Best Dispersed Camping near Onalaska, WA

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Onalaska

47 Reviews of 23 Onalaska Campgrounds

• B

  Bella M.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 3, 2024

  NF-52 Dispersed Camping

  Beautiful views but semi busy road

  Got here around sunset. Looks like some good camping spots to walk into. Beautiful view of Rainier. There was a little bit of traffic but nothing crazy. Would stay here again.

• 

  BMRTV

  Scout

  

  Sep. 1, 2024

  Carbon River

  Tons of places to camp, can be a party spo5

  I came on a Friday so i could get up early to go hiking. I put up my hammock around 7pm, nobody's else there. Around 9-11pm a few people including a 5th wheel arrived and spent a bunch of time moving that around. They ran their generator, lights and music until 2:30am. My bad for coming on a Friday. Woke up to a beautiful sunrise and spent time on the bridge taking photos before riding up the gravel road up to the Summit Lake hike.

  Lots of spots along the road which I'll utilize next time to avoid the party :)

• 

  Holbrook P.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 31, 2024

  NF-52 Dispersed Camping

  Amazing Spot Outside of Rainier

  We found an awesome walk in spot a little bit earlier on on the forest road before these actual coordinates. While we didn't have the comfota of our car parked right next to us, we had spectacular views of Mt. Rainier, easy access down to the river, and a fire pit. Unreal spot about 10-15 drive to the entrance of the park. Paved road all the way.

• S

  Simon M.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 22, 2024

  NF-52 Dispersed Camping

  Easy to find

  It was a pretty good stay, it was easy to find a spot. We just pulled over and set up a tent. A little buggy and it’s not a super special spot to camp but it was a nice stay.

• 

  Kevin W.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 20, 2024

  McBride Lake NF-81 Dispersed

  Lots of shade, very private and trailer friendly.

  I have camped here twice now, once during a scouting trip in 2016 with my boys and again in September 2024 with just me and my dog :).  I could pull my 17' pop-up "A" frame trailer and back into one of the two spots with no problem.  Due to the narrow road, it may be a bit more snug with bigger rigs (25+ feet long and anything more than 8+ feet wide).  I would scout the road and area before committing; however, there is a turnaround that you could use to maneuver the trailer to drive out.  It's plenty big to accommodate a few trucks/cars and one, maybe two towable trailers.  If you're going tent camping, there are about four flat places for tents.  The area has no trails, so you would not have to worry about people wandering into the campsite. The Ape Caves is a small drive away. The town of Cougar, WA. is about 10 miles away if you need gas or food.  There is a lot of shade, and it is not solar-friendly.  The main road is about 100 feet away, relatively quiet, and very private.  There was a large rock fire pit in the middle. There is no cell phone reception; however, if you drive East for a few miles, you may be able to get 2 bars with Verizon.

  Per the state website, "On the southwest side of Mount St. Helens, Forest Road 81 provides an experience away from crowds. On this road, access Kalama Horse Camp, Red Rock Pass, and Forest Road 830, the road to Climber's Bivouac, and the start of the summer climbing route. From the west, the road begins on Forest Road 90, near Cougar, WA, and travels through private timberlands and state lands before entering Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The road connects with Forest Road 83 on its east side. While mostly paved, be prepared for several miles of gravel(between Forest Road 830 and 8123) and a road that is sometimes very rough."

• O

  Oriane D.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 15, 2024

  NF Big Dispersed Camping Spot

  Nice for a short stay

  A lot of space, it’s near the road but there is almost no traffic in the evening. Quite a lot of mosquitoes but nice for a short stay

• 

  John P.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 14, 2024

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Easy Car Camp

  Relative to other options in Northwest Oregon this was an easy to find, plenty of space place to park the car. My partner and I angled our vehicle to block our tent from the road and slept like rocks.

  Not scenic (though the waterfall that is a short hike away is). My only safety concern is someone taking the corner too fast running into your car.

• 

  Bobby J.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 21, 2024

  NF-52 Dispersed Camping

  Ok stay near Mt Rainier

  It was just a pretty ok spot. Nothing fancy, my spot wasn’t right on the river and I had a creek which was just full of mosquitoes

• 

  samuel C.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 16, 2024

  NF-52 Dispersed Camping

  One of my favorites!

  One of my favorite dispersed sites of all time, now let me say , there can be a lot of bugs, but there are lots of sites , and the view of rainier is amazing. !!!! There is a lot of traffic but I love it everytime.

• 

  Mar Z.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 7, 2024

  Rock Candy Mountain Trailhead

  Perfect woodsy rest stop off highway

  Right off the highway. Pit toilet and wooded areas. Can still hear highway from this exact GPS location, so I went further on up the road for a quieter spot. A few trucks did speed by in the middle of the night, but it was a Saturday and July 4th weekend. 5 bars of cell service.

• 

  Flare9

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 18, 2024

  Carbon River

  Carbon River (first time)

  It is currently the beginning of June '24, cold at nights and the mornings. My fiance' and I are sleeping in a tent and it has rained a lot but if you go into the woods, you can still find dry branches for starting a fire. We were set up by the river, mostly quiet and can hear traffic now and then but nothing obnoxious. Would definitly camp here again as it seems we had a prime location.

• 

  Boosa L.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 11, 2024

  Sluice Creek Dispersed Spot

  Nice hidden gem

  We are a 29ft, easy to get there but take it slow (take a right turn from the 48th first road). Good Verizon reception, Pretty level, there is a fire pit made by someone before us.

• 

  Beamus R.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 8, 2024

  Rock Candy Mountain Trailhead

  A spot to sleep

  Overall I had a nice quiet stay. This spot isn't anything too awful special. There are about four pull outs to set up for the night. The bathrooms are located in the trailhead parking lot. They could use cleaning, but they are open 24 hours. As for cell service Verizon was barely there. To sum it up if you need a spot to crash for the night this place will work. Y'all stay safe and be well out there.

• J

  Jaden J.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 4, 2023

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Amazing Hike!!

  This place was beautiful!! Definitely best for car camping as the spots down by the river were pretty wet and muddy this time of year. The waterfall is amazing and only a 15 minute hike down! The only reason this place got lower than a 5 star is because of all the trash near the parking lot. Too beautiful of a place to be used as a dump!! Definitely used as a party spot but aside from this it’s worth the visit!

• L

  Loren O.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 21, 2023

  Tatoosh Wilderness WA FS52 - Dispersed Camping

  Littered roadside pull-off

  This was a large pull-off right off of NF-52, so there was no privacy from the hwy but at least the area was big enough to be a little distanced from traffic. The spots on the river were already occupied when I was looking late on a Sat afternoon, this is a popular dispersed area. The entire area was littered with toilet paper and discarded furniture. There was also a memorial hidden in some trees just out of sight of 52. Wouldn't have been a bad spot if people had picked up after themselves, but the trash situation was over the top. Thankful to have in a pinch but def wouldn't camp there again. (The pull off is right off the highway from what the coordinates show).

• D

  Diana M.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 21, 2023

  NF-52 Dispersed Camping

  Attack of the ants!

  I used the big pull in spot where you can get good access to the river via multiple paths. I backed my SUV in and set my car tent up. Then realized there were ants ALL OVER! Maybe the big trash pile but they seemed bigger (Carpenter?). Not only could I not enjoy the space outside my tent and just chill but they also were all over multiple path entrances. If I hadn’t already set my tent up I’d have found another spot!

• m

  malia

  Scout

  

  Jul. 18, 2023

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Decent place for the night

  A big pavement pull off on the ride of the road. The river is a walk down a very steep hill behind the pullout. No place to pitch a tent, best for car camping. Had some issues with people stopping and playing loud music, seems to be a hangout spot.

• 

  Sheryl H.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 10, 2023

  NF-52 Dispersed Camping

  This Dispersed Camping area is next to the Skate Creek Rd. It is beautiful!

  The area is beautiful with about 38 sites. Forest Service has installed 6 temporary toilets for the third year in a row to assist with human waste issues.  Many of the campers do not understand the rules and they depart with trash and litter everywhere. 

  Volunteers continue to cleanup after these abusers as well as the Forest Service.

• c

  cheyenne

  Scout

  

  Jun. 14, 2023

  Sluice Creek Dispersed Spot

  It’s okay

  You are just pulled over on the side of a gravel road I honestly thought it was kinda creepy. No trespassing signs everywhere in the woods. 

• 

  Danielle C.

  Traveler

  

  May. 14, 2023

  Carbon River

  Great camping spot but the people....

  So first off, this location is beautiful. It is so relaxing! We were so excited when we found a spot with a fire pit. We set up camp and started enjoying ourselves. Here where it gets weird. People were harassing us about camping. We spoke to a ranger and verified that we were at the right spot. She said yes. One person drove past and yelled that you don't belong here. It was super uncomfortable specially considering I had a four year old with me. We ended up packing up camp and hiking into a further remote camp site. It was great after that.

• 

  Alex R.

  Scout

  

  May. 4, 2023

  Sluice Creek Dispersed Spot

  Amazing

  Amazing place. 8 min from brewery and isolated

• A

  Autumn B.

  Traveler

  

  May. 3, 2023

  Mount St. Helens Dispersed Camping

  A little tricky to find, but stumbled upon a gem

  A friend and I drove around for a campsite for hours because our original one was under 2 feet of snow (late April 2023). I was able to get a bar of service and found this area off 83. There’s a bunch of pull offs, we found one that was covered in twigs and brambles. It was easy to get back to the site once we moved the blockage. Great, quiet area. Clean and not much left behind. Bet it’s busy in the summer but we didn’t see anyone for miles in late April.

• 

  Caroline E.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 16, 2022

  Skate Creek Dispersed

  Dispersed near Rainer

  Mostly roadside pull-offs with some drive-in & larger sites available. Come earlier for better sites! Lots of good options for car campers to wake up with a view of Rainer. No cell signal with AT&T. Close to Ashland (15ish minutes) where you can get gas and groceries. Great views of Rainer from most sites, and not a far drive to the park.

• 

  Kathy C.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 24, 2022

  Pumice Butte- Dispersed Campsite

  Nice, but busy camp spot

  The camp is around a gully on the north side of Pumice Butte with outstanding views of Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. Water was flowing at this camp when we passed in late July, but it was silty in the late afternoon and early evening, clear in the morning. There is a lovely site in the trees near the water, but more spots are scattered on the hillsides. The camp gets very crowded on peak summer weekends.

• 

  Sarah J.

  Guide

  

  Feb. 27, 2022

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Beautifully muddy

  The trails are great and the waterfall is beautiful. The pulloff is muddy and hard but it's worth it.

• 

  Jeremy B.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 8, 2022

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Great pullout in the woods

  This is my first wildcamping/boondocking location, but I loved it. It feels like you're right in the middle of the forest! It's a wide dirt pullout with room for 7-10 cars. And although it's right alongside the road, it's not a super busy road like some highway spots, so it felt pretty secluded and quiet. Very few cars at night.

  No signs of any kind indicating "no parking." 1 bar of Verizon LTE.

  The dirt was solid -- I wasn't worried at all about getting stuck in the mud (and I'm here in the middle of winter with tons of recent rain). Plenty of room to turn around with ease.

  And you're right at a hiking trail that takes you to beautiful falls!! What more could you ask for? -- Don't make the mistake I did. The trail all the way on the left side of the parking lot takes you to the falls. The trails in the middle of the lot are super steep and muddy and don't lead to the falls.

  Only downside is it's not perfectly flat. It wasn't too bad though. I just parked with my head pointing uphill when I go to bed, of course.

  There is also another option down the road to the east about 500 feet. It's a paved pullout, but it is smaller so it doesn't have as much space to turnaround.

• H

  Hannah

  Guide

  

  Oct. 2, 2021

  Gifford Pinchot National Forest Dispersed Site

  Beautiful Area

  The tall trees make things a lot darker before it actually gets dark. We only passed through the area, but this site was very remote with a fire ring someone created.