Free Camp Guide
Aerial view of North Fork Owyhee Wilderness Area

Idaho Bureau of Land Management

North Fork Owyhee Wilderness Area

Camping fee unknownCamp anywhere in itRough road
Camping fee not confirmed Nobody has written down what it costs to camp here, so we can’t tell you. It might be free. It might not. We read through the Bureau of Land Management’s records in August 2026 and found nothing either way. Watch for a sign when you pull in, or ask them before you set off.

About this place

The North Fork Owyhee Wilderness covers over 43,000 acres.

The Owyhee Canyonlands is a huge, remote area spread across eastern Oregon, southwestern Idaho and northern Nevada. Deep canyons are cut into that high desert plateau by the Owyhee, the Bruneau and the Jarbidge Rivers.

Those rivers suit boaters of nearly every level, and they offer solitude that is hard to match anywhere, in canyons of unusual shape and beauty.

There are placid pools and turbulent whitewater. There are vertical cliffs and steep grassy slopes. There are California bighorn sheep. There is the Bruneau River phlox.

The facts

Cost
Camping fee not confirmed
Roads around it
Recorded as four-wheel drive
Type
Open area. Camp anywhere within it
Managed by
Bureau of Land Management

The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the Bureau of Land Management, who record the kind of vehicle that uses each route. 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 Jordan Valley, Oregon, follow the Mud Flat Road 27 miles to the North Fork Owyhee River campground. The same road is also signed as the Owyhee Uplands Backcountry Byway.

Coordinates 42.61194444, -116.7891667

Open in Google Maps Agency page

What is near here

A few more of our own spots are within reach of this one, along with some better-known places.

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

Owyhee 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.

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.

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.

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.