pretty exposed due to new growth trees and low laying shrubs being the only vegetation. Sure this looked beautiful but I knew it would be cold!! 

After settling in for the night in my site I was able to cook dinner on my camp stove and cozy down. Due to the winds getting a bit high I was a little hesitant to use the established fire ring because this area in particular is very prone to forest fires, something which can be seen quickly driving through camp with residual charring and many new growth trees in place of old forest. 

By dawn, ice lined my windows of my car and snow capped the distant peak, the one which I would have been camping by had I have stayed up at the higher elevation campsite. But there was a sense of quiet which is unmatched by the commercial campgrounds in the area where you will find slamming doors and the sound of people moving around to get their day started. Though many were nestled into the campsites in various cubbies and enjoying their time at the forest camp, the feeling of solitude was still abundant. 

There were no frills with this campground other than the location itself. No restrooms, no running water, nothing!! You as a camper have to plan if you are visiting this location and be able to be off grid safely and responsibly. If you are choosing to stay here remember the Leave No Trace principles and make sure you fully extinguish your fires. 

The campground itself is only a few miles away from the northern most entry of Crater Lake. No reservations are accepted and no supplies are available without driving in to the neighboring communities of Crescent or Chemult.

It's one giant lightly tree'ed forest that is just land that has been manipulated by campers to become a campground. Free for everyone and it's very dispersed. Perfect for just a quick night stay on your way though. Only land is provided, no water, etc.

Stayed here for 3 nights while visiting Crater Lake NP and it was the perfect basecamp.

Easy access to the Forest Road off 138 with lots of open camp spots. More private spots further up the hill — I didn’t venture too far but if you have AWD it shouldn’t be an issue.

I had no trouble finding a spot on Thursday afternoon, though there were definitely other campers around. Seemed pretty popular by the weekend though there were still unclaimed spots tucked away on Saturday afternoon.

Bring bug spray and make sure you’ve got screen window covers if car camping — otherwise a beautiful stay. Ten minute drive to the North Entrance of Crater Lake and about 20 minutes away from town with truck stop with showers and wifi.

Free for 14 days, state land. Many other trailers and RVs parked throughout. Lots of mountain bikers, plenty of places to ride and also a paved path that runs alongside the road. Lots of trees, very dispersed, close to Bend for easy restocking. Pretty easy to drive into as well. Only one star off because it was very dusty and we experienced a lot of in and out traffic that made the dust worse, especially since we spend a lot of time outside. Spent almost a week here and enjoyed! Please make sure you pack out your trash!

Drove to the top around 8 pm with our small hatchback 2WD, no big issue. Crowded closer to the top, this spot doesn't seem to be a secret on a Saturday night in July. Buses and sprinter vans have no issue reaching the top either so beware of large parties. Cool rocky features, and more camping in the woods where you drive in from. Great spot, free, and accessible. Our camp site did have a trash bag hanging from a tree from previous campers, though :(.