About this place
Box Canyon Horse Camp is a primitive campground, built to get riders into the wilderness and the roadless country west of the Cascade crest.
Groves of conifer and scattered meadows make it a pleasant setting for walkers and packsaddle riders alike.
Three trails leave from the Box Canyon Trailhead: Grasshopper Mountain, McBee and Chucksney Mountain. Grasshopper Mountain runs about 11 miles west through the Chucksney Mountain Roadless Area.
There are tables, vault toilets and fire pits, plus stock hitching posts, corrals and a water trough.
There is no drinking water. In summer water is piped to the trough for stock only, and it is not safe to drink. Check before you go whether it is running.
Nobody collects trash here, so take everything home with you.
The campground is open all year. Getting to it depends on Forest Service Road 19, the Aufderheide Scenic Byway.
That road stays open in winter but can become impassable, because it is not maintained for snow and ice. Travel at your own risk.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- Depends on Forest Service Road 19. It is open in winter but can turn impassable, because it is not maintained for snow and ice
- Stay limit
- 14 days in any 60
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- Yes
- Type
- Specific campsite
- When it’s open
- All year, though whether you can get in depends on Forest Service Road 19
- Managed by
- Willamette National Forest
The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the US Forest Service, who grade every road by the kind of vehicle it is looked after for. Those records cover the roads nearby. They do not cover the last stretch in to the campsite, and nobody has checked that part. Treat this as a warning. We are not promising what you will find when you get there. If you have driven it, tell us what it was like and we will say so here.
Rules and restrictions
- Trailers here have to be 30 feet or shorter.
- You can camp here for 14 days out of any 60.
- No chainsaws in the campground.
- Dogs stay on a leash, all the time, anywhere in the campground.
Getting there
From Blue River, go 4 miles east on Highway 126 to Aufderheide Drive, Forest Service Road 19. Follow it south past Cougar Reservoir for 31 miles. The camp is on the west side of the road, at the top of the pass.
Coordinates 43.904949, -122.083681
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.
- Mink Lake 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
- Oakridge, OR Directions
Oakridge 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 “at least”: this route is hard to measure. We worked the drive out twice, with two separate mapping tools, and they gave different answers. That usually means there is no road close to the campsite, so the drive doubles back a long way. The figure above is the longer of the two. The real drive could be further still, so check the route before you set off.
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
You can camp here for 14 days. After that you have to move on. This is Forest Service land, and each forest sets its own rule for how far you have to go, so check before you travel.
The nearest other free campsite in this guide is Lakes End Campground, Oregon — 30 miles in a straight line, but at least a 49 mile drive.
Why “at least”: there is no road right at this campsite, so the drive is hard to measure and the real one could be further. Check the route before you set off.
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 Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026.