Shelton Wayside

It was a nice campground. Well kept. Had bundles of firewood available. Every spot has a table, a ring, and garbage cans are all over the park for convenience. The vault toilets were clean and smelled pleasant (odd I know). There was no one else in the whole park the time we were there. It is way out in the middle of nowhere but that’s what camping is about and its location is in the middle of the John day fossil bed loop.

This campsite was easy to spot from the road, although navigation such as Google maps does not have the gravel road leading off into it. The campsite situated below the road in the valley surrounded by towering hills on either side. There are ample trees and the possibility of hammock camping if you can find the ones close enough. Each campsite has fire rings and wood or metal picnic tables. Water spigots with potable water are scattered every few sites. There are lovely vault toilets as well with air fresheners and toilet paper.

The campsite I stayed at was near the small creek offering a serene sound of water trickling while I slept. There was a bridge the crossed the creek further west of my site which is recommended as the creek is muddy and not easy to cross by foot unless you want to get your shoe stuck in the mud (I was blessed to do this while looking for firewood on the other side).

There is plenty of deadfall scattered around that can be used for the campfire rings set up in the sites. Across the creek, there were lots of bigger hunks of firewood but the fierce mud crossing claimed my shoes. Thankfully, I was able to wash them off and use the heat of the fire to slowly dry them out.

Overall, this is a nice campsite for overnighting as you continue exploring the surrounding area. If coming from Portland, it is about a 3-hour journey. I first trucked around to the John Day Fossil Beds and looped around on the 26 to the Painted Hills before heading back north on the 207. There are lots of fun activities in the vicinity that you can explore and hike in 2 days before carrying on to another area.

There's not much happening at Shelton Wayside, but it makes for a quiet night of camping if you're passing through Eastern Oregon. It feels more like a roadside overnight rest area than a place where you'd go as a destination for a camping adventure.

Shelton Wayside calls itself primitive camping -- mostly it's a field along a hillside with a bunch of picnic tables and fire rings cut from old metal drums. Sites seem to be designated by where there is a picnic table. There is no delineation between sites. There is a water point, pit toilets, and garbage cans.

The campground is self registration only and cash is required.$20 and $5 for an extra vehicle. It gets cheaper if you stay an extra night, but we can't really figure out why you'd want to stay here for any longer than a stop over.