We had an opportunity to visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and needed a place to stay. While looking up locations on Freecampsites.net, Buck Divide Road caught our eye. While it wasn’t great, it was a free place to park.
Buck Divide Road: Not Great for Large Rigs
Buck Divide Road can be roughly split into two sections: the woods and the staging area. When we arrived in mid-spring, we were greeted by a large snow bank across the dirt access road to the woods. This was daunting enough to inspire us to drop the toad and scout for a spot. Dad easily cleared the first snow bank in the car. The second was a little rougher, and he got a little stuck in the third. He did find a possible spot for the bus. However, that spot was very much unlevel. Also, the spot suffered from deep spring muds. The mud was deep enough that Dad got the car stuck again. Luckily, he was able to self-rescue. Due to this and his history of getting the bus stuck, we elected to park the bus in the staging area just outside the woods. This area was fairly broad, less muddy, and had good views of the sky for solar and satellite internet.
Later, with several days of warm weather, Mom and Dad scouted the road further. However, we didn’t see any good pullouts for RVs of any length. There were lots of hollows for tent campers, but nothing large, flat, or open enough for rigs of any size.
Amenities Around Buck Divide Road
Buck Divide Road was nice and quiet, even staying in the staging area, because of its distance from any town. However, due to its distance, the only real amenities were all the way back in Ashland, a 40-minute, mountainous drive away. Ashland has all the amenities of a medium-sized city, with an abundance of truck stops along the highway for fuel, two major grocery stores, and other sundry shops. The reason for our visit was the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where we saw a production of “As You Like It.” It was honestly one of the best Shakespeare experiences we’ve ever had. So whether you like camping away from everything or want to see “The Bard” on a budget, Buck Divide Road may be your next destination!
