Right on the Umpqua, at the very edge of the little hamlet of Oakland OR. It's small so it could fill up fast, but darn it's a sweet little spot tucked away in an unlikely part of Oregon. I came here on an August Friday and it was FULL. It's a perfect place to go tubing on the river, so I'm (sad but) not surprised.
Lovely, quiet campground in an amazing location, tucked in a little valley six miles south of Winnemucca. You can hike up,up,up the creek, or hike up the side if the hill for an epic view north to the Jackson Mountains.
pleasant, quiet campground. off the road across a little bridge, on the creek.
Five sites at a boat ramp into the Snake River. A few miles upriver from the very expensive Massacre Rocks SP. Really cool little spot!
One of three large campgrounds on the south side of New Melones Lake. I've also been to Big Oak on the northern side.
On the Pit River, which is a pretty good sized river for Nor Cal in a drought. There are seven campsites and a picnic area next to the river. It's almost exactly 2 steep miles of paved road from 299 to the campground. We are in a HOT spell, 111° in Redding, 100° in the shade right here at my campsite, and I am not digging it. Some of my neighbors give off an aggressive prison vibe, others are creepily too friendly. I guess there are normal neighbors also, but I haven't noticed them.
Heading north out of Moab, take a left before the Colorado River and head upstream. There are a string of BLM campgrounds along the river. This is the third one, about six miles out. It is three sections, the pay station is in the middle. A campsite consists of a picnic table and a fire pit close to a busy road, that's it. But you are on the Colorado River!
A real find! About a mile off Route 123, at the deserted top end of Eagle Lake. Its a beautiful scrub and pine forest looking out over the lake and the wide valley. Pretty close to Susanville.
Pretty, spectacular view down the length of Walker Lake. You can hear the neverending semis on US 95, but they are pretty far up the hill. You come to the main campground first. I find out later this is the only unlocked bathroom. It's nice enough, but the sites are not level. After you wind down a few more hundred feet, past the boat ramp, there are more camp sites, a couple of which are nice and level. If only the bathroom door was unlocked...
This is where you camp when Island in the Sky is full ... which it always it. The method is to stop here on the way in, nail down a site then continue on another 20-odd miles to the Grand viewpoint ... then come back.
Right on the mighty Colorado River. Small, seven sites, a picnic area, and a boat ramp. Oh, and the ruins of the historically interesting Dewey Bridge across the road. pretty and quiet (at least the night I was here)
A nice free campground on the side of the glacial slope about ten miles north of Bishop. Pretty rough gravel spots running for some distance along lovely Horton Creek
5 miles east of US 101, great find when the beach campgrounds are full on Saturday night.
One of two large campgrounds on the north side of New Melones Lake. This side of the lake is apparently the poor relation, because they've locked the bathrooms for the season. One must drive 20 minutes back to Tuttletown for the advertised shower facility.
pretty far off the highway. Deluxe as BLM CGs go. North Santiam River is pleasant to swim in. Little red recycling boxes everywhere.
What a welcome place! There is a lot of nothing between Boise and Bend. I saw some RVs just pulled off at the side of the road, and a couple at the rest stop, but there's no real place to stop for 100 miles except a couple of high-end RV palaces in Burns. So thank goodness for this pleasant stop.
Very nice campground, the local Boy Scouts added amenities. It is the most deluxe BLM campground I've ever seen. Showers even! There is apparently a waterfall a mile or so up the hill across the road.
Allstays calls this Poverty Flats, and the area across the road Snowbird Mesa. That's too cheesy for me. They both are large, flat parking areas, one on each side of Nevada 169 about 4 miles south of Overton. Evidently anybody can park wherever they want for as long as they want. It's very nice!
The BLM campground is closed for the season, so I pressed on to the free camping along the shore. Pretty cool! I'll bet it would be really buggy in the summer. The lake level is very low and the last 50 yards or so of shoreline is quite boggy and churned up by the cows, so there really isn't a "beach" per se to get to, but it is a very pretty, quiet stop for tonight in any event.
On the eastern side of the Great Smoky Valley,You could probably see it from US 50 if you knew where to look. Turns south off 50 onto 376, and almost immediately there is a turnoff to a pretty good gravel road heading straight as an arrow south into the flats. Follow that 6-ish miles, and you will find the hpt springs!
Hot water pops out of the ground at numerous places around here. Get the Cal/Nev Hot Springs book for details. Today I went to the first one off Whitmore Tubs Road, called "Hot Tub" in the book, "Rock Tub" on the PDF. It was just excellent for one or two people. This is BLM land so I think you can camp. I did not this time.