5 Oregon Spots to Stake Out on the 'Airbnb of Camping'
In late July, San Francisco-based startup Hipcamp launched its “Airbnb of camping” web portal in Oregon. For locals frustrated by walls of booked-up reservation dates on the state’s public campgrounds, that means a new alternative: pitching your tent on private land, from hazelnut orchards to high desert homesteads.
Hipcamp’s website language evokes the “right to roam,” a European model of private land use that means walking freely through private land—while respectfully leaving no trace. So far, the menu of options features more than 830 different places across the state, with places to pitch your tent as close to Portland as the Enchanted Garden Retreat in South Burlingame and as far-flung as Ashland's Birds and Bees Homestead and the Cornucopia Lodge's Jack of Diamonds spot in Eastern Oregon's Wallowas. (The prices, too, vary widely, from $11/night at Oregon’s Backyard Experience near the Winema National Forest to $500/night to book all 99 spots at Sieg’s Group Campsite in Sweet Home, Oregon.)
Want to stake out the new options? These five Hipcamp sites caught our eye.