Owens River Road Dispersed Camping

Owens River Road (paved) branches off of US-395, just north of the rest area, and heads east towards Big Springs Campground. Before you get to Big Springs Campground, there's dozens of dispersed campsites on both sides of Owens River Road. According to the USFS, there is a 28-day max stay here.

There are dozens more dirt roads branching off of Owens River Road, and each of these are designated USFS roads named only by numbers. These roads feel like hard packed dirt, little rutting, and mostly smooth. The campsites here are fairly level, and most are wide enough to accommodate 40+ foot trailers. Most sites have plenty of tall pines to keep you shaded from the afternoon sun, but that being said you will want solar panels that you can put on the ground. It looks like the USFS has been through here cutting down dead trees.

Verizon 4G comes in pretty good, varying from 3-4 bars. We noted a fair amount of wildlife here, some deer seen, and coyotes heard at night. We rarely heard from other RVers, and most of them are spaced very far apart, some times you can't even see them.

Exact GPS coordinates of my specific campsite: 37.740633, -118.964564

There's trash bins at Crestview Rest Area, just a 1/4 mile south on US-395.

Stayed here mid-July. Large turn around site, pretty flat & easy access. Remote but can see others off in the distant. Very quiet. Road was smooth coming in and had great acess.

In our efforts to stay in 75 degree weather, this is a great place at 7,500 feet elevation during the month of September. Owens River road, which is halfway between June Lake and Mammoth Lakes, is paved and provides access to several forest roads in the area that have wooded sites and open sites. Occasionally there are off-roaders that go by which kick up some dust, but otherwise it is quiet. This area provides easy access to sights in the area (Mammoth Mountain & Lakes, June Lake, Yosemite East entrance, Lee Vining and Mono Lake). There is a rest area close by on Highway 395 that has a water spigot, dumpsters and restrooms.

For mobile access, there is a Verizon tower on the nearby mountain so great coverage and AT&T access is spotty at best.

Plenty of room for big rigs, but I would scope out locations before one commits down a forest road.

This is right off hwy 365 which takes you right to Yosemite. Large dispersed level spots with privacy and easy access. Close to Mammoth Lakes to get supplies.

Our stay overlapped a previous reviewer. We camped off road 2S138 and it was an excellent site. We could have been a little better prepared as the temps dropped into the mid 20's during the night. Enjoyed a visit to Mono Lake South Tufa Area which is close by.

We camped here midweek in the midst of Covid 19. The surrounding campgrounds were all closed (Glass Creek, Upper and Lower Deadman and Big Springs). This probably pushed a lot of campers into this area.

There are lots of camping areas all along Owens River Road on both sides, with access to over 2,000 miles of OHV trails between Hiway 395 and Big Springs Campground. Camping right off these OHV roads will be very dusty, however.

If possible it would be advisable to send a scout out in search of a suitable spot if you have that capability. A dead end road is also advisable. Some good sites can be found on the dead end road called 2S144. There were also some pullouts on the road that Big Springs campground is on.

We had a great time exploring the OHV trails with our Razor. The free Avenza Maps App is a great app to have for navigating this area. In the app search, for the free map for download called CTUC Inyo National Forest North. It works great with your phone’s GPS system when you lose cell service.

There are a wide variety of types of spots here for big rigs, smaller campers, and tents. Most are shaded, but there are some solar friendly spots. Those tend to be in areas where other big rigs clump together, though not exclusively. Park and get free water at the nice rest stop just up the street on 395, then go scouting for your perfect spot. :) Stay limit is 28 days. There seem to be no spots really close to Deadman Creek, but there are loads of spots within a mile or two fairly easy hike to it.

Don't forget to stick your nose in the bark of one of the Juniper trees that are all around - the cracks in their bark all smell like butterscotch!

Wow! There’s hundreds of roads meandering through the pine forests, so it’s easy to find a secluded spot with lots of shade, and there are some places where you can get good solar.

We were supposed to stay at the Silver Lake Campground in June Lake, but thank goodness it was packed full of people and every type of rig imaginable - horrible unless you like a big party.

On the other hand, we found a spot with no other campers in sight, totally peaceful, with easy access.

The camp sites are spread far apart from each other. We could barely see any of our neighbors. Really nice forest, easy access and room for RVs. There’s a rest area across the street with free water too.

This was a great find right off hwy 395. If we did not use the nav we wouldn’t have known where it was, there are no signs. Thanks Campendium! The roads are packed sand and some have deeper grooves, but our 5th wheel made it easy. So many roads & campsites. No water or toilets, but the rest area is 1/2 mile down. Good cell coverage.