Dispersed camping near Sisters OR?

[mtnbbud]

I'll soon be near Sisters Or. with some buddies for a hub and spoke bicycle tour. We'll be riding many days on the paved roads in the area and also Century Drive.

I'm fairly familiar with the area, but have not done any dispersed camping nearby with my TT. I've been considering Black Pine Campground off Three Creeks Road. It comes up on some web searches, but some sites suggest it may be closed. There's lots of gravel roads between hwy 20 and hwy 242, but it'd be nice to narrow down my choices a little.

I also remember a campground across from Sunriver on the opposite side of the Descutes. Does anyone know if that area is still open for camping?

I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to pm me with any ideas (I promise I don't plan to broadcast any prime spots over the net).

Thanks,

Jeff

[hugemoth]

I'd head out of Sisters on 242 then take a right on Cold Springs Cutoff just before Cold Springs Campground. About 1/4 mile down on the right there are some good dispersed campsites. You can walk over to cold springs campground for water or to use the outhouses.

[EsoxLucius]

mtnbbud wrote:
I e-mailed the Deschutes RD and got a link to some very handy maps in PDF format. They are keyed to show where dispersed camping is allowed. I'm sure they must have these maps available for other districts also.

Map 1 Map 2

I have a couple of ideas planned out now. Thanks for the help everyone!

Yes, most National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Maps show dispersed camping areas along roads. I look to them to make a first cut of possible areas. Google Maps satellite view narrows it down a bit more. Then a call or visit to the appropriate ranger station will get conditions on the ground.

[mtnbbud]

I e-mailed the Deschutes RD and got a link to some very handy maps in PDF format. They are keyed to show where dispersed camping is allowed. I'm sure they must have these maps available for other districts also.

Map 1 Map 2

I have a couple of ideas planned out now. Thanks for the help everyone!

[goducks10]

If you don't mind a 15 mile drive from Sisters then the Metolious area has some really nice CG's. 7 right along the river. Not dispersed camping, just dry camping. Their is water in most. The wife and I ride our bikes a lot while camping there. The CG's are 5 miles north, off Hwy 20, 15 miles from Sisters. Canyon Creek has some too. The road into Canyon Creek CG has a couple of dispersed spots off the road a little.

[mtnbbud]

Thanks for the help guys!

It's too bad those sites along the west side of the Deschutes aren't open to camping anymore. I do think us bicyclists, hikers, kayakers, skiers, snowmobilers, ORV'ers, etc'ers all need to live in harmony with each other. It's getting real frustrating that everything is getting so over-regulated these days...

[Naio]

Pesky humanses! Messing up all the nice campsites!

Hey, I can relate.

[greenrvgreen]

Apparently someone missed their afternoon nap.

[TUCQUALA]

Black Pine Springs was open in early April, don't think that it has been closed down.

As to the Deschutes around Sunriver, the west side has been closed to camping for many years. The old dry campsites such as Ryan Ranch Meadow, Slough Camp, and the numerous sites near Benham Falls are all taken over by "you bikers"!!!! Nice day use facilities, parking and way too many trails into the woods that never were there before!!

Sorry for the attitude, but way too much recreation area has been forfeited to the non-motorized crowd. Used to love that area, canoe on the river right from the campsite, now, can't use it.

[greenrvgreen]

I see Steve just posted much of the same info.

[greenrvgreen]

If you are looking for "Dispersed camping near Sisters OR", then the road west of town you mentioned, FS 1012 between 242 and 20, is a good choice.

As you head west of Sisters on 242, you'll find the turn about 5 miles out, just before the Cold Springs campground. About a mile down the road a left turn on FS 1018 will get you immediately into the best, most wide-open camping. Next best is on the right-hand side of FS 1012 just a couple hundred yards down.

If you inquire at the NFS ranger station in Sisters, youll find that they highly recommend this area for dispersed camping, as do I.

FWIW, Cold Springs CG is nice enough also, costs a small fee but doesn't really offer any advantage over the dispersed camping hearby.

Sisters City CG, as mentioned, is a nice little place about a block from what counts as downtown Sisters. It's very friendly, no longer cheap, but tough to go wrong there. Even if you don't camp there they offer free potable water to all campers, just pull up to the siding in fromt of the CG and you'll find a water faucet.

Sisters is overrun by a large flock of Urban Deer, so don't be surprised if they muscle you out of the way as they amble down the streets, going about their own business.

As for the Sunriver area, I know there is a nice Thousand Trails CG immediately sounth of Sunriver. They are not cheap unless you are a TT member, but they are conveniently located at the south end of South Century Drive, near the highway.

In the same area there are several Sno-Parks on South Century. If you can get the ODOT to give you a simple answer to a simple question (I couldn't), then maybe you could dispersed camp at one of those.

Good luck!

[mtnbbud]

SteveAE wrote:
Jeff,

Just West of Sisters, on 242, is a campground. There used to be dispersed camping on the East side of that campground. It was a nice place, but not sure if it is still allowed.

Further afield, you can drive up toward Three Creeks Lake and find lots of spur roads that you could camp off (I cut firewood up there so have driven most of them). Also, upper and lower Three Creeks snow parks would work. You may want to swing by the Sisters USFS office and discuss it with them (and get a motor vehicle map).

If you also plan to ride up Century Drive, then Sister (esp. up Three Creeks way) would be a long way to commute. There are lots of campgrounds off Century Drive and plenty of spur roads too....heck, just stay at Swampy, V. Misner, Wanoga, Kapta Butte, or Edison snow parks.

Have fun.

Thanks Steve,

I was thinking about some place off Three Creeks Road. The snow parks are a good idea also.

[SteveAE]

Jeff,

Just West of Sisters, on 242, is a campground. There used to be dispersed camping on the East side of that campground. It was a nice place, but not sure if it is still allowed.

Further afield, you can drive up toward Three Creeks Lake and find lots of spur roads that you could camp off (I cut firewood up there so have driven most of them). Also, upper and lower Three Creeks snow parks would work. You may want to swing by the Sisters USFS office and discuss it with them (and get a motor vehicle map).

If you also plan to ride up Century Drive, then Sister (esp. up Three Creeks way) would be a long way to commute. There are lots of campgrounds off Century Drive and plenty of spur roads too....heck, just stay at Swampy, V. Misner, Wanoga, Kapta Butte, or Edison snow parks.

Have fun.

[donn0128]

Sisters city park is a good choice, right on the edge of town.