The best desert campgrounds near Dayville, Oregon

Camping in Dayville means waking up surrounded by high desert terrain, red rock outcrops, and endless sky. You’ll find over 170 desert campsites here, with the average night costing $35 and some as affordable as $15. These sites aren’t just dust and sagebrush—expect pet-friendly spots, proper toilets, showers, and easy access to hiking, horseback-riding, and swimming holes. favorites like Haystack Ranch (100 reviews), Back Side of Painted Hills Camping (74 reviews), and The Enclave (13 reviews) give you front-row seats to Oregon’s wild side. Bring your boots and sunscreen—the trails and open space are what keep folks coming back.

98% (242)

Top-rated campgrounds

Camping in Dayville means waking up surrounded by high desert terrain, red rock outcrops, and endless sky. You’ll find over 170 desert campsites here, with the average night costing $35 and some as affordable as $15. These sites aren’t just dust and sagebrush—expect pet-friendly spots, proper toilets, showers, and easy access to hiking, horseback-riding, and swimming holes. favorites like Haystack Ranch (100 reviews), Back Side of Painted Hills Camping (74 reviews), and The Enclave (13 reviews) give you front-row seats to Oregon’s wild side. Bring your boots and sunscreen—the trails and open space are what keep folks coming back.

98% (242)

Top-rated campgrounds

1. Back Side of Painted Hills Camping

97%

(110)

39mi from Dayville · 1 site · Tent, RV · Mitchell, OR

This 320 acre plot of land on which you can hike anywhere has been in our family since 1993. Large, graveled spot for tents or two vehicles with excellent view for miles and miles and night star gazing. Primitive outhouse. Juniper forest with sage brush... basically high desert vegetation. We only allow one reservation per night. You can arrange vehicles or tents to not be in view or block any view from house way above. 320 acres to hike and roam. Mitchell is 10 miles away with well stocked grocery and feed store, restaurants, small brewery, and tire shop. We give directions fairly quickly. Road is wide, but steep at top. 4 wheel drive is recommended. Very close to the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National monument, Ochoco National Forest is seven miles. John Day River for swimming, rafting about 20 minutes. If you can book, it means you can drive on up with out contacting us. As you drive in if at night, you will see a light on the outhouse.

2. Haystack Ranch

94%

(142)

28mi from Dayville · 17 sites · Tents, RVs · Spray, OR

My family has owned the ranch since 1977. We bought it from my parents a few years ago to keep it in the family. We love living here, and although it is just the two of us working it, we are slowly getting it to what we want it to be. The house we live in is over 100 years old and used to be a stage coach stop back in the late 1800's to early 1900's, You can still see some of the old stage coach roads on the property, and we are trying to preserve those the best we can. Also in the early 1900's this ranch used to be the place to go on the fourth of July. People from all over would bring their prize horses to compete in a horse race for the name of the fastest horses around While others would bring picnic baskets to set back on the knoll in one of our fields to watch. Learn more about this land:We are a 500 Acre working ranch located in Beautiful East Central Oregon, We are Between The stunning Painted Hills, and Umatilla National Forest. Just a few miles away from the Gorgeous John Day River, where Rafting, Tubing, Fishing, Swimming is always a welcome retreat. A few miles above us is Bull Prairie Lake and the wonderful Umatilla National Forest where hiking, sight seeing and wildlife viewing is always available.

3. The Enclave, OR

100%

(31)

38mi from Dayville · 1 site · Tent, RV · Mitchell, OR

Escape to Twickenham, Oregon, a hidden gem in Wheeler County's vast, dark sky zone. Prepare to be amazed by unparalleled stargazing, where the celestial canvas comes alive with breathtaking clarity. Our spacious campsite on a private 10-acre property offers unparalleled stargazing, where you can witness pristine celestial displays and perhaps even catch a glimpse of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) that frequent the area. Wheeler County was recently highlighted in Investigation Alien, a Netflix documentary led by George Knapp. This area offers a unique opportunity to connect with the cosmos and perhaps witness something truly extraordinary. The Enclave provides the perfect base for your celestial adventures with dramatic day views of the rimrocks, mountains, and open skies. Explore nearby wonders like the John Day Fossil Beds, Painted Hills, and the John Day River, or simply relax under the star-studded canopy. We're conveniently located just one mile from the Twickenham Bridge, a popular access point for John Day River float trips. The property features a 6,120 sq ft fenced garden and lavender crop – fresh produce, herbs, and lavender are available seasonally.

4. Ochoco National Forest

77%

(11)

257 sites · Mitchell, Oregon

Central Oregon hosts high mountains, thick pine forests, and lots of wilderness.

Pets

Potable water

Toilets

5. Timbers RV Paradise

100%

(3)

36mi from Dayville · 6 sites · Tents, RVs · Seneca, OR

Great camping spot in the middle of Bear valley overlooking the strawberry mountains. Great hunting, hiking, snowmobiling and photography. Has bathroom and shower available.

6. Buzzard's Roost

85%

(41)

51mi from Dayville · 25 sites · Tents, RVs · Prineville, OR

Just five miles east of Post Oregon on highway 380, 1/4 mile on Pine creek and Antelope res. Rd (NF 17) Buzzard Roost Private Campground is a great getaway located in the surrounding areas of great fishing, Hunting, Biking, Hiking and just plain kicking back and enjoying Mother Nature. This is a new campground and was only open last year for a short while while in between developing the sites . It was chosen by a very reputable RV manufacturer and had a Television commercial shoot using Buzzards Roost Private Campground as the main site. There are twenty five active dry camp sites and twenty two pull through spaces for RV clamping. Please enjoy your stay

Public campgrounds near Dayville

Cottonwood Campground

17mi from Dayville · 7 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Frazier Campground

17mi from Dayville · 10 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Cottonwood Pit Campground

18mi from Dayville · 3 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Barnhouse Campground

20mi from Dayville · 6 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Wolf Creek Campground

21mi from Dayville · 16 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Salters Cabin Horse Camp

21mi from Dayville · 1 site · in Ochoco National Forest

100%

(2)

Sugar Creek Campground

21mi from Dayville · 17 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Big Spring Campground

25mi from Dayville · 5 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

100%

(1)

Deep Creek Campground

28mi from Dayville · 14 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Scotts Campground

30mi from Dayville · 3 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Biggs Springs Campground

38mi from Dayville · 3 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Wildwood Campground

40mi from Dayville · 5 sites · Tents, RVs · in Ochoco National Forest

Stories from the community

The Enclave Lounge features a dining table with four chairs, a love seat for two, two chairs, a coffee table, and a power strip.

D

Duncan

October 2025

18 ft travel trailer

2 nights at The Enclave, OR

This site is beautiful, very quiet and in a lovely and scenic part of Oregon near the painted hills. Dickse was friendly and helpful in providing information and welcomed us warmly. I would highly recommend this Hipcamp site.

Shane

October 2025

Tent

Weekend Trip to Haystack Ranch

The host was great, the space was great, the scenery was great and the area was great. Will definitely be staying here again.

Great spot! House in view, along with neighboring friendly goats and very clean compost toilet

E

Ellie

October 2025

16 ft car

Weekend Trip to Back Side of Painted Hills Camping

Great views! Lots of room to explore, caught it right before the snow came in late October! Thank you Bonnie!

J

John

October 2025

20 ft travel trailer

4 nights at Haystack Ranch

This was an amazing property. Big area, lots of trees. Space for an RV, but not at all the locations, mainly just one but an RV can honestly park anywhere it wants, just might not have a picnic table readily available but the hosts will get you one. There's a cool outhouse and hand wash station. The best part is its only 30 minutes from John Day Fossil Painted Hills. There's a cool bar and pizza food truck about 3 miles away and the town of Spray has the basic necessities. The hosts let you use their water hose that's at the edge of their house property on the fence next to the road so you can top off your RV when you get there and refill canisters if you run out. Overall great site, low frills, primitive location.

J

Jess

September 2025

Tent

Weekend Trip to Haystack Ranch

Super beautiful and private! Picnic tables were a fun surprise. The outhouse was clever and clean!

Couple of cool little trails with views. Cactus Ridge literally has tiny cacti on the ground. Watch your dogs' paws!

Leila

September 2025

Tent

With pets

Weekend Trip to Back Side of Painted Hills Camping

Loved this private spot perched high with views of the desert hills. It helped to have a more rugged vehicle to handle the steep rough road. Sunrise was gorgeous and the stargazing at night was incredible. We saw shooting stars across the Milky Way! We could occasionally see and hear the tenants at the house further up the hill (only when they were outside on the deck), but they were far enough away that it never felt intrusive. Otherwise, camp was super quiet and it felt like we had the WHOLE place to ourselves. Loved the trails on the property. The only bummer was that there were a lot of pokies that kept getting stuck in our dogs' paws which kept us from exploring more. So if you bring dogs, you may want to put booties on them. Loved the proximity to Painted Hills. This site is a total high desert gem and we will definitely be back!

Plenty of space to accommodate multiple cars, tents, RVs. We had a 25' extension cable which kept us close to the pergola

K

Kristen

September 2025

Tent

With pets

Weekend Trip to The Enclave, OR

Camping at The Enclave was fabulous! The property itself is in a stunning location and close to plenty of amazing outdoor activities. The campsite is fantastic, feels nice and tucked away and has plenty of modern amenities to make the stay quite comfortable: wi-fi, electricity, a clean bathroom space, a water hose. D was a fantastic host, and is so kind and easy going. They have put so many thoughtful touches into the space, brought us fresh cut lavender and grapes from the garden, and let us help ourselves to the produce growing at the pergola. The solar powered lights, water fountains, hummingbird feeders, cozy chairs, flowers, and guides to the surrounding area were just a few of the stand out amenities that were really the cherry on top of a beautiful campsite. The campsite does have straw-like grass clippings on the ground to keep the dust at bay, so be sure to bring a pair of slip on shoes to walk around outside, and a mat to catch any stray clippings outside of your tent!

M

Meghan

September 2025

Tent

1 night at The Enclave, OR

We had such a relaxing time tent camping here. The stars were incredible! The little outhouse was very clean and everything worked great. We loved listening to the coyotes tip and howl at night, and having coffee in the morning on the little patio. A very sweet little spot.

R

Ro

September 2025

Tent

With pets

2 nights at The Enclave, OR

Camping at the Enclave was amazing!! The grounds are perfect for tent camping, especially with the shaded and comfy lounge area, and the toilet and pump sink provided are incredibly clean and easy to use. The views you can see just from the campsite are incredibly pretty as well, and at night the stars are absolutely gorgeous--it was one of the main things we came out for and it was perfect!! The Enclave is also situated perfectly to go out and experience tons of other things without having to spend all day driving. It's also very dog-friendly, we had our 6 month old cavalier with us and there was plenty of room for her to run around on a line. Dickse herself is very friendly and willing to help out with whatever you need, and if you're lucky she might give you some fresh-picked lavender!! We'll definitely be back with family! 💚

Rebecca

September 2025

16 ft car

1 night at Back Side of Painted Hills Camping

Campsite was beautiful, clean bathroom. The stars were unreal. I was the only one there and it was amazing

Sunset heading towards a full black night sky.

Jay

September 2025

Tent

1 night at The Enclave, OR

It truly was a place to myself with a big, dark, clear sky and a cozy spot to hang. Great touches all around, and the drive in from the town of Mitchell was a bonus treat.

K

Karl

September 2025

15 ft travel trailer

With pets

3 nights at Back Side of Painted Hills Camping

Quiet, beautiful! Light trucks (SUV’s) with small trailers can easily negotiate the road in We did not meet Bonnie.

S

Sean

September 2025

Tent

3 nights at The Enclave, OR

I really liked this place. The Lounge was great for sitting during the heat of the day. The toilet was clean and well stocked. Fresh water was readily available. The scenery was amazing and Dickse was a great host.

J

Jill

September 2025

Tent

1 night at Back Side of Painted Hills Camping

Great private site with a beautiful view and amazing spot for stargazing in the dark sky. The trees provided nice shade in the heat. The charcoal grill was very little but worked well for two people. The bathroom and site were clean and well maintained.

S

Samantha

September 2025

Tent

Weekend Trip to Haystack Ranch

Beautiful part of the state with wide open grass lands and interesting geological sites. The camp was quiet and comfortable. We had trees for shade and were an easy walk from the nicely maintained outhouse. A pump handwashing station was a nice touch. Plenty of camp site options with level ground for camper vans (or tents/RV's). Be prepared for lots of prickly bur buttercup, black medic, chickweed, and thistle.

B

Brock

September 2025

Tent

1 night at Timbers RV Paradise

Clean site, with power and shower. Everything I needed. The store down the road is great buddy.

M

Matthew

September 2025

Tent

With kids

Weekend Trip to The Enclave, OR

What a great spot! D was amazing and the spot was perfect for visiting the fossil bed sites and all the other natural gems in the area.

K

KATHERINE

August 2025

Tent

With kids

1 night at Back Side of Painted Hills Camping

Beautiful location! We loved the sunset and stars, it was quiet and beautiful. My husband was worried about the steepness of the mile-long loose gravel road, but our SUV made it up fine. We brought one of those large blue water jugs and only needed about half of it for the four of us, and it was an easy drive to visit the Painted Hills the following morning. Would love to go back.

R

Robin

August 2025

19 ft campervan

1 night at The Enclave, OR

A beautiful, remote little oasis in canyon land! The bathroom and outdoor space are so sweet and comfortable, Dickse is a master craftsman and a really rad person. 10/10