About this place
The Pole Creek Wilderness is more than 12,000 acres of public land. It has been protected wilderness since the spring of 2009.
There are no marked trails. Walking here means picking your own line across the plateaus and down into the canyons.
Pole Creek is a small piece of a much bigger wild country, the Owyhee Canyonlands. That high plateau reaches into three states: Idaho in the southwest, Nevada in the north and Oregon in the east. Three rivers, the Bruneau, the Jarbidge and the Owyhee, have carved deep canyons through it.
The canyons change as you go. Calm water gives way to rapids, and the cliffs that close in on one bend open out into grassy slopes on the next. California bighorn sheep live in this country, and so does the Bruneau River phlox. Mostly, you find quiet.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
From Grand View, head east two miles to Mud Flat Road, then drive about 45 miles to the Pole Creek Wilderness parking area. You will know it by the wilderness kiosk and the post and rail fence.
Coordinates 42.53972222, -116.5708333
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
A few more of our own spots are within reach of this one.
- North Fork Owyhee Wilderness Area Directions
- Dickshooter Creek Wild and Scenic River Directions
- Deep Creek Wild and Scenic River Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Jordan Valley, OR Directions
- Owyhee, NV Directions
Owyhee is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. When you move on, the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
Twelve in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Little Jacks Creek Wild and Scenic River, Idaho — 27 miles in a straight line, but a 33 mile drive.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.