Is dispersed camping always free?
Short answer
Not always, though camping at an undeveloped spot on national forest or BLM land usually costs nothing: the federal recreation fee law bars the Forest Service and BLM from charging amenity fees for camping at an undeveloped site [1]. Some wilderness permits, some designated campsites and the BLM’s long-term visitor areas do charge, and a few forests charge a day-use fee at designated high-use sites.
The law treats a campsite as undeveloped unless it has at least five of nine listed facilities, such as drinking water, toilets and someone collecting the fee; only then can it charge an amenity fee for camping there [1]. A few forests also charge a day-use standard amenity fee at designated high-use sites and areas: the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests, where you display an Adventure Pass ($5 a day or $30 a year) or an America the Beautiful pass on the parked vehicle [2].
The ban covers amenity fees only; the law lets agencies charge separately for special recreation permits [1]. In Desolation Wilderness on Eldorado National Forest, an overnight wilderness permit is $5 per person for one night or $10 for 2 to 14 nights, plus a $6 reservation fee per permit, and children 12 and under are free [3].
Delta National Forest in Mississippi rents designated campsites instead: it allows camping only at its 57 primitive sites, each with a gravel pad, fire ring and picnic table but no restroom or drinking water, for $7 a night [4]. At La Posa, one of the BLM’s long-term visitor areas near Quartzsite, a permit for the September 15 to April 15 season costs $180 for any part of it, or $40 for any 14 consecutive days, and an off-season night costs $15 per vehicle [5]. These prices were checked on October 15, 2026 and change, so confirm them on the agency’s page; the permit guide lists the other permits dispersed campers may need, and the dispersed camping guide explains how it works.
Fees on our area pages and map
A fee depends on the facilities, the permit and the exact area, so each area page on our site lists the fees we found in its forest’s or field office’s pages, with the date we checked them. Eldorado’s shows free dispersed camping alongside the Desolation permit and trailhead parking fees; where the documents leave a fee out, the page says so, as the Deschutes page does for campground and pass fees. On the map we make, official campgrounds and camping areas in the areas we have published show whether the agency lists a fee.
Related questions
Sources
- 16 U.S. Code § 6802: Recreation fee authorityLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Adventure PassUSDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region
- Desolation Wilderness permitsEldorado National Forest
- Delta National Forest campsitesNational Forests in Mississippi
- La Posa Long Term Visitor AreaBureau of Land Management