Camping near Burns, Oregon

Camping near Burns at a glance

Public campgrounds

10 (9 National Forest, 1 BLM)

Getting a site

2 reservable and 8 first-come

Cost

1 free; lowest posted fee at Buck Spring: "Single Site: $6 per night"

Distance from Burns

15 miles (Idlewild) to 36 miles (Tip Top) in a straight line; 1 within 15 miles

Elevation

4,303 ft (Chickahominy Recreation Site) to 5,600 ft (Delintment Lake), 10 of 10 on record

Campsites

77 across the 6 campgrounds that state a count

RVs

2 take RVs; no hookups on record; longest stated RV length 20 ft (Idlewild)

Drinking water

4 of 10

Distances are straight-line miles from Burns's point in the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2025), not driving distances. Every other fact comes from each campground's own sourced record, linked from its page.

Things to do near Burns

Public land and water within 30 miles of Burns, the public land its campgrounds sit in, and landmarks at those campgrounds, nearest first.

• CCC-built campground and pavilion, at Idlewild (15 miles from Burns): Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, with a wood-framed open-air pavilion reservable for $25 a day.
• Malheur National Forest, 9 of the 10 campgrounds here sit inside this national forest, the nearest Idlewild at 15 miles from Burns; publiclandsdb.com has its dispersed-camping rule, ranger offices, and boundary.
• Yellowjacket Lake, at Yellowjacket (23 miles from Burns): The campground sits on Yellowjacket Lake, with a small sand beach, easy shoreline fishing and a covered group picnic area; eagles, osprey and pronghorn frequent the area.
• Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a national wildlife refuge whose mapped point is 23 miles from Burns; its hours, camping, hunting and fishing rules, and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Emigrant Creek trout fishing, at Falls (25 miles from Burns): The campground is on the banks of Emigrant Creek, with trout fishing right next to the sites.
• Snow Mountain Fire Lookout, at Emigrant (26 miles from Burns): A short drive from the campground to the top of Snow Mountain and its fire lookout, with panoramic views.
• Chickahominy Reservoir trout fishery, at Chickahominy Recreation Site (28 miles from Burns): Stocked with rainbow trout once or twice a year since 1967; fishing peaks in June and September, and ice fishing is popular December to late February.
• Malheur River Trail #303, at Rock Springs (31 miles from Burns): Quiet ponderosa pine camp off FR 17 between Burns and John Day, near Poison Creek Reservoir fishing and the Malheur River Trail #303 and Craft Cabin Trail #319.

Supplies and emergencies near Burns

Nearest emergency room: Harney District Hospital, 557 W Washington St, Burns, OR, 0 miles from Burns , (541) 573-7281. Next nearest: Blue Mountain Hospital, 170 Ford Rd, John Day, OR, 58 miles, (541) 575-1311. Both report emergency services in the CMS Hospital General Information dataset (accessed 2026-09-26) . In an emergency, call 911.

Groceries

• Safeway supermarket · 0.2 miles · (541) 573-8580 · Hours 06:00-23:00
• Burns Fuel Good Market convenience store · 0.4 miles
• Thriftway supermarket · 1.2 miles

Fuel

• Fuel Good fuel station · 0.4 miles · Hours 24/7
• Shell fuel station · 1.2 miles · Hours 24/7
• Pacific Pride fuel station · 1.3 miles

Propane

• Eddie's Truck & Auto Center fuel station · 3.1 miles

Pharmacy

• Rite Aid pharmacy · 1.2 miles

Not mapped in OpenStreetMap within 25 miles of Burns: RV dump station, potable water fill, laundromat, and ice. Stores, fuel, propane, dump stations, water fill, laundromats, and pharmacies are the nearest few mapped within 25 miles, straight-line, © OpenStreetMap contributors (data as of 2026-09-29; this extract under the ODbL). Hours are as mapped; call ahead.

Common questions