Idlewild
1Heads up1 fire 26 mi away
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 16 nights read 16:34 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Idlewild Campground is the perfect place for large gatherings in any weather. In sun, rain or snow, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors while spending time with friends and family. The campground is situated along Highway 395 north of Burns, Oregon. In the summer, it is popular with hikers and mountain bikers. In the winter, visitors can snowmobile and cross-country ski. Keep reading
Recreation
Idlewild offers opportunities for camping, picnicking, hiking and mountain biking. Devine Summit Trail begins within the campground. Snowmobiling and cross-country skiing bring visitors to the area in the winter.
Facilities
Idlewild contains one accessible, group day-use picnic shelter available for reservations for up to 75 people. It is equipped with picnic tables, a campfire ring and grills. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Individual sites for overnight camping are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Natural Features
The campground is situated at an elevation of 5,000 feet in a large stand of Ponderosa pines. The group shelter sits near a meadow within Idlewild Campground. The Malheur National Forest encompasses 1.46 million acres in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. The forest's dramatic landscapes include the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, with 9,038' Strawberry Mountain, which extends east to west through the heart of the forest, and the Monument Rock Wilderness along the eastern boundary.
Nearby Attractions
The campground is located a short drive from Burns, Oregon. There are horse trails and equestrian camping within 10 miles of Idlewild. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (541) 575-3131.
What the agency tells you
No off-road vehicles allowed in the campground
Click here for more information on the Malheur National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
A $5.00 fee will be charged at the campground for each additional vehicle.
Campers and day users need to bring garbage bags. This is a pack it in pack it out facility.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…tables, a campfire ring and grills. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Individual sites…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…ring and grills. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Individual sites for overnight…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Meadow
- Cross Country Skiing
- Hiking
- Mountain biking
- Snowmobile Trails
1 of 1 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:34 UTC
The agency files 1 record here and marks it day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.
OpenBookedNot reservable
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“A $5.00 fee will be charged at the campground for each additional vehicle.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:34 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 records · the site map
All 1 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
| AREA IDLEWILD | 001 | day use | yes | 4,590 ft | 446 ft | $25 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
From Burns, OR: Travel northeast toward Vale 2.8 miles on US Highway 20 to the junction with US Highway 395, turn left onto US Highway 395 and head north. Follow US Highway 395 for approximately 14.6 miles to the junction with Forest Road 2820. Turn right and continue on Forest Road 2820 for 0.8 miles to the junction with Idlewild Campground Road. Turn right after the Sno-Park and follow Idlewild Road for approximately 1 mile to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Burns, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 21°F, day 60°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 11°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Idlewild is in Oregon’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Cliff Bentz (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
The agency’s own record files sites here and marks every one of them day use. The draft asks whether any could open to overnight camping, and if not, why.
- The member who votes the moneyCliff BentzU.S. Representative · Oregon’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJeff MerkleyU.S. Senator · Oregon
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRon WydenU.S. Senator · Oregon
Read the draft, or change the wording
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Idlewild has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Cliff Bentz, I’m a constituent in Oregon’s 2nd district. Idlewild, Malheur National Forest, Oregon carries 1 record on the U.S. Forest Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Idlewild (Malheur National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Idlewild has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Jeff Merkley, I’m a constituent in Oregon. Idlewild, Malheur National Forest, Oregon carries 1 record on the U.S. Forest Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Idlewild (Malheur National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Idlewild has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Ron Wyden, I’m a constituent in Oregon. Idlewild, Malheur National Forest, Oregon carries 1 record on the U.S. Forest Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Idlewild (Malheur National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com