BurnDates

Dispersed camping · Oregon

Ochoco National Forest & Crooked River National Grassland 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 06-07-25-02 (14 Day Stay Order, effective June 27, 2025 through June 26, 2027) 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 or leaving equipment "at any location on all National Forest System lands described in this Order for more than 28 calendar days within a 365-day period." Counted per single location (14 consecutive) plus an annual aggregate cap (28 days in 365) across the Ochoco NF and Crooked River National Grassland; no move distance stated.

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

The forest's Safety and Outdoor Ethics page gives dispersed-camping site-selection rules: "Locate your camping spot outside of fragile meadows and restricted areas, preferably on bare or mineral soil" and "Camp out of view from major roads and trails, where possible." The camping page adds: "Some general rules of use and restrictions apply to visitor using developed recreation sites and general forest dispersed areas." No forest-wide order restricts dispersed camping to designated sites. source

Keep your distance

  • Recommended: 100 ft — "Camping at least 100 feet from the shoreline of lakes and streams will help protect plants and animals that use these areas" (Safety and Outdoor Ethics page). Worded as guidance, not an order — rendered as a recommendation. The same page requires burying human waste 100 feet from water sources. source
  • 300 ft — Stay-close corridor rule (travel-management decision covering the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and the Crooked River National Grassland): motorized access for dispersed camping is allowed "within 300 feet of open designated roads as shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Maps." You may camp farther on foot; vehicles stay within the corridor. source
  • 30 ft — Motorized access for dispersed camping is prohibited "closer than 30 feet to a stream, wetland, or water body" (same travel-management decision). This governs where the vehicle goes, not where the tent goes — the 100-ft shoreline guidance above covers the campsite itself. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

"The MVUM is the legal document that shows where it is legal to drive a motor vehicle" (forest maps page, which posts four 2026 Ochoco MVUM sheets). Under the joint Deschutes-Ochoco travel-management decision, motorized travel outside designated routes is prohibited, with a dispersed-camping exception within 300 feet of open designated roads and no 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 06-07-25-02 — 14 Day Stay Order The stay-limit order itself: no occupying a single location longer than 14 consecutive calendar days, and no more than 28 calendar days in a 365-day period forest-wide. Effective June 27, 2025 through June 26, 2027.

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, Prineville, OR at (541) 416-6500 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