Searching for a dispersed camping spot near Scotts Mills? Dispersed camping is an excellent way to get away from it all and to disconnect. Find dispersed campsites you've visited before, or discover new spots from other campers.
Parking area for 4-5 vehicles overflow on the Highway 224. Alder Flat Trail #574. Link to Trail Description and Map
Mirror Lake offers a few sites for overnight camping. The hike to the lake is one of the most popular hikes on Mt Hood. While the vast majority of hikers only visit during the day, a few primitive sites are located just above the lake.
When I refer to primitive sites, that is what they are. There are no facilities here. No picnic tables, and no toilets. A few fire pits have been fashioned out of rock and you may also find a makeshift bench. But for some this is an ideal camping experience. By day Mirror lake can get crowded. It is surrounded on three sides by mountains and it can get loud here. But at night it is as peaceful as you could ever want. Views of Mt Hood and Tom Dick and Harry Mountain are all outstanding.
Dispersed camping, or camping outside of designated campgrounds, can be a great way to experience the forest- as long as everyone follows some rules and guidelines to protect forest wildlife, plants, water quality, and the health of others.
Dispersed camping is not for everyone- and that's fine as the Mt. Hood National Forest has over 70 designated campgrounds. Camping outside of campgrounds means no toilets, no drinking water, no metal fire rings, and no trash service. You are responsible for leaving the site cleaner than you found it and learning the skills of Leave No Trace camping before you head out.
Basic Rules & Guidance Some areas are closed to dispersed camping, such as within developed recreation sites, along certain roads, and particularly sensitive areas. Contact your local Ranger District for more information. You may camp on the forest for only 14 consecutive days. Please choose an existing site rather than create a new campsite. Camp at least 100 ft. away from streams, rivers, and lakes. If you didn't bring firewood and intend to build a campfire only collect already down wood. If your campfire is too hot to touch with bare hands- it's too hot for you to leave! Bring plenty of water and a shovel to help you put out your fire. Check in advance if there are any fire restrictions in effect. Treat or filter any stream water you collect for drinking, or bring water from home. Your group must be under 75 people. If it larger you must obtain a (usually free) permit in advance from the local Ranger District. When Nature Calls Be prepared for your own sanitation! To dispose of feces, dig a hole 6” deep at least 100 feet away from any water source. When you're done, fill the hole with the dirt you dug up and take your toilet paper with you to dispose of in a proper waste container. Never defecate or leave toilet paper on top of the ground. Animals might eat it, it could easily get into the local water source and contaminate it, and plus it's just gross. Leave No Trace Pack out everything you brought with you! Dispose of your garbage properly off the forest. Leave No Trace is a framework minimum impact practices for anyone visiting the outdoors. They apply to virtually every recreational activity and help increase your safety and enjoyment of the forest. Learn more about the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace. The Mt. Hood National Forest belongs to all Americans- including those who will come long after us. Do your part to keep the forest clean every time you visit.
Dispersed camping, or camping outside of designated campgrounds, can be a great way to experience the forest- as long as everyone follows some rules and guidelines to protect forest wildlife, plants, water quality, and the health of others.
Dispersed camping is not for everyone- and that's fine as the Mt. Hood National Forest has over 70 designated campgrounds. Camping outside of campgrounds means no toilets, no drinking water, no metal fire rings, and no trash service. You are responsible for leaving the site cleaner than you found it and learning the skills of Leave No Trace camping before you head out.
Basic Rules & Guidance Some areas are closed to dispersed camping, such as within developed recreation sites, along certain roads, and particularly sensitive areas. Contact your local Ranger District for more information. You may camp on the forest for only 14 consecutive days. Please choose an existing site rather than create a new campsite. Camp at least 100 ft. away from streams, rivers, and lakes. If you didn't bring firewood and intend to build a campfire only collect already down wood. If your campfire is too hot to touch with bare hands- it's too hot for you to leave! Bring plenty of water and a shovel to help you put out your fire. Check in advance if there are any fire restrictions in effect. Treat or filter any stream water you collect for drinking, or bring water from home. Your group must be under 75 people. If it larger you must obtain a (usually free) permit in advance from the local Ranger District. When Nature Calls Be prepared for your own sanitation! To dispose of feces, dig a hole 6” deep at least 100 feet away from any water source. When you're done, fill the hole with the dirt you dug up and take your toilet paper with you to dispose of in a proper waste container. Never defecate or leave toilet paper on top of the ground. Animals might eat it, it could easily get into the local water source and contaminate it, and plus it's just gross. Leave No Trace Pack out everything you brought with you! Dispose of your garbage properly off the forest. Leave No Trace is a framework minimum impact practices for anyone visiting the outdoors. They apply to virtually every recreational activity and help increase your safety and enjoyment of the forest. Learn more about the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace. The Mt. Hood National Forest belongs to all Americans- including those who will come long after us. Do your part to keep the forest clean every time you visit.
Sno Park permit required November 1 - April 30.
Scout
Such an awesome find! The first campsite is small and perfect for a couple tents. The second site could easily fit 3 or 4 tents and has plenty of additional space for parking, kitchen set-up, etc… both sites also have really nice fire pits. Also don’t let the Trillium Lake camp hosts scare you. They told us the gravel road to access the sites was “rough as hell” and were completely wrong. Nothing more than a few potholes. Any vehicle could make the trek.
Guide
Awesome little cliff jumping swimming spot to teach the kids how to swim
Scout
There's lots of other pull outs on the drive into this spot which are nicer. The road is in bad shape so v slow and not really suitable for cars. Quiet and private. Some trash around
ScoutI stopped for the night while traveling and found a huge dispersed camping area right off the road. Unfortunately, some disgusting, disrespectful, immature family left a ton of garbage and feces all over the site. There were three sites with piles of feces and toilet paper right on the camp site. Not 100 feet away, not buried. It was disgusting. This makes me lose faith in humans.
Guide
This spot has easy access to a clean creek for wading pools. Very clean area with some road traffic noise.
Guide
A lot of the trash has been cleaned up, we only saw a little bit in a couple of spots. Some spots have 2 or 3 fire rings per pull out and would be good for a small group. Fishing is OK year round in the river at these spots.
ScoutThese coordinates get you the Kiwanis camp, other than that I wouldn't say a great dispersant camping spot, area is nice though.
ScoutI would just like to thank whomever originally uploaded this site! We used it this weekend and it was perfect for us!! We will definitely be using it again next summer! Best camping trip of the season!
Traveler
I arrived about 7pm on a Thursday night. I loved it here, nothing but nature sounds and sights. it was very clean with small remnants of previous campers. I will say once you are off the main road it got pretty dicey (I drive a lower riding sedan, any suv or 4 wheel drive would be just fine) It was definitely worth it though! not a ton of bugs but definitely be prepared for that. overall a great place to stay for a night on a road trip, would stay again if in the area!
ScoutAccidentally stumbled upon this site after visiting Trillium Lake. There were lots of spots, but this is a very exposed campground. There was decent Verizon service here. There were a decent amount of sites. We were able to get a spot arriving around 9pm.
ScoutNice forest service camping area. There are plenty of spots, but it can get pretty crowded on weekends. There is a beautiful view of Mt. Hood down the road and a nice hiking path to Trillium Lake. Short drive to shopping and restaurants.
ScoutIt's a good spot. T.P. is visible, I wish people would bury it better! But the site is great and really accessible.
GuideSo much trash thrown off the sides at each camp spot. Why would anyone do that to such a beautiful place?? I don't get it.
GuideFS Rd 2656 across from Trillium Lake Campground. Follow 2656 up a couple miles. Turn left on porcupine Trail. There is one small campsite on your left approximately 100 yards. Then a larger one at the end of porcupine Trail. This one is much larger and will accommodate four people. 
Scout
Closed, no access
ScoutThis area is at the Trillium Lake turn off of highway 26. Very easy to get to and the road is paved until you near the area that you can begin camping. I would say smaller/lower vehicles will have to drive slowly and carefully, but most compact SUVs and larger can make it just fine. You can’t hear any traffic out here—just nature. Keep in mind that this area will be closed to vehicle traffic when the Trillium Lake gates close for the snowy season.
There’s a large gravel area that’s higher up and it’s nice to watch the sunset there. If you don’t plan to camp, the drive back to 26 isn’t creepy at all in the night. It’s dark, but not scary, and the road isn’t lighted but there are scattered reflectors on the trees.
I have T-Mobile and I had full 5G service out there. (I don’t know how to submit that info anywhere else, haha)
ScoutA lot of back roads some very rocky, some paved roads. We were able to find the best spot at like 2 am away from everyone.
Scout
This gorgeous trail and dispersed camp is so unrecognizable from the 2021 fires that there is no turn off. May we remember it’s memories!
GuideI camped on another spur road off of FS 2656. Definitely download the mvum from Avenza beforehand to make things easier. Peaceful, quiet, and I had cell signal. Road can be rough in some places but 4WD not necessary. Not many pull-in camping spots so you’ll have to search around. Overall decent spot and close to Trillium Lake
Legend
I was running in an ultramarathon race in September in the Mt Hood National Forest and all of the local campgrounds managed by PGE around Timothy Lake were closed due to the end of the season. I was able to use map layers in The Dyrt PRO to identify where I was within National Forest boundaries and was able to confirm with local officials that I was in a free, dispersed camping zone. So, using the map layers and the search function on The Dyrt I looked for an area near the race start at the Historic Clackamas Ranger Station to park my RV for a 2 night off-grid stay. The location was a wide gravel area on the side of the road that allowed for enough space to park, put out my awning, set up some chairs and a propane fire pit (no live campfires - propane only) while being within a few hundred yards of the Ranger Station. There was room to walk along the road on the shoulder and you are very close walk to the Historic Clackamas Ranger Cabin with a beautiful meadow view, the Joe Graham Horse Camp, and just a couple of mile drive from Timothy Lake. Clackamas Lake Campground was nearby as well with many accessible miles of hikable trails, including access to the Pacific Crest Trail, for hikers of all levels. There was some smoke from local wildfires but that went away as the fall rains arrived that weekend. If you are looking for a place to park your RV near all of these amazing views and experiences this free, dispersed camping site worked great for me and my family for a couple of nights.
GuideI have camped here numerous times over the years. I love the dispersed camping. The sites are open, so good for solar, but do get windy.
I have camped at the quarry a few times with my friends that have a camp trailer. I have also camped in the pull outs.
My friends have found chanterelles in the woods, and fishing (last time I was there) has been great. It is great for fly fishing and for plunk and wait fishing.
It is dispersed so only a few areas have bathrooms, and not being a regular campground some neighbors can get rather rowdy. But, overall it is a definite favorite.
RangerThere are many park campgrounds in the Mt Hood NF but also tons of dispersed camping in the forest.
We camped off FS 2656 just south of Trillium Lake in August 2020. There are many other locations. Many are separate drives off a forest road but some side of the road spots too. Lake Trillium gets super crowded.
Download the forest map from Avenza for accurate locations of all the forest roads and trails.
The Mt Hood NF is amazing, with tons of lakes, creeks, waterfalls and hiking trails as well as great views of Mt Hood.
No amenities for dispersed locations but you can use nearby campgrounds for water, trash and dump stations.
There was decent Verizon service when we camped there.
Would definitely camp here again.
RangerLooking forward to camping here, but the whole road is closed for the foreseeable future due to the fires.
TravelerWe stopped here for the first time for a hike and to check out the camping situation. The hike is just under a mile long, one way. Keep right at the fork early on to go the right way. Really pretty and shaded. You cross a few foot bridges and it opens up to a fairly good sized camping area with some scattered fire rings. It was surprisingly sparse camping wise for a saturday. Great view of the water just across a dry creek bed and over the hill. Good number of people enjoying the river and a few kids swimming but it was freezing so i dont know how they did it!
Parking lot was fairly full, there might be room to park on the road but im not sure.
I wouldn’t want to camp here because of the foot traffic and how close you have to camp to other people. Might work out good for others though!
Also just a reminder to please pick up your trash and toilet paper. I saw it all over the place at the sites along 224 and its just gross.
ScoutGreat place to disperse camp. Lots of pulloffs and the views are stunning!
TravelerBeautiful recitation area... Mostly roadside limited facilities and or services but beautiful area.. large mountain lake tucked into beautiful mountain valleys ...windy narrow road a couple state campgrounds and day use areas... limited places to turn around... But well worth the adventure!
LegendDispersal camping all year. You are immediately ensconced in quiet and shade, an impossibly green and detailed large pond right off the bat, with a huge walkable log going right to the middle, and lots of interesting critters and a popurrí of different foliage up and down the trail. Ends at the popular Clackamas River after a too-short 1.4 miles. Lots of little side routes to find your perfect spot.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Scotts Mills, Oregon, where nature meets tranquility. This area offers a variety of spots for outdoor enthusiasts looking to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Scotts Mills, OR?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Scotts Mills, OR is Alder Flat with a 4.5-star rating from 4 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Scotts Mills, OR?
TheDyrt.com has all 16 dispersed camping locations near Scotts Mills, OR, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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