Free Camp Guide
Aerial view of Clear Creek Trailhead

Oregon Wallowa Whitman National Forest

Clear Creek Trailhead

Free to campSet campsiteNo waterRough road
Free to camp The Forest Service record for this site says there is no charge to camp, as of August 2026. Records get old, so look for a sign when you pull in.

About this place

The Clear Creek trailhead is a small, rustic place on the southern side of the Wallowa Mountains. Walkers and stock riders use it to reach the Clear Creek Reservoir and other backcountry.

One warning about finding it. Forest Service Road 030 carries only a brown plastic road number sign. There is no sign for the trailhead where it leaves Forest Road 6610.

The 030 road is rough. It suits a high clearance vehicle, and an ordinary car is a bad idea.

There are rocky sections to get over, and small streams and springs to cross on the way in.

There is no water.

The facts

Cost
Free to camp
Roads around it
Forest Service Road 030 is rough and suits a high clearance vehicle. It carries only a brown road number sign, with no trailhead sign
Drinking water
No, bring your own
Type
Specific campsite
Managed by
Wallowa Whitman 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.

Rules and restrictions

This site sits inside the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Wilderness is a legal label with rules attached, and the main rule is that machinery stays out.

So no motor vehicles, no bicycles, no carts, no hang gliders and no other mechanical equipment.

Getting there

Coordinates 45.018433, -117.129422

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.

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

Joseph 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 Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026.