Florence to Astoria, OR

A little ways inland is a nice free designated campground along the north fork of the Siuslaw River at N44.10156 W123.93714. There are also a couple more camp spots up the road another mile or two.

tuna fisher wrote:
Try Horse Creek campground 10 miles N. of Florence just before the Sea Lion caves. Unmarked road on a tight curve. $5 per night, very quiet and you don't need horses to stay there,hardley used. Now I've gone and done it.....It's about 4 miles in.

Heres the link
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea/?recid=42411&actid=30

Passed through there last year. Price has increased to $10/night and only one site is open to non horse-campers now (at least that was what was marked on the rules in the campground). Still it's a possibility for a smaller rig. Road would have been too tight for our size.

Try Horse Creek campground 10 miles N. of Florence just before the Sea Lion caves. Unmarked road on a tight curve. $5 per night, very quiet and you don't need horses to stay there,hardley used. Now I've gone and done it.....It's about 4 miles in.

Heres the link
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea/?recid=42411&actid=30

dtappy3353 wrote:
what about closer in within the state/national forest?

Very, very few dispersed campsites in the NF along the OR coastal areas. It's almost entirely developed campgrounds (usually charging $20/night or more). We've located a few sites, but they were all too small for anything but v.small campers and/or tenters.

Here's the link to the Siuslaw NF dispersed camping info:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/siuslaw/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=42257&actid=34

If anyone knows more, I'd love to know!!

Janss wrote:
I read on the Mill Casino (Coos Bay) RV Park website that they are now charging $15 per night for staying in the huge parking lot next to the RV Park. The price includes using some of the facilities.

Big bummer. I just looked at their website and saw that notice. That's a huge loss for boondockers along that stretch of 101.

Here's the link to the notice:
http://www.themillcasino.com/accommodations/rvpark.cfm
"We now charge a $15 per night service fee in our oversized, self-contained long-term gravel parking area located adjacent to the Registration Office.
Service fee includes: Laundry and shower facilities, water fill, sewer dump station and WiFi."

Casino's are your best bet. All overnight parking is pretty much banned along the coastal area. There are some marina's which offer low(ish)-cost dry camping, but that's about it.

I wrote a post with ALL the low-cost camping locations I know of along the OR coast here (includes a map):
http://www.wheelingit.us/2013/10/02/5-ways-to-rv-the-oregon-coast-for-free-or-almost-free/

Most of the logging areas along 101 are private land. Weyerhauser is starting a new program whereby they are charging for entry on some of their lands and most of the other companies have hired security or simply locked their gates. There is very little public land right along the coast - you can travel inland from Seaside along 26 to reach state forest land where boondocking is permitted. There are tons and tons of campground. There are, however, an awful lot of big parking lots where one more RV probably wouldn't be noticed for an overnite stay, if you were stealthy about it.

I read on the Mill Casino (Coos Bay) RV Park website that they are now charging $15 per night for staying in the huge parking lot next to the RV Park. The price includes using some of the facilities.

Your best bets are the casino's. There is one in Coos Bay that has a good boondocking area One in Florence, and another in Lincoln City which I personally don't care for but it works.

Most of the rest areas along 101 in Oregon are run by State Parks, and as noted those prohibit overnight parking.

There's ONE rest stop just north of Gold Beach that's run by ODOT, and it's O.K. to overnight there. There are also some pulloff areas farther South that allow for overnighting, or at least post no signs prohibiting same.