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Dispersed camping · Oregon and Washington

Umatilla National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days in any 30 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 in any 30

Order 06-14-00-26-00 (14 Day Stay Limit, effective May 26, 2026 through May 26, 2028 unless rescinded sooner) prohibits "Camping on the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman, and Malheur National Forests for a period longer than 14 consecutive days within any 30-day period." One joint order signed by all three forest supervisors; counted forest-wide, no move distance stated. The forest's camping page words it: "Campers are not permitted to stay on the forest for more than 14 days within any 30-day period."

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

"You may camp outside of developed campgrounds in most areas on the Umatilla National Forest, up to 300 feet from an open road, at no charge." Potable water, toilets, and other amenities are not generally available. source

Keep your distance

  • 300 ft — Corridor rule (stay close): camping is allowed "up to 300 feet from an open road," and "Vehicle use on established routes is allowed within 300 feet of an open road, solely for the purpose of accessing a dispersed campsite." Driving anywhere other than MVUM-designated roads, trails, and areas is prohibited (36 CFR 261.13). source
  • Recommended: 50 ft — "Avoid camping within 50 feet of a body of water" (forest MVUM page). Worded as "avoid" guidance, not as an order prohibition — rendered as a recommendation. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

"Driving anywhere other than on those roads, trails, and areas designated on the MVUM is prohibited (36 CFR 261.13)." Off-route vehicle use to reach a dispersed campsite is allowed only on established routes within 300 feet of an open road; there are no cross-country areas designated for motorized use on the Umatilla. 2026 MVUMs are posted per ranger district (Heppner, North Fork John Day, Walla Walla, Pomeroy).

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

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, Pendleton, OR at (541) 278-3716 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