Burnt Ranch Campground

Brooke Costanza

This is a primitive campground away from amenities. There is a pit toilet (thankfully) so you don't have to carry out poop. The views of the river and backdrop are stunning (as is basically all of Oregon). I strongly recommend 4WD. The road gets pretty rough in a few places and needs material added.

K. Ching

There is two burnt ranch camp grounds. One is called the upper which is on google maps. Upper has a boat launch/ramp & a bathroom. The lower is not on google maps but coming from painted hills it's the 1st one you come across so you might mistake it for the "Burnt Ranch Campgrounds". This lower one a 4x4 is recommended to get to the camp sites. A gate closes beach access, but you can camp here. We got high centered in a toyota matrix. Thank you owner of a blue F350 who pulled us off a rock. We were stuck. Triple AAA never came. We had a flat as well. No cell service so we walked to a homestead. "Bruce" let us use his land line

Tim M

Decent rustic place to disperse camp. The area is exposed and dirty, but that's to be expected in this part of the state. There appears to be some confusion about accessing the actual campground - there is a rough road down from the "main" gravel road. 4WD strongly recommended, however when I was there a couple 2WD vehicles had made it down. They had a very hard time getting back out, but managed after great effort. That said, one could park higher and walk down if camping without a lot of gear. Even with the ability to drive down, you will need to walk in to the campsites a short bit. I feel this is a much more peaceful and scenic alternative to the more popular Priest Hole campground, but much smaller and limited access, not to mention no RV access. There are no facilities, but free on a first come, first served basis. Also a nice place to swim and cool off on a hot day, and due to the remoteness you'll get a nice look at the stars on a clear night.

Kyra Turner

Absolutely beautiful spot. Went in the middle of September on a Saturday night and there was only one other group pretty far from us. It's quite the drive down a gravel road to get there but worth it. The campsite is free, dispersed camping, and about 20 minutes up from the Painted Hills. Google maps stops a little short, but if you keep going around the corner it's obvious where to come in at. The road in and out off of the main gravel road is fairly steep and a section is rutted out pretty bad. You'll definitely want 4wd and a little clearance to get in and out without issue. But once in, you park, and pack your things down to a spot near the river which is very close. The town of Mitchel is close to get gas if needed (regular was $4/gal Sep 2019)