Badlands Rock Dispersed Camping

BLM land that is used by the Oregan Dept of Trans to store road material. Plenty of wide open areas for any size rig. Towards the back, there's a treed area for smaller rigs and tents. The area gets used by semi's for overnight parking but its very quiet. It's right off I-20 and 17 miles from Bend.

The Badlands Rock trailhead is a mile further down the road and is a nice hike through the high dessert in the Wilderness Area.

We're weren't sure what we would find given the last and only review was so long ago. From the main road, you'll see a BLM sign. Pull in and you will see a huge lot on the right that houses giant piles of gravel and stuff like that. There were a lot of tractors working through this area and so we felt uneasy just setting up camp there right in the middle. So, we walked down the side road (about 1 min) to scope it out before bringing out trailer and found a little area (plenty big enough for our 40ft fifth wheel). Clearly people have camped here before as there were fire rings, etc. There are no signs telling us camping is or is not allowed, so we're still hoping its ok that we're here. It does say BLM, so I'm assuming its ok....and one of the tractor employees talked to us and didn't say anything about us camping here. Memorial Day Weekend and not one other camper.

We have privacy and access to trails. My kids and dog are having a blast just running around and being free. Flat enough and level for a big rig. We really like it here.

Stopped here after a long day in Redmond. Absolutely nobody around. Have straight talk phone and it works. Room for any size camper. Pulled down the road to first turnoff. Setup behind a large rock pile very private. Would stay again

Very nice, secluded spot just off highway 20. We drove behind the piles of rock and asphalt to a tree area. Plenty of room and our site was level. No one else was around so we had a very quiet stay.

Awesome place to stay outside Bend! Lots of space and no problems with our 40ft 5th wheel. Some flat areas available.

We drove in and headed right, lots of open space, moon-like terrain, piles of rock/stone? Parked towards the back edge next to beautiful meadow. Hidden gem.

On hwy 20 to East Bend. Easy to see sign on the right hand side of the just after you come down the hill. The main road is asphalting.The first right enters the gravel pit and you can drive farther back to dry camping spots. We found a really nice spot off to the left but when we pulled in someone had abandoned there tent site and trash everywhere.We saw a sign for Badlands Trailhead and decided to leave the gravel pits and take a right onto the asphalt and continue down the road. The first dirt road to the right we took and saw a road to the right with a big outcropping of rocks. Pulled in and was a secluded dirt camp spot surrounded with rocks and off the main road. Walked farther down the road and found one more campsite encircled with lava rock and even more hidden. Would definitely come again. Walked to the trail head down main asphalt road about 1/4 mile

We looked around but the sites mentioned in the early reviews were taken and the road was a little muddy. With rain expected we opted to stay at the trailhead just off the paved road. Plenty of space and quiet till 6 am every morning when the gravel pit opened. We have a 25 foot RV and truck.
The trailhead leads to numerous options for walks. We did a 4 mile walk on fine stone wide pathways, even though it rained the trail was dry. A number of cars maybe 6 during our 3 day stay came to walk with numerous dogs.
Close to Bend and convenient for exploring around. There was Mountain bike trail close.
We originally planned on 2 nights but decided to stay due to the rain.
Cell coverage was spotty probably better closer to the road 20.

We parked here for a couple weeks while visiting family in Bend. We followed the edge of the gravel pit to a road that leads back to an air strip for UAVs and found several camping spots to choose from. We stayed down in a little dip that was mostly secluded. Full sun and very dusty, but for a free spot to park we didn’t complain.

Verizon signal maxed at 2 bars of LTE without a booster but I was able to work off of that just fine.

For more details, including directions on how to get here from Bend, check out my post at simplejoyfuljourney.com/oregon-2019.

Conveniently located just outside of Bend off the 20 - and easy to spot the entrance by looking for the gravel piles. From earlier posts we determined there were two spots to choose from. We chose to go to the right and found an area just after the gravel piles but before the private RC (remote control) airstrip. There are a series of loops that you can choose as your site.

During the day there was a little bit of traffic through the area with people going to the airstrip, but no one bothered us. The evening was very quiet and we felt safe in the area.

The site itself was very level, with a mixture of dirt/gravel. The views vary depending on how you park. We had a nice view off the eastern horizon.