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Dispersed camping · Oregon

Deschutes National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days on this forest, with some corridors limited to marked sites. 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 06-01-25-01 (in effect November 14, 2024 - November 15, 2026) prohibits "camping or otherwise occupying a single location (including leaving camping equipment and/or related supplies) for a period longer than 14 consecutive calendar days" and camping at any location "for more than 28 calendar days total during a calendar year." Location is defined as "the occupied area, the occupied campsite, and the National Forest System lands in the immediate vicinity thereof"; no move distance is stated. The order expires November 15, 2026 - reverify at renewal.

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

The forest's camping page: "Some general rules of use and restrictions apply to visitor[s] using developed recreation sites and general forest dispersed areas." Order 06-01-26-01 (April 1, 2026 - April 2, 2031) prohibits camping entirely in described areas (Whychus Creek riparian corridor, Bend Municipal Watershed, Cascade Lakes Highway scenic views corridor, Deschutes Wild & Scenic corridor from Bend to County Road 40) and limits camping in others (Three Creeks Lake area, Deschutes Wild & Scenic corridor from La Pine to Wickiup Reservoir, Newberry Caldera, Whychus Creek portal area) to developed campgrounds, resorts, or designated dispersed sites. source

Keep your distance

  • 200 ft — Order 06-01-26-01 prohibits "camping within 200 feet of any permanent surface water source" - stated for the Tumalo Creek area described in the order, not forest-wide. source
  • 300 ft — Stay-close corridor for vehicle access, not a keep-away: the forest's travel-management decision allows "motorized access for dispersed camping to existing, designated, or defined sites, within 300 feet of open designated roads as shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Maps." source
  • 30 ft — Vehicle buffer, not the tent site: "Motorized access for dispersed camping will not be allowed closer than 30 feet to a stream, wetland, or water body" (travel-management decision). source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

The travel-management decision ties motorized dispersed-camping access to the MVUM: access only to "existing, designated, or defined sites, within 300 feet of open designated roads as shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Maps," and no vehicle access closer than 30 feet to a stream, wetland, or water body.

Fires right now

We don't watch this forest's fire orders yet — check its own site before you light anything. Here's what stage 1 and stage 2 mean when an order is up.

Closures and special orders

  • Order 06-01-25-01 - Deschutes 14-Day Camping Order The stay-limit order itself: 14 consecutive calendar days per location, 28 calendar days total per calendar year, forest-wide. In effect November 14, 2024 - November 15, 2026.
  • Order 06-01-26-01 - Camping & Campfire Restrictions Designates areas where camping is prohibited (Whychus Creek riparian corridor, Bend Municipal Watershed, Cascade Lakes Highway scenic corridor, Deschutes W&S corridor Bend-County Rd 40) or limited to developed/designated sites (Three Creeks Lake, Deschutes W&S corridor La Pine-Wickiup, Newberry Caldera, Whychus portal), plus area campfire prohibitions. In effect April 1, 2026 - April 2, 2031.
  • Order 06-01-24-01 - Wilderness Permit, Camping & Fire Restrictions Central Cascades wilderness order limiting group size, equipment, camping locations, and campfires within Wilderness areas. Effective May 1, 2024.
  • Order 06-01-01-26-01 - Cabin Butte Area Closure Restricts "all access, including day use and overnight camping" in the Cabin Butte area during forest restoration work. Effective May 1, 2026.

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, Bend at (541) 383-5300 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. 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