Best Dispersed Camping near Orient, WA

Loons and Coyotes are great music. Beautiful Lakes (Sidley & Molson) near historical Old Molson! Definitely dispersed camping in roadside pullouts with outhouse supplied by Fish & Game. Traffic is very low even though they were trucking out hay while we were there. Fishing slow in August but nice size and were told the town has an ice fishing tournament every winter. We met some great locals and were told of some of the horrible things some dispersed campers have done, come on folks....pack everything in and pack out everything too!! Verizon cell reception was present but the Canadian cell towers are strongest so beware.

The good -A beautiful camp ground. Small space with multiple dispersed camp sites along the creek and throughout the wooded area. The creek is very small but powerful. You can not swim but still a great place to get wet. If you have a tube bring it and enjoy a short river ride. Not a good place to fish. The main camp area is completely shaded keeping things cool. The camp is very close to the creek. Still there was no issues with bugs. I did not need bug spray. There are established stone fire pits or you can gather up some rocks and make your own. Plenty of deadfall and fire wood all over the place. There is also a fence that runs the perimeter of the camp area. Helping to keep the predators out. The only animal I saw besides squirrels and birds was a skunk. Bears, coyotes, wolves and cougars are know to frequent the area.  

The bad - Many of the locals are not friendly and claim the whole creek portion of the camp ground for themselves. There are about 6 different camp sites directly on the main creek. The others are spread out through the woods. People often use the creek just to bring their kids down to frolic in the water for a few hours. More than once I have been approached and ran off by hostile creek users. Im sure there are good folks around their too. That said the few people I have met out there are nasty and will refuse to share the campground causing all kinds of drama until you just get mad and leave. Last weekend I was approached by 4 men who were not camping just using the creek to tube with their kids. I was told that I better go find another place to camp. That they were using the creek and I could not be there. I set up anyways camping away from them and was not in anyway a bother to them. Still they continued to come over and harass me about leaving. Until I finally I strapped on my pistol approached them and told them I wasn't going any where. I was met with a lot of cussing and threats. But finally They did leave! So sad a beautiful place I truly loved the area. Not sure if I will continue to go back. It was not worth the ignorance or drama of other human beings. No toilets or electricity, No wifi or fresh drinking water. If you can avoid ignorant humans I would recommend this place to camp.

We found a great spot to camp but since it was dispersed we made our own fire ring and camped in this area. There were some other sites that were occupied or we did not like it as much as the spot we ended up pitching up camp. Saw no ticks, but did get a few bites from other insects.

Hearing the birds was really cool.

We stayed at camp site #7 because the creek runs right by it. It was beautiful, and we loved having our tent right by the water. There were not a ton of level surfaces for tents or tables, no bathroom near this site although there’s one at the first site. We had no cell phone service for several miles before reaching the site. There were also lots of mice. Brave too, they were trying to get our food as we were eating it around the fire! Luckily the bear box they provide keeps the mice from getting to it at night, and they were nowhere to be found during the day. We will probably not be back for this reason though.

We camped at site #14. Approximately 5 miles on East of East Sullivan Campground heading on Sullivan Creek Rd. (All camping is Free on Sullivan Creek Rd)

The site is near the river (multiple paths for easy access), has a bear box, and a fire ring. Make sure to bring proper toiletry supplies to use the old fashion style because the closet toilet is 2 miles away.

The site was great however the fire ring is about 30 yards away from where we parked our tent trailer and would be ideal for tent camping and is very shaded.

Overall great trip!

As we drove through looking for the best spot we noticed there were several quality spots. We opted for a spot right by potters pond. It was very spacious and was walking distance from the dock and a toilet facility. However the toilet was very foul and we opted out of using it. The spots we saw were all quite large and they are very spread out from each other. There was also a creek running behind the spot we chose which was a treat for the dogs to drink from. Each campsite is supplied with a fire pit with a metal ring and a cooking grate, which came in very handy. There are not tables provided and it’s completely haul in haul out. We had a lovely view of the pond, which did make the mosquitos quite a nuisance but manageable. There is a family friendly fishing dock on Potters pond, and it is stocked with good sized rainbow trout the little kids had a blast fishing. A little further down was Bayley Lake which is fly fishing only and not as easy to access. Both the lake and the pond would be amazing places to kayak, we would have if the weather had been a bit nicer. Overall, I was very impressed with the size and seclusiveness of all the sites we saw. We will most definitely be back again!

The campgrounds are located on Sullivan Creek Rd that runs along Sullivan Creek. There over 30 sites along the river over several miles. Some of them do not have numbers. All the sites are first come and are Free

We camped at site #6 over Memorial Day weekend.

At the site there was a bear box and a fire ring with a moveable grill cover. Some of the sites do have bathrooms. However, we didn’t have one so make sure to bring the appropriate toilet supplies. The size of our site could fit two Rv’s and several tents (Our pop up tent trailer is 25ft). The site has a lot of shade so depending on the time of year make sure to bring the weather appropriate clothing. During our stay it got very cold and we needed to use our heater.

The river is about 35 yards from the site and the dirt road is about 20 yards from the main Camping area.

Dogs do not have to be on leash. However, this time of the year the river was cold and very fast and if your dog is not trained using a leash or tether system for safety would be beneficial.

There are several hiking/game trails you can walk or drive too. Sullivan lake is right down the road about a 5 minute drive you can access additional hiking trails.

Firewood is not provided so make sure to purchase prior and/or bring a ax to cut up the wood that has been left behind.

Overall we loved this area and will be going back this summer when it’s warmer and the river is safe enough to swim with our dogs:)

Here is the exact coordinates of the site #6

https://maps.apple.com/?ll=48.832887,-117.249496&q=My%20Location&_ext=EiQpqFCSB5xqSEAxrBQYwPdPXcA5qFCSB5xqSEBBrBQYwPdPXcA%3D&t=m

Nice place on public land. Swimming possible. We stayed for the night

This is not a spot bc the park ranger told us we were not allowed to camp here

Nice location away from people but most all the sites are close to the dirt road and was woken up a couple of times by the sound and headlights of vehicles. But all in all well kept areas (some garbage left by previous campers, just packed it out with mine). Did have a late night bear visitor but was camping in my van so not too concerning. Very little fallen wood for fire, lots of kindling or if you want there is lots of logs in the creek.

We stayed at site 10. The site was small and near the bathroom. The river is across the road and has a nice path to the water:)