Best Tent Camping near Mitchell, OR

Great spot for tent camping, friendly people.

This is a simple, wide open tent camping area and it's really close to Smith Rock. You can wake up early to see the sun on the rock formations and then hike to the climbs in approximately 20-30 minutes.

This is located just out of Prineville and can get a lot of local traffic in the summer months. It is a fairly nice CG, with bathrooms and hot water. CG is set up for RV or tent camping. Primary feature is access to the water.

great campsites and frIendly host. $13 a night, tent sites were super dusty but not much of the dust came with us. The sites are visually stunning with all the Pondarosa’s (we’re not used to big trees) 10/10

We spent one night here in mid May 22. The sites are reasonably spaced considering how open the area is. Lots of tent sites. New out house. 2 bars of Verizon so an ok connection. Only about 15 a minute drive to Smith Rock State Park.

This is my go-to spot for a quick weekend getaway. I’m lucky enough that this is only about an hour from home. Usually good fishing! Spacious pull through first come first serve sites. Good for mid-size RV’s, trailers & tent camping. You can generally find a spot if you arrive Thursday evening or before 3:00 on Friday. Right on the river with beautiful canyons surrounding you.

We were the only ones camping here for a night in October 2020. Sites are OK, some pull-throughs, some tent sites, too. Each site has a fire ring, picnic table. Pit toilets were dirty. Good location outside Fossil but kind of expensive at $20 for no hookups and dirty toilets, plus it’s right next to road so there’s some road noise.

Tiny little campsite with spots right next to each other. 10 walk up tent sites, most are right along the water. Everyone is so close together you get to know your neighbors pretty well. Dogs must be on leashes at all times, walk up sites have porta potty style bathrooms but if you walk up to registration there’s hot showers and hookups available!

Camp ground is high up over 4700 feet so even in the summer it tends to get a little chilly at night but not bad.

This is a medium busy campground right on the maon road, but its never too noisy after dark.

The place is very clean and the vault toilets well looked after and not stinky!

The spaces are a good size and the ones for tent camping are at the back of the loop.

Not much trails but you can find something to do. 

One of my best nights camping was ip here. During the week late summer, Huge full moon, then the coyotes began to yip/howl..magnificent

First off, I had a great time staying here. Before I arrived I had some ideas of what my stay would be like and while I did have a nice stay, it was not exactly the trip I had expected. I am a female in my early twenties and was tent camping solo for the first time. I grew up camping with my family so I am experienced but this was my first time camping completely alone. When I planned my trip I assumed this was a spot where other travelers and campers would stay so I was hoping that the presence of other people would provide some comfort to counter the fact that I was camping alone. When I arrived there were people in the day use area but as I drove back to where people would normally camp there was nobody in sight. As the evening came I realized there was not going to be any other campers for miles. Needless to say I made it through the night just fine with no emergencies but I was so nervous the whole time that I had a very restless sleep with my hand practically on my bear spray all night.

I woke up the next morning, went on a beautiful hike with some amazing views and continued on my road trip. Overall the location is great, I would camp here again if I were with other people or if I were staying in a converted van or camper of some sort. But being a solo, young, female tent camper in this location without any other campers around for miles was a little too scary for my taste.

Near the painted hills of Oregon! Not much to it, but there are restrooms with running water. Caught a ride from here to the hills for sunset.

Mitchell is a nice little town in central Oregon.

Not sure what some people are complaining about. This small four site RV “Park” located in a public park in the town of Mitchell, Oregon is perfect if wanting to visit John Day National Monument. Very close to the painted hills and the road to Fossil. For only $25 with electric and water, it's a steal, especially after boon-docking for a few days. Close to a small store that carries a lot of stuff. Plus the Tiger Town Brewing—all any camper needs. Right ? Would definitely stay here again.

First come first serve spot in Mitchell. Grocery store, cafe and brewery within walking distance. Nice lay over spot with easy access to the painted hills. Sites are close and tight getting into the spot with a trailer….but doable. Friday night of July 4th weekend we were the only ones in the campground. We would stay again if passing through here.

We arrived mid-Saturday Labor Day weekend and less than half the sites had been claimed. It was perfectly positioned between our weekend activities: Painted Hills and Lucky Strike Mine. By late Saturday most (if not all) sites we're claimed.

The sites are large and well looked after. Bathroom was surprisingly clean and not smelly. Camp host even provided a large tank of water (but I wouldn't count on that).

Pro Tip: drive 20min East to Mitchell, Or and get a pint at Tiger Town Brewing. Great people, food and beer! We packed camp dinners for both nights, but ended up at Tiger Town every night because the atmosphere was so good.

This was a great place to have a picnic, stretch our legs, and take a nap while exploring Central Oregon. It cost $8 for day use, and the picnic tables, fire pits, and vault toilets were exactly as expected. We picked up some trash, but there wasn't more than usual, although we found empty, unspent shotgun shells everywhere. Campers were friendly, and it seemed that everyone had a friendly dog. My toddler loved climbing up and down the river bank, throwing rocks in the river, tromping around in the tall grass, and meeting everyone's dogs. We will come back to this site with our tents!

Super excited to see Smith Rock for the first time! Hike all day, when we came back in the evening we could tell that our tent had been blown over in the wind but the camp host (I think his name is Charlie) put in extra stakes and tie offs to keep our tent up right. So so nice and generous of him. The campground is very inexpensive and doesn’t have a lot of amenities and that’s all good by me.