BurnDates

Dispersed camping · Washington

Colville National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days on this forest, anywhere that isn't posted closed. The card below is the whole rule set — every line links the order or page it came from, and all of it was checked on .

14 days stay limit

Order 06-21-00-25-01 (in effect May 19, 2025 - May 18, 2027, the Colville companion to the joint Okanogan-Wenatchee/Colville stay order) prohibits "camping or otherwise occupying a single location (including leaving camping equipment and/or related supplies) for a period longer than 14 consecutive days." "Location means the occupied area[,] the occupied campsite, and the National Forest System lands in the immediate vicinity thereof, and the lands within a 5-mile radius" - moving less than 5 miles is the same location. After 14 consecutive days occupants must leave and cannot return before 30 days have passed; a second cap prohibits camping "for more than 28 days total during a calendar year."

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

The forest's motor-vehicle page recognizes dispersed camping forest-wide: "In some cases motor vehicle use is permitted up to 300' from the centerline of designated routes to access dispersed (undeveloped) camping sites." Named dispersed areas (e.g. Lyman Lake Dispersed Camping) are published with their own site rules. No standing designated-site-only camping orders were posted on the alerts page at verification; camping is governed by the stay-limit order and posted closures. source

Keep your distance

  • 300 ft — Stay-close vehicle-access corridor, not a keep-away: "In some cases motor vehicle use is permitted up to 300' from the centerline of designated routes to access dispersed (undeveloped) camping sites." The page warns "this allowance is for dispersed camping only and is not available on every Forest, nor on every road" - "Check your MVUM carefully before setting out." source
  • 30 ft — General parking allowance where no camping corridor is designated: "Motor vehicles may be parked up to 30 feet from the edge of the road surface when it is safe to do so without causing damage to NFS resources or facilities" (cited to 36 CFR 261.54; unless prohibited by state law, a traffic sign, or an order). source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

"Refer to the appropriate Motor Vehicle Use Map to determine the allowed motor vehicle use for a specific National Forest System road, trail, or area." The 300-foot dispersed-camping vehicle-access allowance applies only where the MVUM designates it for that road.

Fires right now

Stage 2 fire restrictions — since August 7 last checked August 18, 2026

Whether you can have a fire at your site runs on the forest's fire order, not on camping rules — see the live fire restrictions page for this forest and what each stage still allows before you light anything.

Closures and special orders

Rules checked against the pages linked above — the full list is below the card.

Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the Forest Supervisor's Office at (509) 684-7000 before you go.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. This forest's fire restrictions page carries the current stage with the date it took effect. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.

Where these rules come from

Every rule above was read on the forest's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region (R6).

Before you go