Camping near Prineville, Oregon

Camping near Prineville at a glance

Public campgrounds

19 (9 BLM, 9 National Forest, 1 County)

Getting a site

3 reservable and 16 first-come

Cost

4 free; lowest posted fee at Big Bend Campground (Crooked River): "$8 per night; $2 per extra vehicle (max two per site); group-use site $16 per night"

Distance from Prineville

9.8 miles (Castle Rock Campground) to 39 miles (Deep Creek) in a straight line; 9 within 15 miles

Elevation

2,877 ft (South Shore Group Sites) to 5,714 ft (Whistler), 19 of 19 on record

Season

10 open all year, 3 seasonal with posted dates

Campsites

126 across the 12 campgrounds that state a count

RVs

2 take RVs; no hookups on record; longest stated RV length 70 ft (Walton Lake)

Drinking water

5 of 19

Distances are straight-line miles from Prineville'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.

More campgrounds within 30 miles of Prineville

• Prineville Reservoir State Park, 12 miles from Prineville in a straight line , State Park , reservable (Residents: full hookup $31-$60, electric $29-$55, tent $20-$33 a night (2026 statewide ranges)); listed under camping near Prineville Lake Acres.
• Skull Hollow, 12 miles from Prineville in a straight line , National Forest , first-come (Single Site: $20 per night; Double Site: $40 per night; additional vehicle $7 per night); listed under camping near Madras.
• Jasper Point Campground, 14 miles from Prineville in a straight line , State Park , reservable (Residents: electric $29-$55 a night (2026 statewide ranges)); listed under camping near Prineville Lake Acres.
• Smith Rock State Park, 14 miles from Prineville in a straight line , State Park , first-come (Bivouac $12-$15 per person a night, Oregon residents (2026 statewide range)); listed under camping near Redmond.
• Expo Center RV Park, 17 miles from Prineville in a straight line , County , reservable ($62/night for 30 and 50 amp sites, plus 10.5% tax; $3.65 transaction fee); listed under camping near Redmond.
• Haystack Reservoir, 19 miles from Prineville in a straight line , National Forest , reservable (Single Site: $25 per night); listed under camping near Madras.
• Steelhead Falls Campground, 23 miles from Prineville in a straight line , BLM , first-come (No fees); listed under camping near Terrebonne.
• The Cove Palisades State Park, 26 miles from Prineville in a straight line , State Park , reservable (Residents: full hookup $31-$60, electric $29-$55, tent $20-$33 a night (2026 statewide ranges)); listed under camping near Culver.
• Tumalo State Park, 26 miles from Prineville in a straight line , State Park , reservable (Residents: full hookup $31-$60, tent $20-$33 a night (2026 statewide ranges)); listed under camping near Bend.
• Ochoco Divide Group Site, 27 miles from Prineville in a straight line , National Forest , reservable ; listed under camping near Mitchell.
• Whychus Crossing, 27 miles from Prineville in a straight line , National Forest , first-come (free); listed under camping near Sisters.
• Biggs Springs, 30 miles from Prineville in a straight line , National Forest , first-come (free); listed under camping near Post.

Lake camping near Prineville

• On Prineville Reservoir: Cobble Rock Campground (12 miles from Prineville), Post Pile Campground (12 miles from Prineville), Poison Butte Campground (13 miles from Prineville) and Big Bend Campground (Crooked River) (13 miles from Prineville) . Fishing on this water: Prineville Reservoir fishing.

Every lake campground in the state: lake campgrounds in Oregon.

Things to do near Prineville

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

• Crooked Wild and Scenic River, at Castle Rock Campground (9.8 miles from Prineville): Castle Rock looms over the campground on the Chimney Rock section of the Crooked Wild and Scenic River, first of twelve BLM sites along the Lower Crooked Back Country Byway (State Highway 27).
• Chimney Rock Trail, at Chimney Rock Campground (12 miles from Prineville): Beneath Columbia River basalt formations on the Crooked Wild and Scenic River; the Chimney Rock Trailhead is across Highway 27, and an accessible fishing platform sits by the entrance.
• Columnar basalt, at Post Pile Campground (12 miles from Prineville): Named for nearby columnar basalt outcrops that look like piles of posts stacked on end; Chimney Rock is in view.
• Bowman Dam and Prineville Reservoir, at Big Bend Campground (Crooked River) (13 miles from Prineville): The 240-foot Arthur R. Bowman Dam looms over the campground; the Powderhouse Cove boat ramp on 3,030-acre Prineville Reservoir is 1.6 miles away.
• Prineville Reservoir fishing, a fishing water whose mapped point is 14 miles from Prineville; stocking record and species on fishypedia.com.
• Prineville Reservoir State Park, a state park whose mapped point is 14 miles from Prineville; its hours, entrance fee, and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Smith Rock State Park, a state park whose mapped point is 15 miles from Prineville; its hours, entrance fee, and boundary on publiclandsdb.com.
• Ochoco National Forest, 9 of the 19 campgrounds here sit inside this national forest, the nearest Wildcat at 17 miles from Prineville; publiclandsdb.com has its dispersed-camping rule, ranger offices, and boundary.
• Twin Pillars Trailhead, at Wildcat (17 miles from Prineville): The Twin Pillars Trailhead next to the campground leads into the Mill Creek Wilderness on Twin Pillars Trail No. 832, in old growth used by species such as the pileated woodpecker.
• White Fir Springs agate beds, at White Rock (18 miles from Prineville): On the way in you pass the White Fir Springs agate beds, popular for rockhounding; the campground is on the southeast edge of the Mill Creek Wilderness near the Wildcat South Trailhead.

Supplies and emergencies near Prineville

Nearest emergency room: St Charles Medical Center Prineville, 384 SE Combs Flat Rd, Prineville, OR, 1.7 miles from Prineville , (541) 447-6254. Next nearest: St Charles Medical Center - Bend, 2500 NE Neff Rd, Bend, OR, 26 miles, (541) 382-4321. Both report emergency services in the CMS Hospital General Information dataset (accessed 2026-09-26) . In an emergency, call 911.

Groceries

• Food Mart convenience store · 0.4 miles
• Circle K convenience store · 0.6 miles
• Thriftway supermarket · 0.6 miles

Fuel

• Shell fuel station · 0.4 miles
• Shell fuel station · 0.5 miles
• Chevron fuel station · 0.6 miles

RV dump station

• Crooked River Ranch RV Park campground · 21 miles

Pharmacy

• Hometown Drugs pharmacy · 1.7 miles
• Bi-Mart pharmacy · 2 miles · (541) 447-0395 · Hours Mo-Fr 09:00-19:00; Sa 09:00-18:00
• Walmart Pharmacy pharmacy · 15 miles

Laundromat

• Express Eco Laundromat laundromat · 0.6 miles

Not mapped in OpenStreetMap within 25 miles of Prineville: propane, potable water fill, 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