BLM John Day River - Priest Hole

I would recommend a rig with lots of ground clearance. The main gravel roads have been recently maintained but the last bit has deep ruts and there are rocky areas.  Our trailer had better clearance than our truck and we bumped a few rocks getting into our spot. There are a few less rocky areas, but they seem to get taken first.  More people in the off-season than I expected for such a remote area.   You need to use a fire pan for fires when allowed, so be sure to bring one.  It was our first time using a fire pan but it was better than using the ground as they are designed to allow perfect air flow.

Incredible little spot. We pulled in around an hour before sunset and found a beautiful site right on the river. Doesn’t look like there are a ton of spots so make sure to get there during daylight to be safe. It was super quiet and peaceful with no noise other than the river roaring which provided a great nights sleep!

The views are also stunning both at night and in the sunlight!

We made it through all the gravel roads fine (about 7 miles total) with our van pulling a 21ft travel trailer. Just go slow and you’ll be fine!

There is one bathroom available, but we didn’t use it.

The road into the hole is a sketchy single lane with large ruts. A high clearance vehicle is a must. We pulled a 28 ft Travel trailer down in early June. The place was not crowded at all. We probably should not have done that, We got lucky that we did not meet anyone on the road.

Can get a little crowded and noisy especially on the gravel bar and with teenagers doing donuts in the parking area on their ATVs!

We chose this place when our first choice was overbooked. As other reviewers have mentioned, getting to it is its own adventure. Be careful on the narrow mountain road coming in from the east. We got one of the last sites overlooking the River, but it was smallish, not level, so orienting our small tent trailer was a bit of a struggle. But the views were completely worth it.

Our reward for braving miles of gravel and dirt road was our pick of a spot on a huge gravel bar in the middle of the John Day River. We brought a 30 foot AF trailer with high clearance- that’s probably the max to make it down there. Beautiful vistas in the late afternoon and other campers were fly fishing. There were 4 other camp groups but it still felt peaceful and plenty of space. Our dogs lived to swim in the river.

This campground was lovely. The surrounding area (mountains, river, etc) was stunning. No light pollution, so I was able to see the Milky Way galaxy (somewhat). The only problem is that you will need a vehicle with enough ground clearance - definitely more than a Nissan Altima, haha. I read some reviews about the campground (on another app) saying that you didn’t need that much ground clearance, but I’m pretty sure that I almost tore the bottom of my car out.

If you come out here, have fun…just drive carefully. :)

Away from it all, had place to ourselves, very impressive scenery but some trash around, either very dusty or rocky and barely ok for our tents. Next time I’d rather go “dispersed”.

Parked right by the river. Fish were jumping, caught a little white fish. Just beautiful!

Searching for a spot on Saturday during Memorial Day weekend was probably not the best idea, but we were able to land a decent space in this BLM rec area.

Priest Hole has a few kinds of spots, some at the banks of the John Day River, some in the hills and some in the open. The riverside areas are really rocky and would be hard pressed to ground tent there, but trailer mounted and RV’s would do fine (assuming you can get them there).

We stayed on the bluff overlooking the River and hills. No shade, so we had to make our own, as it was pretty hot. This created another problem when the wind howled down the canyon, kicking up dust and rolling tents and anything not staked down!

The River is a few hundred yards away, and the single vault toilet was close by.

After exploring the area we did discover many more areas for dispersed camping, and will be back to try some of those!

Campfires may or may not be prohibited, or may have modified rules, so be sure to check the board for updates.

Great time over Memorial Day weekend but got there a little later than I would’ve liked and missed out on any natural shade. There are several sites along the John Day, fires only allowed in a metal pit (bring your own).

Camping on the river bed was a very cool experience. Even though there were other campers everyone was far spaced apart so you didn't have to worry about crowding on each other or having someone ease drop into what you were doing. We did get rained on pretty hard one day and the next morning a Ranger came by and warned us of flash flooding from the Blue Mountains so if coming here you should be mindful of that depending on the season. All and all a great place to get away from everything and your only a short drive away from the Painted Hills which I would definitely recommend checking out too.

The campsites are outside of painted hills park. Took us awhile to figure that out with no signal. We parked near the River when we arrived and the sounds were incredible. Near the River you could see a few painted hills and the sunset was amazing.

My husband and I had the worst sleep at this campsite. The wind was insane, we came in March. Sounded like someone was pounding on our tent all night.

The other downside - tons of dirt. It gets everywhere and on everything. My husband and I are used to mountain camping and don’t prefer sand or dirt locations normally. Just be aware your clothing and gear will be covered in it.

Overall, the sites were amazing, just tough weather and conditions during our trip.

This is a string of campsites along a beautiful stretch of the John Day River. Several can accommodate large vehicles/trailers/RVs. There are also plenty of places for tents. There are fire rings in many of them, but no picnic tables. There is one vault toilet that was actually relatively clean. The main limitation to larger vehicles are the access roads, of which there are two. If you follow signs for Priest Hole while heading north you will go down a steep, rutted and narrow gravel road. We came down it but were worried about getting back up. Then we discovered another road that goes west from the campground. It is a less rutted and slightly less steep and much preferable. In would highly recommend this route. We were there for a few nights, and had no trouble finding a site arriving on a Thursday in early Spring. It did seem to get busier on Saturday. The stars are incredibly bright at night. The surrounding cliffs are beautiful. We watched a huge bald eagle perching on a rock eating an animal it had just caught. There is no Verizon cell service at the campground but we did find a few little slices when we walked up the southern access road.

My two boys ages 19 & 21 said this was the best place we’ve ever camped. 🥰 I have never done dispersed, BLM type camping before, we usually do state parks, and was surprised at how easy it was and safe I felt. Lots of potential sites and less people than I thought there would be - we did stay Mon-Thu instead of a weekend though. Easy access to lots of different river spots to play and swim in the warmest water ever. Beautiful views, really amazing and peaceful. We did see more than one big snake, one obviously a rattler cruising around right in our campsite. One of the nights we were swarmed by teeny tiny bugs and had to turn out our lanterns or inhale them. (no fires allowed) The pit toilet is right at the entrance and the site we chose was a good 20min walk to it in the morning but it was worth it to us - it amazingly had zero odor, crazy. The painted hills are six miles away. The road is very rough, we were driving an all wheel drive VW Atlas, for reference. I would stay here again and relive this adventure in a heartbeat. ☀️🏕💕

This is a beautiful location with the Painted Hills and John Day River as a backdrop. However, it’s first come first served dispersed camping and gets busy on the weekends during the summer. Arrive early to claim a spot!

NOTE: You need to have an AWD vehicle, preferably a truck with spares. The road is gravel that gets rutty and difficult the further you go. We got a flat (apparently along with 20 other people) when we went. It’s an unforgiving spot to get stranded with no cell service so be prepared.

Also, it’s totally primitive so you’ll need to haul out all your garbage including any “waste”.

Got there in the late afternoon and there were a lot of other people and groups there. People were fishing camping and day swimming. The only negative point is more funny then negative: a guy had brought his Honda Civic in and then had trouble get back up to the road. He kept digging himself in until someone else walked over and gave pointers

I was nervous I wasn’t going to find the place or it would be really awful. Exactly the opposite! It will take a half hour or so to get there from the main road, very bumpy ride, but well marked and easy enough to figure out where to set up camp. There are no amenities other than a vault toilet. Highly recommend this location.

This is open year round and I would not say it's hugely populated. There is vault toilets but not much else. It's so wonderful just to drive up to a spot on the river and camp, what's better is it is free! The stars are wonderful here, as there isn't much light pollution. The canyons show an interesting history. In the spring the wildflowers are truly a site to see! Watch for snakes and cats! Make sure you bring everything you need, there isn't anything near by. Road in is gravel, take it slow.

Beautiful if remote location on the banks of the John Day River in Central Oregon. Very few amenities (only vault toilets) and no set camp sites per say, however, it just means you drive up and pick a cool site on the river and enjoy the gorgeous view.

Definitely remember to bring all that you need including food, supplies, tables, and water. But still mere feet from the actual river, quiet, and great star gazing.