Dispersed camping · Wyoming
What the Shoshone National Forest actually allows for dispersed camping — how far off a road you may drive, which roads that applies to, and the closure orders that override it. Every figure below is sourced; the primary documents are linked at the bottom.
| Rule | This forest | |
|---|---|---|
| How far off the road you may drive | 300 ft | from the road centerline |
| Where that applies | Along any designated open road | |
| Distance to keep from water | — | unverified |
| Stay limit | 16 days | per the forest order |
The corridor applies to the whole designated road system, minus the exceptions the MVUM prints. This is the most permissive pattern.
MVUM Dispersed Camping table (verbatim, both North and South Zone sheets): 'Motor vehicle use off designated roads for the purpose of dispersed camping is permitted for up to 300 feet from the centerline of the road, allowing the same vehicles the road allows and the same season as the road is open and resource damage does not occur. This applies to all roads on this map with the exception of those listed below.' Blanket rule on all designated roads, with a printed exception list: all FS developed-campground roads prohibited on both zones; North Zone additionally prohibits or limits segments (e.g., Rd 101 beyond Sulphur Creek, Rd 119 in the Clarks Fork Wild River corridor, first 0.5 mi of Rds 108/101.3I/414/423/424/435/448, and ~25 roads prohibited entirely).
Legend symbol 'Dispersed Camping, Both Sides / Left Side / Right Side' (dot-style overlay): 'Used along with a designated road or trail to indicate limited cross-country motor vehicle use within a specific distance of that route, solely for the purpose of dispersed camping and/or game retrieval. Refer to the Dispersed Camping/Game Retrieval Table for specifics.' So on Shoshone the marking constrains WHICH SIDE of a road the 300-ft corridor applies to, and on the South Zone sheet it also covers game retrieval; the underlying permission is the blanket 300-ft table rule.
North Fork Highway corridor (US 14-16-20), Wapiti RD - Order SHO-12-003 (signed 2012-11-07, in effect until rescinded): camping PROHIBITED on all NFS lands within one-half mile either side of the highway centerline from the forest boundary to the Yellowstone East Entrance, EXCEPT developed campgrounds and (for saddle/pack-stock users only, sleeping in hard-sided units) Pahaska, Eagle Creek, and Fishhawk trailheads; campfires only in developed-site fire rings. Order SHO-24-002 (signed 2024-04-19, to 2027-12-31): hard-sided (non-pliable, self-contained) camping units required Mar 1-Dec 1 at Threemile, Eagle Creek, Newton Creek campgrounds on the North Fork. Order SHO-23-002 (signed 2023-06-05, to 2026-12-31): forest-wide food/attractant storage Mar 1-Dec 1 (IGBC-certified storage, 10-ft hang, hard-sided vehicle, carcass rules; camping barred within 100 yd of a stored carcass or 1/4 mi of an unstored one). Order SHO-97-004 (1997): no camping in areas posted closed.
Stay limit: Order SHO-98-001 (signed 1998-03-12, in effect until rescinded, 36 CFR 261.58(a)): max 16 CONSECUTIVE days occupying a single 'location' (defined as the campsite plus a 5-mile radius); minimum 7 days must elapse before re-occupying the original location. Water setback: NO forest order or forest-specific official guidance found setting a camping distance from water (searched orders list and MVUM text; third-party sites claim 100-200 ft but nothing primary) - absence of a rule was not positively confirmed. MVUM sheets are the current ones posted on the forest's 2026 maps page (PDF creation dates: North side 1 Dec 2022, North side 2 Jan 2022, South side 1 Dec 2022, South side 2 Jan 2021; MVUMs remain effective until superseded). The dispersed-camping corridor exception lists differ by zone - check the zone sheet's table for the specific road. The 300-ft table text was read from the map sheets themselves (rendered from the geospatial PDFs).
Open the map with scored campsites in Wyoming
Confidence in this summary: high. Forest orders change mid-season and districts differ — this is a research summary, not legal advice. Check the sources above before you drive out.