| Pepper away! I love my little corner of the country and love talking about it :) There is lots and lots of publicly owned land in Eastern Oregon. "Dispersed" camping means camping somewhere that isn't a developed campground. You can do that just about anywhere on National Forrest land (without a permit), and on lots of BLM land. Check with the forrest or BLM district in the area you're camping for the specifics. That said, lots of people are planning to do dispersed camping for the eclipse, so you might have to search around a bit for a good spot thats accessible to a class C or A motorhome. You should stay off private ranch land. The forrest service and BLM can give you maps so you know what land is public and what is private. If you're thinking shopping-center parking lots, the shopping centers in Grant, Harney and Lake (the area I'm familiar with) are small. Its not uncommon to see one or two RVs camping in some of the larger ones, but I suspect the eclipse crowd will be large enough that store managers will need to limit the number of RVs in their lots. In addition, lots of people are renting out their land for RV and tent campers, so you may be able to find some of that available if you're willing to pay. Finally, I should emphasize the degree to which the eclipse crowed will overrun local services. In Harney county, whose Northen border is near the Southern line of the path of totality, there are fewer than 10,000 people who live in more than 10,000 square miles. Estimates are that as many as 50,000 people will be in Harney county for the eclipse. In the path of totality, the ratio of visitors will be even larger. You should not rely on being able to buy gas or groceries, or dump your RV tanks in a timely fashion. |