Dispersed camping
Dispersed camping in Washington
Camping outside developed campgrounds is free on most national forest and BLM land — but every forest and field office writes its own rules for how long you can stay, how far from the water, and which roads you can camp along. Here they are for 6 national forests in Washington, each read from that office's own orders and pages.
How long you can stay
Stay limits here run from 14 to 21 days depending on where you are, and each forest and field office counts the days its own way — per location on some, forest-wide on others. There is no Washington-wide number; read the page for the ground you're headed to.
| Forest / office | Stay limit | Where you can camp |
|---|---|---|
| Colville National Forest | 14 days | Allowed unless posted |
| Gifford Pinchot National Forest | 14 days | Allowed unless posted |
| Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest | 14 days | Allowed unless posted |
| Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest | 14 days | Designated sites in some areas |
| Olympic National Forest | 21 days | Allowed unless posted |
| Umatilla National Forest also in Oregon | 14 days in any 30 | Allowed unless posted |
"Designated sites in some areas" means camping is generally allowed but certain corridors and high-use areas are limited to marked sites — each page names the orders that draw those lines. We don't list campsites or coordinates anywhere on this site: the rules are ours to summarize, the spot is yours to find.
Fires are a separate rule
None of the pages above says you can have a campfire — that answer changes with the weather. For 5 of the 6 pages above, the current fire order stage shows live on the camping page itself; every page says where to read the current order before you light anything, and the forests we watch have their stage on one list.
The drive out is a different rule again — county burn bans cover the private land along the way. Check the Washington burn ban page, county by county, and what stage 1 and stage 2 mean once you cross onto forest land.
Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the ranger district or field office before you go. Every page above names the office and, where published, the phone number.