About this place
Divide Well is remote and rustic. It sits in a meadow with scattered ponderosa pine, and denser fir along the edges.
Elk hunters use it heavily. The rest of the season it is quiet.
There are 11 campsites. There are vault toilets, and both are accessible.
There is no drinking water and no trash service, so take everything home and deal with it there.
The Potamus Point Interpretive Site is nearby, with long views and interesting geology. Bighorn sheep were brought back to this country, and you may see them along the rim of the North Fork John Day River canyon.
There are no developed trails on this side of the North Fork John Day Ranger District.
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
- Umatilla 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 Ukiah, go west 1 mile to the Highway 395 junction. Cross it and carry on west on Forest Service Road 53 for about 9 miles. Turn left on FSR 5312 for about 7 miles to FSR 5320, then turn right. The campground is about 1.5 miles along.
Coordinates 45.102598, -119.142470
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing is close to this one. Everything below is a long drive away, and each line says how far.
- Mount Ireland Directions
- Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area 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
- Ukiah, OR Directions
- Heppner, OR Directions
Heppner 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 Big Creek Meadows Campground, Oregon — 26 miles in a straight line, but a 43 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.