Burnt Ranch Road (Bridge Creek) Dispersed Camping

We turned up to this area late on Memorial Weekend Saturday, with no camping reservations, or phone signal - smart! A friend had said if we got stuck to try this place and so we'd had a look at the Compendium blog entry. How fantastic - we found it easy, there was loads of space (only a horse trailer and a car camper) and the space we set up in was more level than a lot of campground spots we've paid for!

To find it, you turn off the 26 on to Burnt Ranch Road (you will see brown signs for the National Monument). After about a mile and a half you should see the area off and below the road to your left. There is a gate (I've added a picture) on to a dirt road, which dips down a hill. You can camp either left or right of the gate, we went left but both sides look fine. There are a few fire rings already established, and a large grassy area, with a track around it and a few trees. There is a creek at the back.

We were carrying water but the nearest we know of would be at the National Monument (Painted Hills Unit) further down Burnt Ranch Road - there is a spigot there that you could use to fill bottles etc. There is also a vault toilet there - don't know if they lock that when the NM is closed.

Mitchell has gas - just be aware you can't pump your own gas in Oregon and they close early evening (around 7). Best to come in with gas as there's not a lot of choice around and distances are big.

There is also no AT&T signal at all. There is a cafe in Mitchell (the Sidewalk) that has free wifi.

We found the place wonderfully quiet (other than the road), especially considering how busy the Painted Hills were on Memorial Weekend. We camped in a 26' travel trailer, pulled by a Yukon.

Note that there is more BLM land down Burnt Ranch Road - the ranger in the NM can help.

We pulled in late in the afternoon in early October, fully expecting the place to be all our own... wrong! Hunting season in Oregon is huge, and the place was packed hunters and their trailers, tents, and deer-carcasses-hang-from-trees. It wasn't a negative vibe or anything, but we struggled to find some space to overnight without intruding into other folk's personal space. A nice fellow welcomed us into his area, not too far off his 5th wheel's front door, for which I am thankful.
The area is small, normally would only hold six trailers a best, but we had a dozen or so stuffed in there.

The area was fine for boondocking. Fairly level, pretty enough (even better in the right season I'm sure) and easy to get too (right of the road leading you to the National Park). I can't see staying here for more than a day or two - just enough time to visit this portion of the National Park.

You will get road noise, but the road is not heavily used. There is a nice creek that runs around the area, so you get that if you listen. Thorny bushes surround the place unfortunately.

No cell at all

I came here for the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017, since it was in the lunar path for totality. As others have stated, there is zero cell reception, at least in the case of my service provider. The Burnt Ranch in general is quite large, and it seems impossible for it to ever be totally full. However, there is some red tape involved. You obviously cannot camp where people live, and this place is quite rural, meaning some farmers live there. Just avoid the areas surrounded by barbed wire fences and no trespassing, private property signs. Overall, this place is similar to that of a desert, but the wildlife here is nothing like what you see in the city areas in western Washington: owls, bats, elk... it's quite fascinating. Mitchell in general is not very populated, so this ranch is no different. On a cloudless night, you can see the stars, and it's absolutely beautiful. Would camp again.

We stayed here during the Great American Eclipse 2017. It was rugged and peaceful. There were quite a few other people there when we arrived on Sunday night. However it's BLM land, so as long as you respect the few private ranches in the area, you can pretty much pitch a tent anywhere. There aren't any picnic tables or fire rings. There is one vault toilet near the boat landing, so if that's a comfort that's important to you, seek out that area specifically. It's just a few miles past the turn off for the Painted Hills National Monument.

There is access to the John Day River with a very nice swimming hole. The terrain is rocky and dry (at least in the summer). There were cacti on the ground, so wear shoes and watch where you step. We also saw a scorpion too, so seriously, don't walk around barefoot!

Would definitely camp here again. The sunset and the stars were beautiful, not to mention the eclipse!

We arrived at the Burnt Ranch Road boondocking site on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. We were surprised to have the entire area all to ourselves. On Saturday things got busier and 7-8 other campsites set up, but the area was large enough that we didn’t feel crowded. On Sunday we were totally alone again. Go figure.

We had no problem getting level and there were several fire rings scattered around designating previously used sites. Riley enjoyed the creek, but the wild roses made access a bit tricky. We did find several spots where you could get down to the water to play.

We used Burnt Ranch Road has a base to visit both the Clarno and the Painted Hills Units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We also hit Tiger Town Brewery in Mitchell, the beer and wings were excellent and yes, they will make them HOT. 😊 A few doors down is a café that makes a very good milk shake (an excellent idea if your mouth or other body parts are on fire after the wings).

We had no Verizon service.

It took us a while to know if we were in the right spot or not. There are no signs about dispersed camping. But it’s the only spot that looks like a campsite. It's on the left hand side of the road and has a BLM sign post that says “designated route.” Otherwise it was a nice place to stay for our excursion into the painted hills.

We stayed at this location the first weekend in June. It was already scorching hot and only two of the spots have shade. The signs are on the right hand side of the road but the turn is on the left. You go through two posts and there is one big individual or 3 rig group spot on the right (best spot), or you could probably make 5 "spots" on the left. In the immediate area there isn't much. There is not easy access to the creek going through, but it does create great relaxing sounds in the evening. You can walk across the road and walk up it a bit and then it ends in about a quarter mile. We arrived Friday afternoon and only 1 spot was left. If you have something smaller, like a van or c class, you could go closer to painted hills, but not within the unit to camp. There was one c class we saw on the right side of the road on the way that had a pretty epic spot, but we didn't see where he accessed it.

There is zero cell service here, even in the town of Mitchell there is nothing. The brewery does have really good free wifi.

The best part is that it is close to Mitchell and Painted Hills (oregon natural wonder) and a small reservoir past painted hills. However, I don't think you need an extended stay here. Painted Hills is awesome but will take you a half day to explore the entire unit (go in the evening to have to yourself) and then go to Mitchell for dinner at the one brewery and then you have seen it all. I should say that I have spoken to road bikers and they love biking back there. Not a lot of traffic and beautiful sites.

As I said earlier this area gets really hot so best in March or April (wildflowers) or fall. That was one reason we decided to leave early.

All in all, this site is good for 1 night, maybe 2. If you are wanting to see John Day Fossil national monument I would move closer. We have a 31' fifth wheel and we were able to easily get in and out and turn around.

We loved our night here! Very easy to find, road was just a bit bumpy but nothing our Ford Transit couldn't handle. Just minutes from the Painted Hills, too!

We had the whole place to ourselves, but there is plenty of room for lots of people. I think large RVs could easily fit here, no problem.

We needed a place to park overnight on our trip to Mt Hood. This was a great little place to stay. Right off the road, there are no signs but it’s obvious. We have a 38’ fifth wheel, it was a little steep coming in (our fifth wheel hit our truck side rail a little bit and popped off a small plastic ring we have attached to the bed rail for our soft top canopy). The fifth wheel did no damage to our bed rails, it was just tight! Once we got down the incline it was easy enough to maneuver and park. There’s a great little river and it’s lovely. There were three other motor homes parked and a tent camper - it was a great place to stop in! Just be weary of long fifth wheels if you’ve got ‘em, other than that all other rigs should be good.

Getting into the campground was easy enough, even at dusk when we couldn't see much. The turnoff immediately off the highway is quite bumpy, with some fairly large potholes but our Promaster van handled them like a champ. The turnoff itself is on the left side of the road with no signs but two large wooden fence posts, but there's some signage right before the campsite on the right side of the road.

As you get in, on the right side is a smaller loop/lot with a large tree and on the left is a much larger loop with lots of little spots. Some of them are right next to the creek that runs through the back of the campground. There are some fire rings set up. Pack in your own water, no bathrooms, etc. This was also a good reminder for us that we needed to buy some leveling blocks for our van, as finding a perfectly level surface was a little tricky. Getting around the campground in the van itself was easy; the bumpiest places are right at the opening of the campground.

The area is beautiful, with a view of the canyon turning all sorts of amazing colors at sunrise and sunset. It's also very remote, with zero cell service for miles around so be sure to download your offline maps, etc. to navigate here.