About this place
Congress designated Oregon’s Wild Rogue Wilderness in 1978. It now runs to 35,806 acres.
About 27,111 of those are Forest Service land and 8,600 are Bureau of Land Management land. The legislation put the Forest Service in charge of the whole wilderness.
The Wild and Scenic Rogue River runs through the middle of it. The rugged canyon landscape around the river protects the watershed of the wild section.
The terrain is steep. Near-vertical cliffs, sharp ridges and mountain creeks coming down.
Along the river you may see deer and otters, or a black bear after a salmon.
Bears here have got used to easy pickings from boaters, and they are a nuisance at a good many campsites.
Floating the Wild section between 15 May and 15 October needs a permit, and the permits go by lottery. The lottery runs from 1 December to 31 January, on Recreation.gov.
Birds are everywhere. Osprey fish the river, great blue heron stand in it, and lizards run over the dry slopes above the water.
Ticks and rattlesnakes are common.
So is poison oak, and the corridor suits it well. Its stems and shiny three-part leaves are a problem all year round.
Mosquitoes are about for much of the season. Yellow jackets are a nuisance through the hot, rainless summer days.
Plan properly and arrive prepared, and you help protect a fragile place.
Knowing the area, the weather and the ground, and using common sense, is what makes a trip safe and worth remembering.
Trail junctions are generally unsigned. Carry a map and a compass.
And bring your ten essentials.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
About 15 miles of the 40 mile Rogue River Trail #1160 are open all year. That stretch runs from Graves Creek down to Big Bend near Illahe. It is a National Recreation Trail, and it is for walkers only.
The Panther Ridge Trail #1253 runs along Panther Ridge from Clay Hill to Buck Point, high up along the northern wilderness border. A side trail leads to Hanging Rock, a large outcrop on a sheer cliff, with long views into Eden Valley and the Rogue River Canyon.
The Mt. Bolivar Trail #1259 climbs to the summit of Mt. Bolivar, at 4,319 feet.
The Mule Creek Trail #1159 is on the Bureau of Land Management part of the wilderness. It is a steep old mining trail between the river and Panther Ridge.
Do not plan to travel across country here. The slopes are steep and the vegetation heavy. The Forest Service runs the whole wilderness, the Bureau of Land Management part included, so Forest Service rules apply everywhere in it.
Coordinates 42.4299, -123.4484
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
There are some well-known places within reach of this site.
- Pearsoll Peak Directions
- Agate Desert Directions
- Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve 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
- Redwood, OR Directions
Redwood 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
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.
Nothing in this guide sits within 25 miles of here anyway. The nearest one you could move to is Cow Creek Back Country Byway, Oregon — 34 miles in a straight line, but at least a 65 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 Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026; opened and read by a person on 2026-08-27.