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Free Camping Collection

Dispersed Camping

South Lake

14 Reviews

About

National Forest

Tillamook State Forest

At an elevation of 2400 feet, this area offers dispersed camping along the northern edge of the lake. The lake is stocked periodically with rainbow trout. There is access for launching non-motorized boats. A vault toilet is provided but no potable water. It is also the eastern trailhead of the Pioneer – Indian Trail.

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Location

South Lake is located in Oregon

Directions

From Highway 101 at Hebo Ranger District Office: Travel north on Highway 101 for 4 miles to the town of Beaver, OR.. At Blaine Junction travel east on Upper Nestucca River Road for 5.8 miles to Forest Service Road 8533. Go south 14.2 miles on Forest Service Road 8533/Forest Service Road 1400. Turn left on Forest Service Road 1429 Continue 0.3 miles to camping area.

Coordinates

45.20200063 N
123.72000018 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Good
AT&T
Unknown
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Dispersed

Features

For Campers

ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump

Enjoy dispersed camping on government land and leave no trace. Pack in and pack out. No (or limited) services at this camping area. Permit may be required.

PERMIT might be REQUIRED

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Contact

General Info

Derek D.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 14, 2022

Overall good experience

Aside from the few kids that decided to start shooting guns in the camp site. It’s a nice little place to escape the hustle and bustle of life.

Month of VisitSeptember

michael K.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 8, 2022

Beautiful Site but..

Do not drive here if you can't drive on the edge of a cliff on gravel roads. it's bumpy and definitely not for the faint of heart. other than that, it's a great site with nice pullouts and camping for car campers, vans, etc... I was fortunate and I have a black series off road trailer behind a 4runner, and we were fine. I would not recommend a trailer for this location. great for tents and the lake is ok, not too appealing to us, though.

Sitenear lake

Month of VisitSeptember

Robert D.

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 14, 2022

A rough and very narrow road to get here.

We took a ride from Hebo up road 14 or 1400 to South Lake. The trip took over 1 hour down a partly paved road with lots of pot holes then the rest of the way down a very narrow pot hole dirt road to South Lake. Along the way we passed Hebo Lake Campground that had many tent camp sites. Once we arrived at South Lake we found the lake to be somewhat small and there were a few tent sites somewhat close together. We had been told this lake was always stocked with Trout. We suggest only using a 4x4 or a high clearance vehicle to make this trip.

Month of VisitJuly

Hannah L.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 9, 2021

Looks nice

Looks great but closed as of 8/9/21 due to fires.

Month of VisitSeptember

James W.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 21, 2021

Not quite as disbursed as I wanted

Nice small lake with a close to established campground. I was hoping for a true disbursed experience, you know boondock. There were established sites and a composting table. Nice spots, nice lake. Could pull in a 16’ trailer but until the camp site there is no other turn around spot so beware. More campers then I expected.

Siteunmarked

Month of VisitJuly

Darrin E.

Traveler

Reviewed Mar. 31, 2021

Gotta get here early

Shhhh. This dispersed campground can be a trek to get to for limited spots. Great hikes nearby and for the most part fairly peaceful. Bring your fishing pole... Or not... The trout pretty much jump into your lap depending on the season :)

Abby M.

Legend

Reviewed Oct. 24, 2020

Good single night stay

Arrived around 4:30 on a Friday and only saw 2 other campers. By next morning, another 3 sites filled up. Vault toilets were pretty clean. Didn’t explore anything around as it was raining the entire time I was there. Quite a few hunters in the campgrounds / parking to go hunt. Road to get there was about 12 miles of dirt/gravel but when I left, only had dirt roads for 3 miles. Had 3 bars of LTE with AT&T once there. I’d definitely stay again. Very secluded and lush with greenery.

Christie U.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 21, 2020

A bit tricky to find

We love this dispersed campground. If you go earlier in the week, you’ll most likes find a spot with no problem. If you wait till Friday evening during the summer, it’ll probably be full. There is a vault toilet, no running water. The small lake has decent fishing and great for kayaking. Dirt/gravel roads are a bit tricky to navigate.

Gerard R.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 24, 2020

Quiet Lake

South Lake is fairly small, I consider it more of a pond to be honest, but a great place for disperse camping. The quickest drive in is a bit sketchy. I recommend taking a slight slower route to avoid scratches on your vehicle from branches. We checked out a few dispersed sites before we picked our spot. We managed to get a spot that was a 1 minute walk to the water, and about the same to the vaulted toilets. The vaulted toilet is on the NW side of the lake. It must’ve been checked often for toilet paper because we were there for 4 nights and it always had some in there.

We caught trout every day we were there. Most are small but was fun nonetheless. There is an old boat without a motor tied up for anyone to use. Only had one ore that was half broke but it still managed to get us across the water 🤷🏻‍♂️. We found a decent amount of firewood, just have to make sure it’s try if course. It’s all hidden below the ferns/greenery. No picnic tables or metal fire rings but who needs them? Plenty of rocks for a fire pit were already set up. Plenty of shade. Only downside was precious campers leaving toilet paper near the trees when you are literally a minute or less walk to the vaulted toilet.

Tawnya B.

Scout

Reviewed May. 25, 2020

Beautiful lakeside camp ground

We love South Lake, peaceful and Beautiful. The lake is stocked with trout which have been biting like crazy. Most times when you go up there you will see them jumping clean out of the water. We’ve been camping at Southlake usually about three times during the season for the last couple of years. This last trip was very disappointing it was packed with people camping which is wonderful that they’re getting outside, but there was a group up on the hill who felt the need to blast music until 6 o’clock in the morning so nobody in the camp area got any sleep.Then the next night another camper decided to. I think everyone needs to remember were there to camp in peace and take a nature not listen to somebody’s rap music. Also as a reminder to our fellow campers it is posted quiet time from 10 PM to 6 AM

Kevin R.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 30, 2019

Nice and Easy

This is simple, primitive campground mostly centered around a small picturesque lake.

There are a few other sites dispersed in the area. One of the best ones is just around the bend from the lake sites and its of the road and gets more sun, if thats your thing.

When i visited mid week in July it was empty.

Its quite a distance on sometimes very rough gravel roads, with no tirn outs and sometimes large drops on one side, so be very careful with log trucks .

But i made it OK with my beat up old Grand Caravan.

Enjoyed

Month of VisitAugust

Sam L.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 10, 2019

A nice quiet place

It's basically a few tent spots right off the road you can pull up to with your car. No amenities besides a vault toilet and no fee. Nothing fancy, but really beautiful, clean, nice rangers, and not busy at all. Get ready to dodge loads of potholes and deer as you travel up the gravel roads to get here, though

ALSO we had full data and cell service!

Tracy H.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 7, 2019

Beautiful Forest surrounding small lake

This was a last minute find for us on the 4th of July. There were a few sites left for us to choose from. The sites are not numbered but are designated by a rock ringed fire pit. We hammock camp and there are plenty of sites with trees positioned perfectly for hanging the hammocks. The lake is small but very beautiful. We did bring our kayaks but didn't launch them. There is a launching area but it's pretty mucky and there are a lot of downed trees in the water. I only saw one really great beach area to pull up to but it was already claimed by another small boat. There are trails all over leading from the campsites to the lake and around it. We also met other campers that had hiked a trail from Hebo lake to South Lake which was about a 7 mile hike for them.

We will go back and try out South Lake again in the other seasons.

Month of VisitAugust

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Chris H.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 27, 2016

Free, dispersed camping by the lake

This free campground is just far enough out from the coast and the city that you'll likely be alone, even on a Saturday night. Most folks coming to this area of the forest camp in the more popular (and more expensive) Hebo Lake campground. If you don't need amenities and are just looking for a beautiful place to camp, South Lake is a better option. The road leading to the campground is easy gravel and receives a moderate amount of traffic. During my stay on a Saturday, there was a truck passing by every couple of hours. Most of these folks are hunters. If you want complete isolation, this is not a good place to camp. This is also not the best place to camp if you are afraid of Cougars (I am). There have been several recent Cougar sightings at this Lake. Thankfully I did not see any during my visit. :)

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