About this place
Spend a day walking and exploring along the Quartzville Back Country Byway, or fishing, swimming and panning for gold in the Quartzville River.
The free camping is at marked roadside sites. They start at milepost 17.2. Each one has an iron fire ring. First come, first served. Camping anywhere else along the byway is not allowed.
Yellowbottom Recreation Site is closed to camping, though its swimming area is open. Old Miner’s Meadow is a big gated group site, and it is booked through Recreation.gov.
Recreational mining is allowed on the BLM part of the byway.
Fires go in the steel fire rings or grills provided. Do not gather firewood at the developed campgrounds.
At the undeveloped sites, take home everything you bring.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Stay limit
- 14 days
- Type
- Set campsites only. Camping is limited to those
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
From Sweet Home, drive east 5 miles on US-20 E, also signed Main St, toward 22nd Ave. Turn left onto Quartzville Road and stay on it for 18 miles.
From Sisters, drive west 26 miles on US-20 W, also signed W Cascade Ave, then carry on another 42 miles on US-20 W. Turn right onto Quartzville Road and follow it 18 miles.
Coordinates 44.548635, -122.4296
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.
- Quartzville Creek Wild and Scenic River Directions
- Keel Mountain Directions
- Santiam State Forest Directions
- Detroit Lake Directions
- Mount Jefferson 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
- Cascadia, OR Directions
- Mill City, OR Directions
Mill City 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
You can camp here for 14 days. After that you have to move on, and 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.
Two in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Sisters Cow Camp Horse Camp, Oregon — 44 miles in a straight line, but a 73 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.