Best Tent Camping near Kimberly, OR

This really is an RV spot. Yes, you can tent camp here but it's expensive ($24 for Oregon residents, $34 for out of staters) and it's right next to the road. It's loud. Really loud. Wake you up when you're sleeping loud.

That said, it does have all amenities: good Verizon service, firewood for sale, hot showers, tables, fire pits with grills, etc. And it's close to town. So for that it could be the right fit for people needing all that.

For me, I'd skip it, especially if you're in a tent.

We were surprised how quiet this state park was during our visit. Very clean and beautiful green grass through campground. Enjoyed the river trail along the John Day river. Perfect to cool off in during the hot summer months. Mosquitoes definitely come out at night and we were tent camping. A little highway noise at night but not bad.

Between the John Day River and the highway outside of John Day, this campground is beautifully maintained. The lawns are green, the bathrooms spotless. There are full hookup rv/trailer sites, tent sites, and hiker/biker sites. The restrooms include free individual shower rooms. There is some traffic noise but it isn't too bad. This is a first-come campground so no reservations are available. Get there early during the summer months.

Let's start with the positive folks. This site as an amazing parking area that is large enough for rvs and horse trailers to be able to turn around without any issues. There's a wooden pin to be able to keep horses safe and secure over night. Almost all campsites are shaded. There is a trail for either a long hike or a short one. With two littles, we did the short on which around trip was under 3 miles. It looks like if we would have kept going there is definitely an uphill climb to continue the treck, but I'm sure the few is gorgeous on top! Now is time for the negatives that really just makes this place not that great. The campsites are very close together. The ground isn't very level, so tent camping would be bumpy and on an incline. There's also little tree trunk scattered out through out the whole place so it is kinda dangerous for kids to ran around a play. Mosquitos can be murdereres so lots of bug spray! Last thing, it is rather close to the main highway so lots of noise from the traffic.

On the banks of the North Fork John Day river. Five sites with picnic table & fire ring. River was high with the spring mountain runoff mid May. Nice respite for 2 days and close enough to explore and hike around the area.

Large open gravel area when you drive in with sites along the river edge with some shade trees. 

Nice visit down the road by Kimberly of Apricot Apiaries and picked up some of their honey. Trail above the campground and across Rt402 up the mountain right above.

Clean campground & pit toilet.

It's right below  Rt402 which has low traffic and none at night. Low traffic noise with the roaring river and roadway high above site.

In general, Oregon State Parks are great. This is another nice one with plenty of tent and RV sites available. Bathrooms and showers on-site. The park sits nestled in a picturesque treed area, near the Painted Hills. Great location if you are wanting to get to the Painted Hills area of central Oregon.

This place was okay. Near Fossil, Oregon and on the way to the Painted Hills. Lots of trees and a slope/hill to run around on for the kids. Sites were a decent size. But overall the whole place seemed overgrown and full of weeds. If it was free, I would have rated it higher. But at $25 for any camping including tents, it was way overpriced.

Flush toilets (across the street), water, swing sets and plushy grass for your tent, all for $10. They even have an RV area (more of a parking lot) with water and electric hookups. If you're in the John Day area and all the other campgrounds and booked, this is a decent place to spend a few hours and sleep. There's absolutely no privacy since you're right on the road, but at least it's a bit of a drop down to the grass. You can tell the town is trying, and there's some funky/fun play structures scattered about, though you feel kind of like you're camping in someone's front yard. Mitchell Oregon has some restaurants and antique stores that looked fun but they were all closed by the time we got there. At a minimum, this is a good place to stop, stretch your legs, use the restroom and play a bit, and okay if you need a place to sleep before heading somewhere else and the state park up the road is booked.

Pros: Cheap ($10), decent facilities (watered grass, covered eating area).

Cons: Bathroom across the dusty road. Right in the middle of town/wide open area.

We hadn’t planned to stop here but with the day quickly disappearing on us we pulled in to the Clyde Holliday SP campground and had a very good night. Beautifully maintained grounds with nicely spaced sites. Easy to pull in and set up the tent. Mostly RVs but a handful on tent campers too. Clean, and free, showers which we really needed. It is right on Hwy 26 so the traffic noise is an issue, but otherwise a quality spot.

We visited this campground over a weekend that was going to be rainy in the Willamette Valley. Sarvice is listed on the Painted Hills park map with plenty of amenities- toilets and showers, mainly.

The owners live across the street, a note on the main cabin said to leave the money ($10 for tents) in a lockbox by the bathroom. There was one other couple each night of the weekend, so it was incredibly quiet and peaceful.

There are perhaps 15 RV pads. They tend to be clustered with 2-3 next to each other, but generally the campground is spread across a hillside.

Amenities- there are a handful of cabins, the RV pads all have power and water (but not sewer). I think the RV pads are where tents are supposed to be- it's basically the only flat ground- but the large rocks mean you'll want a good tent footprint and thick sleeping pad or air mattress). There's a kitchen area with stoves and fridges. I didn't use it.

Obviously this is a "corral", so there are horse facilities. That's all I know about that. I was on a bicycle, not a horse.

Away from it all, had place to ourselves, very impressive scenery but some trash around, either very dusty or rocky and barely ok for our tents. Next time I’d rather go “dispersed”.

6 long level spots on the John Day. A few walk in tents spots too. 2 vault toilets No trash so pack in/pack out $5/night, self registration. Great spot in center of John Day Fossil Beds national monument. Across the way you could see the seasonal waterfall

Searching for a spot on Saturday during Memorial Day weekend was probably not the best idea, but we were able to land a decent space in this BLM rec area.

Priest Hole has a few kinds of spots, some at the banks of the John Day River, some in the hills and some in the open. The riverside areas are really rocky and would be hard pressed to ground tent there, but trailer mounted and RV’s would do fine (assuming you can get them there).

We stayed on the bluff overlooking the River and hills. No shade, so we had to make our own, as it was pretty hot. This created another problem when the wind howled down the canyon, kicking up dust and rolling tents and anything not staked down!

The River is a few hundred yards away, and the single vault toilet was close by.

After exploring the area we did discover many more areas for dispersed camping, and will be back to try some of those!

Campfires may or may not be prohibited, or may have modified rules, so be sure to check the board for updates.

We chose this place when our first choice was overbooked. As other reviewers have mentioned, getting to it is its own adventure. Be careful on the narrow mountain road coming in from the east. We got one of the last sites overlooking the River, but it was smallish, not level, so orienting our small tent trailer was a bit of a struggle. But the views were completely worth it.

this is probably the nicest state park that we have ever camped in. we will definitely be coming back. it has large rv/tent spaces with grass and trees everywhere. next to a small stream with biking and nature hiking all around. the showers are huge, everything is clean and tidy and the hosts were very friendly

be aware that this park is first come, first served. we were in september but i would expect that it fills up early in the summer.

Bear Hollow County Park is a decent little campground to spend a night if you're passing through Eastern Oregon for the fossil beds, painted hills or the just the dark skies. We stopped here on our way into Spray as we were running out of daylight hours and didn't know the roads well. It gets dark out here!

If you're looking for a destination campground you can do much better in Oregon - but Bear Hollow is adequate for a drive in!

There is an ADA accessible site. Water didn't appear to be potable and there isn't really anything nearby so you'll need your own supplies. 20$ a night - cash only.