If you're looking for a place to dispersed camp near Oakland, look no further. The Dyrt provides you with a diverse selection of places to camp, from dispersed backcountry camping to boondocking, and everything in-between. Each dispersed site offers quick access to one or more of Oakland's most popular destinations.
Camping is allowed in designated campgrounds, state parks, national forests, and on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. Some private landowners also offer camping opportunities through platforms like Hipcamp. It is important to follow local regulations and respect private property when camping in Oregon.
Guide
The road getting up to it wasn't too bad. Some bigger potholes that we're easy enough to avoid. The pond at the top was beautiful with tons of bats flying around at night. Super cool!
Traveler
Nice pull off dispersed place to camp. Some sketchy people around but availability to get away from people up the road
GuideWe needed a place to set up for a quick sleep on our way down to Yosemite from Washington. I navigated using Google Maps due to other reviews saying Apple made it confusing. This led us right to the pond/camp sites. The road is a little rough with potholes but it’s not terrible if you just drive slow over the holes. There is a few split offs/2-way roads along this dirt road, the last one being a tree with a smiley face and an arrow leading you where to go. Didn’t get lost at all and it was already dark when we got there. No one was there, it was peaceful, clean and quiet. There is a pit toilet/bathroom with toilet paper. No trash cans so you’ll have to pack out your trash. I recommend this spot for anyone willing to drive 10-15 minutes off the freeway for some dispersed camping.
Traveler
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
ScoutThis is a lovely spot. Just a few campsites around a pond. Just overnighted here. Saw some folks camping and fishing. A bit of a challenge to find. Take speaker road to the end of pavement and then follow the dyrt map carefully. The correct location is pinned.
Traveler
had to stop but I don't think and gi to see if I 5
ScoutThe 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-
TravelerThis 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.
ScoutNeeded 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.
ScoutLooked like a great place to camp. Arrived at about 3:30pm and unfortunately all sites were occupied by then. After reading the prior couple reviews, I hoped this would have availability on a Thursday afternoon. Bummer. I noticed one group was playing music, so evening might not have been as quiet as I'd prefer.
ScoutSuper large campsite! I think only one other car passed by the whole night/morning. Ground was relatively level and decently cleared.
GuidePavement turns to dirt road to get to the sites. Each site has a fire ring and a table. The vault toilet has a trash can and was stocked with TP when we were there but we bring our own.
The trails down to the river are loose dirt and steep but we drove to the other side of the river to lounge in the sun.
Lots of skeeters! Bring your bug spray
TravelerThere are only about 6 little sites here and a boat ramp for the little lake. There is one long-drop toilet (no TP) and many sites had picnic tables. I'm not sure if all did, but ours did. We also had a fire pit.
We were there 2 nights and only had one other group show up the whole time.
There is a dangerous low-head dam at the beginning of the lake near the campground, so please keep track of your kids/pets!
I would certainly stay here again - it's about 12 minutes from the Umpqua Hot Springs!
GuideIt's best if you have four wheel drive or all wheel drive. Wouldn't recommend going in the winter months or rainy season. It is a very fun drive though taxing and it is slow going. But was out there it is complete quiet and solitude. And make sure you stock up on anything you need cuz there's nothing there
ScoutSubaru Impreza got up the road just fine! Location is about 20 minutes off i5. Hard to find with Apple Maps but we switched over to google maps and it was a lot easier!
LegendWe 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.
TravelerGoogle maps will take you right to this one. The drive in is pretty short, making this a convenient place to stop if you’re driving through.
Three spots, two of which are very close together. We were there in August. It was hot and the pond was scummy, but not buggy.
Pretty woods and good stars up here. We didn’t explore.
GuideVery 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.
TravelerFound this spot on our way down to California. Not a bad spot to camp, it’s very quite and we were the only ones there.
Getting there is pretty easy, we made it a lot more difficult by going down a bunch of roads. Stick to the main road, the road to the campsite is on the right and has a tree that’s spray painted with a stick figure. It’s very steep like the other review said but isn’t too bad for a truck.
There aren’t a lot of spots here. We parked right by the lake, there was another spot in the middle of the loop, and a few others.
It looks like there’s a trail that goes around the lake. We found some ticks on the dogs immediately so we didn’t end up exploring it. Overall a nice spot, it’s right off the highway so you don’t have to worry about driving deep in the mountains.
LegendThis was quite a way in on a fairly smooth but steep dirt road. Along the road were random deep pot holes so be aware they sneak up on you when the road is shadowed. The last .3 miles was steep and though we made it in 26ft rig I would not attempt it again. I could see major problem if rain was expected.
The pond was peaceful and so beautiful with a couple of level options to set up. The area as a whole is very small though, so if someone else is already there when you arrive it’s going to feel very cozy and/or awkward.
There was a handicap accessible bathroom with pit toilets that someone shot up the lock (boooo) so at the moment is open despite the "closed for covid" sign. There was a pile of garbage near the garbage cans. Bullet casings littered the ground as well.
The fish were jumping and the water clear. Overall nice, just wish people would respect public lands more and not trash these areas so much. The road is narrow with very few turn arounds. The way down I was in 1-2 gear riding the break on some of the hills. Good place to let the dogs run and swim. If we had a smaller rig we would come here again. Very weak / unusable Verizon service, no service with TMobile or ATT.
TravelerYou 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.
ScoutWe 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.
ScoutFollowed 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.
GuideIt 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.
LegendDispersed 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..
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Oakland, OR?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Oakland, OR is Elliott State Forest Dispersed with a 3.9-star rating from 12 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Oakland, OR?
TheDyrt.com has all 10 dispersed camping locations near Oakland, OR, with real photos and reviews from campers.
