Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Malheur National Forest

The Cabin

Besides the pullout couch leaving a lot to be desired, this little guard station was wonderful. Perfect for two, this cabin comes with propane heat and powered appliances, so no need to sacrifice meal quality or comfort. We were here for Thanksgiving and it was great to be able to explore the Malheur National Forest during the crisp days, and come back to a warm cabin late in the afternoon. In the spring, I imagine you can fish the creek behind the cabin.

The Wildlife

If you hike a little off trail, there's plenty of wildlife to be seen. We ended up hiking to Horse Mountain (about 3.5 miles from the cabin), and saw wild horses early in the morning. We also saw mule deer and turkeys. Maybe it is because it was November, but there were very few people out exploring the area.

The Terrain

The forest was super easy to move through, and if you're driving from western Oregon, the terrain is quite an amazingly unique site given its golden hills and red rocks. All in all, I highly recommend staying here for a nature filled getaway.

This campground is located off highway 395 in the Malheur National Forest. We camped in space 11 near the entrance after driving the loop almost back to the beginning near the single rustic vault toilet. We stayed there in late October and paid $5, ½ of the $10 camping fee. The water was shut off but the toilet was open and clean with tp. We were the only ones who stayed there that night. Several people came in during the night to use the toilets as there is another one further back, the first as you drive in.

The sites aren’t spaced too close together and the large pines create shade. Since we were there in October, we didn’t need the shade. We couldn’t hear the highway traffic as 395 isn’t that busy but during logging operations, yes, the log trucks can be heard. There is also a large timber day use structure. There are mountain bike trails nearby. If you need supplies, Burns Safeway is a good store for a small town.

Free camping in sno park parking lot in Malheur National Forest between May and October. Huge parking lot, accessible for any giant RV. Lot is flat enough, not totally flat but good enough for the night. 

There’s an accessible pit toilet here but it was locked when we stayed here in July. 

We had the whole lot to ourselves for the night. Very peaceful and quiet, very minimal traffic and road noise. Nice forest roads to walk along. Lots of green grass and trees when we came in July. 

No amenities here at all, please pack out your waste and keep it clean. Zero cell reception here in this entire area with Verizon or ATT but the lot is in a big clearing with no trees around so I’m guessing starlink would work well here.

This is in Burns/Hines Oregon. This town is basically a stopover between Boise/Treasure Valley and Bend, Oregon. This park is well suited just for an overnight on the road. The whole property is graveled. All the hookups are in great shape and the whole place looks new-ish. The water pressure is about 100PSI, so use your regulator unless you want to risk popping your plumbing at some place or another. The town has many restaurants, fast food, convenience stores, car parts, car washes, etc. There is a pet park. The host/manager was very down to earth and helpful and greeted us in his golf cart as soon as we pulled up. I recommend this place for a quick/clean stopover. We'll use it again to break up our driving hours. There's not much to see or do in Burns/Hines. The WIFI is excellent coverage and strength and speed. Supports WIFI 6.0. Verizon 3bars.

This is always such a great place to stop when traveling between Idaho and western Oregon. It has lots of shade, lawn, and hedges that offer privacy between the large camp sites. Super clean showers and restrooms, dog friendly, and a nice trail to walk along next to the river. Yes, the sites closer to the road are noisier due to traffic, while the ones closer to the river are the buggiest in the summer, but if you want hook ups, easy access, and an RV dump and don't mind paying for all these amenities, this is the place. We stayed in site 9, which has a super long paved and level driveway giving you lots of peace and quiet.

Our truck broke down just outside of Burns and we ended up having our travel trailer towed to this RV park, as it was the only place we could stay for the week while waiting to get our truck repaired. We had a full hookup spot, which was super nice, but the spot itself was pretty small. This is typical of many RV parks I have been too - good amenities but small spot.

There were some other spots in the park that were slightly larger and had picnic tables, but ours did not. We had only a tiny plastic table with 2 chairs, but we were so close to the RV next to us that we were basically either looking in their window or we would have to be right next to the "road'. Not ideal so we didn't spend much time outside.

There was room here for all sizes of campers - from tents (I saw I guy on a bicycle who tent camped for the night) to giant motorhomes with cars towed behind. The park hosts were all extremely nice and helpful, given our circumstances. They also gave us a military discount since my husband is a veteran.

Restrooms and showers were fairly small (only 2 toilets and 2 showers in each bathroom) but I think most folks used the facilities in their RVs. The shop/office sells propane and ice, so we were able to restock on both (plus they have wine and ice cream if you need a little splurge).

The park is right off of the highway so you may get some truck/traffic noise but it didn't seem to bother us city folks too much. :)

Wifi was fairly decent and you can get some local channels in the TV, if those things are important to you.

Dog and kid friendly, but there is really not much for either to do here.

Overall, this suited our purpose, in that we had a nice safe place to stay while our truck was repaired, but I'm not sure I would stay here just for kicks. Close to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge and a great stopover if you need a night to rest while driving through the high desert of Oregon.