Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Dispersed Camping Rules

14 days stay limit

Order 06-17-00-25-01 (in effect May 19, 2025 - May 18, 2027, issued jointly for the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville National Forests) prohibits "camping or otherwise occupying a single location (including leaving camping equipment and/or related supplies) for a period longer than 14 consecutive days," where a location includes "the lands within a 5-mile radius" - moving less than 5 miles is the same location. After 14 consecutive days the occupant must move off the Forest, and return must not occur before 30 days have passed. A second cap prohibits camping "for more than 28 days total during a calendar year."

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

The forest publishes no single forest-wide dispersed-camping policy sentence. It manages named dispersed camping areas with their own rules and fees (South Fork Tieton Dispersed Camping: "Single Site: $8/night/vehicle"; Halfway Flat Dispersed Campground: "Single Site: $10 per night", first-come first-served), and standing orders make some corridors developed-campground-only - the 1995 Icicle Road order "prohibits camping in Icicle Drainage between river and road when not in developed campground" (Order 06-17-1995-285, Wenatchee River Ranger District). source

Keep your distance

100 ft — Order 06-17-08-96-302 (Naches Ranger District, effective May 8, 1996, standing) prohibits "camping within 100 feet slope distance from the shoreline of any lake and/or the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail EXCEPT at Echo Lake and Lost Lake within Norse Peak Wilderness." Scope: Norse Peak and Clearwater Wildernesses, non-wilderness lands within 100 feet of Goat, Placer and Sheep Lakes, and within 100 feet of the PCT north of Chinook Pass - not forest-wide. source
200 ft — Order 545 (Methow Valley Ranger District, effective July 25, 2005, standing): it is "prohibited to camp within 200 feet of the Black Lake shoreline in the Pasayten Wilderness"; visitors with pack or riding animals may not camp "within 1/2 mile, horizontal distance of the Black Lake shoreline." Scope: Black Lake, Pasayten Wilderness only. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

The forest's maps page lists Motor Vehicle Use Maps and district ORV maps, but none of the official pages read for this entry state whether motorized access to dispersed sites is tied to MVUM camping corridors or an off-road distance allowance. Check the MVUM for the road you plan to use.

Fires right now

Stage 2 fire restrictions — since July 17 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

Order 06-17-00-25-01 - Occupancy and Use/Camping Restrictions - Forestwide The stay-limit order itself: no more than 14 consecutive days per location (5-mile-radius definition), 28 days total per calendar year, forest-wide. In effect May 19, 2025 - May 18, 2027.
Order 06-17-1995-285 - Icicle Road Camping Restriction (Wenatchee River Ranger District) Camping in the Icicle Drainage between the river and the road is prohibited except in developed campgrounds. Standing since March 30, 1995.
Order 06-17-03-02-405 - Box Canyon Area Closure (Cle Elum Ranger District) "Camping and parking is not allowed in Box Canyon Creek areas" to protect threatened species. Standing since August 19, 2002.
Order 817 - Echo Ridge Camping and Fire Restrictions (Chelan Ranger District) Camping and campfires prohibited at the Echo Ridge Nordic Ski Area. Effective March 31, 2025.

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.