Best Dispersed Camping near Lakeside, OR

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Lakeside

17 Reviews of 4 Lakeside Campgrounds

• 

  Kaitlin B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 26, 2024

  BLM Kentucky Falls Road

  Logging road

  Nice pull off dispersed place to camp. Some sketchy people around but availability to get away from people up the road

• S

  Shayne M.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 20, 2024

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Beautiful, secluded, lots and lots of bugs!

  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

• 

  Kevin B.

  Traveler

  

  Feb. 28, 2024

  Near Fawn Creek Campground (BLM)

  very nice and secluded

  had to stop but I don't think and gi to see if I 5

• B

  Bob Z.

  Scout

  

  Nov. 15, 2023

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Elliott Primitive Campsites

  The 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-

• 

  McQuaid F.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 24, 2023

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Beutiful but not the best for tent camping

  This 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.

• C

  Catey N.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 7, 2023

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Beautiful spots, make sure to download a map

  Needed 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.

• A

  Alex B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 27, 2023

  Suislaw National Forest Dispersed Camping

  Not great, not bad

  It’s a small road through the forest with a few pull off spots along the way. Nothing particularly interesting here, just trees. Can be difficult to find a spot without having to drive pretty far into the forest.

• 

  Melissa B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 11, 2023

  Suislaw National Forest Dispersed Camping

  Treacherous Road

  The way Google took us go thus spot was terrible. Instead of keeping us on the gravel road, it had us drive through an overgrown dirt path. Thank got we didn't get stuck!

  If you are going, stay on the clearly marked gravel road! It's long and winding, but it does have a fee pull outs to park in! It was very quiet, peaceful, and no wildlife bothered us!

• 

  Maddie

  Scout

  

  Jul. 7, 2023

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Secluded and spacious

  Super large campsite! I think only one other car passed by the whole night/morning. Ground was relatively level and decently cleared.

• 

  Paul B.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 15, 2022

  Suislaw National Forest Dispersed Camping

  Bigfoot country

  I drove back in a few miles and camped along the road, in some old growth forest. It was dark, and I mean truly dark in there when you shut off your lights off, and silent as a tomb. Huge uncut trees, bad ass country! My Cane Corso bully dog made it much less spooky at night, not many things would want a piece of him.

• 

  Daisee Mae S.

  Legend

  

  Sep. 21, 2022

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Very Steep

  We 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.

• 

  Caroline E.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 20, 2022

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Worth the drive

  Very 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.

• G

  Glenn

  Traveler

  

  May. 4, 2021

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Nice secluded separate areas to camp with gorgeous views

  You 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.

• J

  Janine L.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 15, 2020

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Great and close to bandon

  We 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.

• 

  Allie D.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 30, 2020

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Beautiful and spacious dispersed camping in the mountains.

  Followed Marlow Creek road about 7 or 8 miles straight back until we reached the top of a hill. Cleared out from what looks to be trees that burned from a fire. Makes for amazing views. Definitely worth the bit of a long drive to get back here.

• 

  Lauren B.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 17, 2020

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Beautiful forest

  It was a cool place to camp. We just drove about 4/5 miles down Marlow creek and found a small pull off to camp. No phone service but the Forest was beautiful! We walked through the creek for a little bit. Not to many good pull off options. It was super damp and rainy while we were there so we’re unable to start a fire. The road had quite a few pot holes but still pretty nice.

• 

  Leah W.

  Legend

  

  Aug. 26, 2018

  Elliott State Forest Dispersed

  Review of Matador Freerain 24 at Elliott State Forest

  Dispersed camping is allowed in all state forests within Oregon. https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Recreation/pages/Camp.aspx

  We found an awesome spot along Marlow Creek Road, about 4 miles into the forest (coming in from Allegeny). There are plenty of pull outs all along the way, with room for 2-3 cars, as well as full tents and chairs set up. The road follows a babbling creek which was amazing to sleep next to. There are no amenities, follow any postings about campfire restrictions. (When we went- no fires were allowed). This is a logging forest, so we had huge logging trucks roll by in the morning - because of this, it may not be the best spot for kids or off leashed dogs. The trucks went by very quickly, stirring up a lot of dust- keep your car windows shut and use a pot while cooking breakfast! We had very few mosquitos or bugs, and loved being encompassed by the mossy trees!

  Ranger Review of the Matador Freerain 24 L Backpack

  https://matadorup.com/products/matador-freerain24-backpack?variant=47744934037

  As a Ranger, I occasionally get the chance to test out gear in the field. I was really excited about trying out this pack, as I do a lot of canyoneering, and dealing with waterproof bags inside of soggy backpacks is always a hassle. Or you have to figure out a way to secure a typical waterproof bag to you. The bag is made of a lightweight rainjacket-like material, and has a roll top to it’s main compartment. I took the bag on a 3 mile hike to some waterfalls, where I could test out it’s waterproofness. At home, I went to a nearby lake to try submerging it.

  Pros

  This bag was extremely light, small and pack-able! You have no reason NOT to bring it with you if you may be heading somewhere wet. It folds into a small drawstring about the size of a baseball.

  This bag has separate storage compartments whereas most drybags are a long tube where everything falls to the bottom. Within this bag, you have 2 water bottle holders (where I tossed things like keys), a easy access zip pocket on the front, as well as the small drawstring that the bag itself can be stored in (I put my packs of gummies in here for safe keeping).

  Cons

  The bag does not have a chest strap, so there was the potential for the backpack to slip off if you were doing strenuous activity, it also didn’t sit perfectly comfortable because of this. It does however, have adjustable shoulder straps (which I didn’t see as necessary).

  I was nervous about putting my 1 L Nalgene bottles into the water bottle pockets because of the material of the bag…with just 1, it made the bag extremely lopsided, or with 2, it seemed to put a lot of stress on the bag itself. I tossed my water inside the bag instead, which made it pretty lumpy since the packable bag doesn’t have structure.

  The front pocket is as advertised, water resistant, but definitely did not pass the waterproof test when I submerged the bag. It’s OK for waterfall mist or a light rain, but I wouldn’t keep my phone in there if we were getting dunked!

  Conclusion!

  If this bag had the chest strap, I’d be in 100% for using it for canyoneering adventures, however- since it doesn’t seem made for more rugged situations, I’m not sure why you would need such a waterproof bag. Most daypacks nowadays come with a raincover, or are made of a water resistant material to keep your goodies from getting soaked - unless you are planning a very casual dayhike where you are literally walking under waterfalls, I would most likely invest in a different daypack solution..