About this place
This campground sits near China Hat, a cone-shaped formation standing at 6,573 feet.
Lodgepole and ponderosa pine shade it, and it lies in the heart of the East Fort Rock OHV Trail System.
Hunters use it in deer season.
There are 13 marked campsites with picnic tables and fire rings, and two groups of adjoining sites that will take small parties and large RVs.
There is a vault toilet and no drinking water.
Central Oregon Combined OHV Operations runs the place. That is a joint arrangement between the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. They work with the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation, user groups and volunteers.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- Some need high clearance
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- Yes
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Deschutes 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.
Getting there
From La Pine, go 26 miles east on Forest Road 22. Then turn north onto Forest Road 18 for 6 miles.
Coordinates 43.658290, -121.036000
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
There is another spot of ours within reach, and some better-known places further out.
- East Lake Directions
- Newberry Volcano Directions
- Newberry National Volcanic Monument Directions
- Christmas Valley Back Country Byway Directions
- Mount Bachelor 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
- La Pine, OR Directions
La Pine 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. 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 Christmas Valley Back Country Byway, Oregon — 39 miles in a straight line, but a 49 mile drive. One more sits closer than 25 miles, if the rule here allows them.
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.