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This recreation area is part of Fall Creek Lake
Cultus Lake is one of the few lakes along the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway that allows high sped motorized water craft. Cultus Lake West Campground offers opportunities for waterskiing, windsurfing, swimming, sailing and jet skiing, as well as, access to trails leading into the Three Sisters Wilderness.
Cultus Lake is a natural glacier-formed Lake. This is a recreational lake and is popular for water skiing, sailing, jet skiing, and boating.____
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation
$18 - $20 / night
Heading north from Ikenick Sno-Park, you'll have good views of Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Washington. Heading south from the sno-park, you go through second growth and older forest. The trail system includes both roads and forested trails. Good trail conditions from this lower elevation sno-park depend on lower elevation snows and big snow years. * Please follow Share the Snow guidelines in shared use areas. Map of Ikenick Sno-Park Area (pdf 787 kb) Map Legend (pdf 14 kb)
Clark Creek, located 12 miles northeast of Lowell, Oregon, is a fantastic group campground built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It features five sleeping structures with platform sleeping bunks, plus a large field to pitch tents, play baseball and volleyball or throw a Frisbee. Several hiking and biking trails, swimming areas and open fields offer fun opportunities for large groups with varied interests.
The campground offers a baseball field and horseshoe pits, and a volleyball net can be set up on the field. A few footpaths meander through the recreation area. One connects the sleeping shelters to Big Falls Creek and another links to the Ta-Wa-Si Chapel. The Fall Creek Trail Area is worth exploring, including the Clark Creek Nature Trail.
The campground offers a baseball field and horseshoe pits, and a volleyball net can be set up on the field. A few footpaths meander through the recreation area. One connects the sleeping shelters to Big Falls Creek and another links to the Ta-Wa-Si Chapel. The Fall Creek Trail Area is worth exploring, including the Clark Creek Nature Trail.
Clark Creek runs through the campground and connects with Big Fall Creek in the Willamette Valley. Willamette National Forest spans 1.6 million acres on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains.
$212 - $242 / night
Cultus Lake is one of the few lakes along the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway that allows high sped motorized water craft. Cultus Lake West Campground offers opportunities for waterskiing, windsurfing, swimming, sailing and jet skiing, as well as, access to trails leading into the Three Sisters Wilderness.
Cultus Lake is a natural glacier-formed lake. This is a recreational lake and is popular for water skiing, sailing, jet skiing, and boating.____
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
$18 - $20 / night
In the summer months, this sparkling lake in the Cascades is a great place to fish, paddle (no motorized boats allowed), hike and mountain bike. While the clear waters might seem tempting to jump in to, the nearly freezing temperature of the lake makes it unsuitable for swimming. A picnic shelter, built by the Civilian Conservation Corp, is at the day use area near the resort. Osprey and bald eagles, and native cutthroat trout call the lake home. Non-native rainbow and brook trout are also found in the lake. The "lake born of fire," is the headwaters of the McKenzie River and was formed 3,000 years ago when lava from Sand Mountain reached the river and backed up water to form the lake. The original forest lining the riverbanks was submerged. Remnants of some of these submerged trees still stand under 120 feet of water and are visible from the trail and by boat. View more Popular Lakes & Rivers ACTIVITIES Biking Camping Fishing Hiking Picnicking
$70 - $135 / night
Adjacent to the Marion Forks Fish Hatchery, Marion Forks Campground is a great 15 site (one pull through) campground tucked away from Highway 22 and a quiet place to relax. Enjoy a 1/4 mile leisurely stroll along Marion Creek on a paved loop path through the picnic area and fish hatchery and learn about spring Chinook salmon and the history of the area. Nearby, on Forest Service Road 2255, you can find the little used trail (#3431) to Independence Rock for a short hike. If you drive further up to the end of Road 2255, you'll reach the trailhead to Marion Lake (Trail #3436) leading to the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness.
Although located away from the lake, this small horse camp offers a quiet camping opportunity for equestrians away from the busy North Waldo and Islet Campgrounds. Ride opportunities include: * The Harralson Trail (#4364), which connects the camp with the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (#2000) * The Jim Weaver Loop (Waldo Lake Trail #3590), which connects with trails in the Waldo Lake and Three Sisters Wildernesses. Note that there no equestrian improvements (corrals and hitching posts), as well as no water on site, so plan your visit accordingly. Picnic tables and fire rings are available. Drinking water can be obtained at North Waldo Campground and horses can be watered near the campground off of the Waldo Lake Trail (#3590). Please note that stock is not allowed in any of the Waldo Lake developed camps. Harralson is a good staging area for those wanting to explore the trails in or around the Three Sisters and Waldo Lake Wilderness areas. The trail around Waldo Lake is another nice ride, but be aware that stock is not allowed in any of the Waldo Lake campgrounds.
I’ve been here before. This park has about 37 sites with folks not on top of one another. Clean toilets and baths. $40 per night. Need to make reservations. Fills up fast. Cell service for Verizon, At&T and T-mobile are marginal. Phone calls are fine, internet varies from good speed to barely working.
This spot was close enough to town that we could call an Uber to Hayden Homes after we set up, then Uber back when the concert finished. The main red dirt road is gorgeous with various pull offs spaced decently far apart. I saw one or two neighbors to the left and right of our spot but it was far enough that our spot felt private. Really quiet and felt remote while still accessible to town and had cell service.
We stayed here twice with a short gap between our 2 times. Comfortable park, very clean. Big rig friendly especially in the center areas without trees. If you're using Starlink this would be a good choice. Able to do laundry both times we stayed (credit card instead of quarters!). Full hook ups (we paid $50 per night). Good location for visiting Redmond and Bend.
We stayed at what is now Cascadia County Park (per signage at the park) at the beginning of September. Monday and Tuesday night there were only a couple of other campers in the park. Needless to say it was very quiet.
Our first day we noticed a man without a shirt sitting, leaning against the bathroom exterior wall for a least an hour or so. Later that day we saw a couple who appeared to be homeless using the shower on the premises. Neither of these people caused any problems nor interacted with any camper as far as I could tell. Near the entrance at the picnic area there is a sign warning visitors to lock their cars.
This is a beautiful park, densely forested, bordered by the Santiam River. We stayed in one of the pull though sites, number 4. It was more private than most sites. We were happy to stay here to escape the smoke in Central Oregon were we live. We had reservations at Little Crater Campground, but choose not to stay there as the there were fires nearby and the area had an Evacuation Advisory - Level one and there is only one way out of the area.
Our friends had very positive reviews about this park, so we definitely want to visit it soon. I think it will be a great getaway. The only thing I wanted to mention is that the provided map in PDF format didn’t open on my PC for some reason. But I was able to convert it online, and the issue was resolved. Using https://pdfguru.com/html-to-pdf, you can convert HTML to PDF, vice versa, and into many other formats. So I find this editor to be a great service if you need to work with PDF files. It might be useful to someone else, just like it was for me.
This small, primitive campground is just about a mile from the McKenzie Pass on Hwy 242, the old McKenzie Hwy. it has 9 sites, 2 of which are walk-in. Lava Camp Lake is a small alpine lake and most of the camp sites have views of the lake. You can also see Mt. Washington and Black Crater from most places in the campground. Part of the area is a burn scar from a 2017 (I think) fire in the area. But there are a lot of trees around the campsites and plenty of shade. Lots of deer. One well-maintained pit toilet. No water.
We stayed in site 6 in our small camper van. It was mid-week in early September (after Labor Day) and there was only one other camper there for one night. It was so quiet and peaceful. perfect.
They don't allow vans but they will allow teardrops.
Hypocritical
Van campers are good campers too.
Great location and beautiful view. Great for families. Not the most quiet spot but the view makes up for it. Restrooms were under construction but they provided single vault toilets.
Web site claims "Drinking Water" is available. However, the water coming out of the tap was brown, probably full of rust and minerals. The host told us not to drink the water, only use for toilet flushing and maybe shower. The county claims it is safe, I don't believe them.
EDIT: We had a park ranger stop by and inform us that this location is closed to passenger vehicles. No passenger vehicles are allowed past the boulders. We are currently parked at the one and only camp slot that passenger vehicles are allowed, so this is a 99% dispersed camping location that you have to walk to your camp site location. The Park Ranger also reminded me that all BLM land is a 14-day stay for recreational camping only, and if you are living out of your RV, you are liable to be harassed more often then others.
Original Review: We parked in a space close to the main road. Minus the sounds from it, the place is very peaceful. There's lots of sage bushes, and trees are plenty but not clustered. There is a lot of wildlife in the area if the animal bones are anything to judge by. There are a lot of ant colonies and other burrowing creatures in the area as well. If you choose to walk off designated paths, watch your step, or you might end up in a shallow hole like I did. Some spots are more solar friendly than others, but none of the trees are overbearingly tall to completely block out the ability for it. Flies aren't too bad compared to other places, and honestly, I'm not sure if the ones we are dealing with are from here or left over from our 1 night stay at another location. The river is only a shortish walk away, and field mice do live in some of the boulders in the area.
We have been here a few times. Gorgeous hikes and large sites. Sometimes other campers can be obnoxious with motorcycles and road in gets very rough the last few miles. Couple of fishing lakes within 1 or 2 miles
Ice cold McKenzie River water to watch & listen, lull you to sleep, with old growth forest & trails to walk/bike.
It's a few miles from Tamolitch, Clear Lake, Blue River Reservoir and a lot of trails.
This campground is quiet, has no electricity or showers (fine by me) and is just pristine. The fires didn't touch it, the river is beautiful and it's well-maintained.
Verizon & AT&T had 2 bars LTE - enough to text, call & upload photos.
Great, sandy site right on the water, with trees to your back, adding a layer of privacy. Fire ban was in effect but watching the lake during the sunset was a beautiful way to spend our time. Pit toilet was in walking distance and well maintained.
Our GPS and Waze wanted to take us to the Fair& Expo main gate, but we followed the website instructions to the RV park portion of the fairgrounds adjacent to the Juniper Golf Course. Check-in was quick and easy. We proceeded to pull through site B-1 with FHUs for our two-night stay. The fairgrounds have nice cement sites to include a spot to park your tow vehicle or toad. Utilities are placed in the back center of the pad. The water pressure was good at about 50 psi. We got 4 bars on Verizon and the Wifi was above average for a park this size, i.e. you can check email and surf but not stream. There are no trees around the sites, so no issues with satellite. The sites in the B loop and this CG in general are close together. It was a pleasant surprise to find that they have a laundry, which is located in the office building where you register. There are also restrooms and showers there as well. As we were in site B-1 near the RV park entrance, we took our dog for walks to the left where there were trails into the adjacent state land(identified by a sign on a tree). The site had a picnic table and nice little standup grill. We enjoyed our stay at this CG.
This is our second time staying at Armitage. We usually only stay one night as we are passing through Eugene, but it's a fantastic campground and we would love to stay longer sometime. Site 30 was especially lovely. It is a full hook-up site surrounded by shrubs and trees. There is ample space between sites and we could not even see the site on our right. The pads are paved and pretty level, plenty long and wide for our 32ft 5th wheel and truck. Hopefully next time, we can stay longer and actually explore the park.
We pulled into this sweet little campground September 2023 and found a clean and quiet place to spend the night.
Some spaces are really great with trees and level sites. Some are bare and fully exposed to the sun. We managed to get our 40' DP in here a year ago, but it was rough the last 10 miles or so. I have heard the road is improved. All in all, nice place. No water or other amenities.
The Views surpass anything negative I could say. The location is ideal, we escaped the summer heat, at our site it was about 15 degrees cooler than Sisters temps. The Host who was a Forest Service Employee was wonderful, sites are fairly close together, I would bring a large sheet potentially next time to keep from looking straight into neighbors camps. The bugs were bad in the evening at the water, but not terrible during the day. Bring lots of big spray. The lake is serene, even with boater activity there was plenty of room for my kids to very safely swim. They do not sell firewood at the campground so if you are visiting when fires are allowed bring your own wood. We will for sure return!
Loved these dispersed sites close to the town of Bend. Extensive mountain biking trials throughout as well.
If you’re camping during the summer, this is the WORST campsite we have ever encountered. There is no shade or breeze, and directly next to the main road to Sisters/Bend with significant road noise. We booked two nights and ended up just leaving because of the unreasonable noise and heat.
We constantly sleuth campgrounds and map sites that will fit our 30 footer. We scoped out over two dozen CGs. We love the spacing of the sites. All are full hookups. We loved their showers and restroom facilities. Amazing water pressure! Nice shade, too.
Nice swimming/wading area. Fairly private sites. Beautiful backdrop. No hiking options directly out of campground. Peaceful while we were there, but no camp host if there were an issue.
Really awesome facility. Every site is big-rig friendly and almost perfectly level. Minimum work getting setup. The river is just feet away. Dog friendly. We especially liked the trains that occasionally tooted and roared down the opposite side on the river canyon.
Gated off due to a recent fire
So, we followed a young family in a Jeep Cherokee pulling an audacious 12 foot camping trailer, circa 1972. Yes,it was52 years old. When we all arrived at the end of the 3 mile dirt road I was immediately attacked by mosquitoes. They were not after anyone else, so I was doing some good keeping the little monsters off of the others. We told the family that “skookum “ was the Indian name for Bigfoot, and that this was prime country for a sighting.
There was a marvelous little wooden bridge there. A hiking trail heading deep into the bush. Mostly set up for tent camping. A vault toilet. A big flat graveled parking area where perhaps a dozen RVs could set up.
There aren't a ton of free camping options near Redmond. This is a great option. Only 2-3 spots for vans/small RVs. The other spots are clearly for tent camping. Would definitely recommend for a few days. I will say the vault toilets are disgusting- so plan accordingly. The hike is a great combination of short and pretty :-)
GPS: 44.410140, -121.293505
There was a fair amount of shady traffic c but all was well during my night stay with my dog. Good place to crash near bend in the woods.
Camping near Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, offers a fantastic escape into nature with stunning views and plenty of outdoor activities. Whether you’re looking for a cozy cabin or a spacious RV site, there are options for everyone.
Camping near Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, is a great way to enjoy the outdoors with family and friends. With a little planning, you can have a memorable experience in this beautiful area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Deschutes National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Deschutes National Forest is Cascara Campground — Fall Creek State Recreation Area with a 3.8-star rating from 6 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Deschutes National Forest?
TheDyrt.com has all 71 tent camping locations near Deschutes National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
