Commando Camping at Waldo?

[ejain]

The chances of finding a spot at one of the official campgrounds around Waldo Lake are probably slim on a Saturday evening, so I'm curious how easy (and legal...) it is to just pull over and sleep in the car somewhere nearby? Can also hike in a mile or two, if that helps.

[BigBear]

Assuming an area is not closed due to fire danger, it is legal to pull off the road and camp as long as you are in a national forest. The problem is that you are asking this question a couple days too late. With all of the closures in the Cascades due to fire, those hunter-campsites are being snatched up quickly.

[fetch]

Very easy. There are multiple areas right along HWY 58, or FSRs/spurs where you can pull off a bit further and sleep. BTDT when my one of my commutes once a week was to Roseburg and sometimes that three hour drive was just a tad too long/too late at night for me. Just keep picking them until you find your Goldilocks spot; sometimes it's the first, sometimes it's the third/fourth. That's how it goes.

The only time a LEO ever disturbed me was when I tried to sleep in the parking lot of the Home Depot in Roseburg. So much for "car camp in the open/public" being the way to avoid such - only as long as you are not the only vehicle in the parking lot!, lol. What can I say? We were all noobs at one point if we engage in guerilla car camping. And if you tell them that you're there because you were driving and became too tired to drive further in the middle of the night and had the good sense to know to stop but no official rest area was near on the map, I have yet to run into a cop who made me move along. Of course, it helps I don't car camp looking like I live in my car full-time, if you know what I mean.

[ejain]

Thanks. Found a perfect spot (incl fire pit and shell casings ) on a dirt road off Hwy 58, near Odell Lake. Didn't see anyone else.