Best Tent Camping near Dorris, CA

Large campsites with provided fire rings and picnic tables. Water spigot near the sites but no electrical hookups available, so this is dry camping. The flush toilet bathrooms in the campground are clean, but old, which makes them appear, at first glance, to be worse than they are. The bathrooms in the day use area on the outer edge of the campground are clean. I’m sure fish Lake is nice for swimming although when we went there water was 20% lower than normal and upon wading in you get stuck in the mud bottom before you can make it out to deeper water. The fishing was good! Our friends went fishing and had a great time. Firewood is available for sale from the camp host for 9 dollars a bundle. We brought firewood we purchased at the grocery store. The campsites are large and widely spaced enough that you can’t overhear people’s conversions around you but you can see them, so privacy is a little less here. The campsites are standard soft dirt floor. Its so fine that it gets everywhere though; especially if you have dogs with you. we had to sweep out the camper a few times. Fish Lake resort is within 5 minutes walking distance and has a little restaurant that serves breakfast during the morning and burgers, fries and local (some bottled, some on tap) microbrews for lunch and dinner. The restaurant is a bit spendy though. Attached to it is a small grocery store with food and camp supplies, which came in handy as we forgot D batteries; so $6 and 3 D cell batteries later and our indoor lantern worked great. The camp hosts are great! Very little to no bugs which surprised me being near a lake! All around a great 2 nights. On the last morning before we packed up the toilets had to closed because they couldn’t flush and the sink didn’t have running water. The water spigots also stopped working and we were told that the well the campground gets its water from just went dry. The nearby campground of doe point also had their well run dry. Bring extra water just in case. I would recommend this camp ground to people.

At highway 66 near Ashland this park has both RV and tent sites. The RV sites are full/partial hook up (30 amp only) and dry camping. Note though that even if you pay for partial or dry you will still need to pay $10/dump your tanks. We opted for just full hook ups here. The tent sites are near the creek.

There was some work being done that appear to be some upgrades. There is a nice pool area, a pond and the creek. The sites are level with picnic tables and fire pits. There are bathrooms, free hot showers, laundry, dog run, playground and store. Also available is propane ($3.50/gallon) book exchange and ice. Wifi was fast and free.

The road noise is noticeable but not too bad. Some of the spots can be close but for a night it wasn't bad. Pets are allowed on leash only but there were a couple of loose dogs running around so be aware. 

NOTE: Google tells you to turn on the street (Neil Creek Rd) just after the park so if you have a big rig then turning around could be difficult. Keep an eye out for the campground and turn into it directly from the main road instead.

All the office and maintenance staff were friendly and helpful and neighbors were friendly and quiet.  We didn't get the tweaker vibe mentioned in some previous reviews. This place is cute - maybe there are new owners (who changed the name from Glenyan to Ashland Creekside, maybe?) who are trying to turn things around.

Good cell service ATT, Verizon and TMobile.

What a fantastic lake! Secluded in the mountain back country of the Southern Oregon area - not far from Medford / Grants Pass / Siskiyou National Forest / Crater Lake

Great boating lake for water sports, good fishing, excellent hiking and great campsites and in nearby campgrounds not listed on The Dyrt yet, you can get some really secluded sites that are just beautiful... but do not expect more than an outhouse and a spigot, a picnic table (maybe a bear box?) and fire-ring- which to me is PHENOMENAL camping. Fresh water, a bathroom and nature. Works!

The Willow Lake County Park offers more amenities though and great wilderness. Its a beautiful little gem and gets amazing weather- from warm and sunny to random rainy thunderstorms that do not last long. Truly God-sent sunsets and sunrises.

Great place to make some wonderful memories with streams, creeks, the lake, the forested areas, trails, canyons, fishing, hiking, canoeing and more.

This is undoubtedly the quietest campground we have ever visited.  Not just because there were few campers, but its location so far from any highway or city.  I would also like to give kudos to the the fire crews who saved this area from the fire last year.  The visitor center and campground are an island of green in the middle of a charcoal land. 

I would categorize it as a tent and teardrop campground.  There are some sites where larger RVs can park, maybe around 25', but most campground spaces will only hold the car.  They have a lot parallel RV parking and that requires you sign up for two spaces, one for your trailer, the other for your car.  The lower campground, A, is more open, great if you have solar.  The upper campground, B, has more spaces and some for larger RVs.  

The drinking water faucets are irregularly dispersed and few.  You cannot hook up to them to fill your RV, so be sure to bring some 5 gallon containers to haul water to your RV.  There are flush toilets and sinks with cold water, no showers.  Bring all your supplies, as the nearest town is about a 40 minute drive.  There are very solid metal fire rings and picnic tables.  The closest dump station is in Tule Lake, but is excellent, with water and good drain positioning - and its free.

We had excellent Verizon service and were able to surf the internet, load and download pictures without using any booster.  I was also pleased to get a staff member directly when I called for information.  There is a lot to see at this park and I highly recommend it.

PS The helmet they sell ($8) saved my head many a time during cave exploring.

When I'm up in Mt. Shasta this is where I camp. It's easy for both vanlife and tent camping as well as car camping. 

I hesitate to tell anyone about this place because it's one of the less expensive campgrounds in the state, has a group camp, and the sites are far enough apart to offer some privacy. It's very basic. No showers. But there are vault toilets. The running water comes down the mountain in the form of a creek, and there is a water pump at the well for those who would rather not test their constitution with the stream. 

The elevation is not as high as Panther Meadows and the access to the camp at McBride is easier.

Deer wander through the campground and sometimes visit the tents.

Bring everything you need or plan on running into town (about seven miles) to go shopping or out for meals. It's about another seven or eight miles to the Old Ski Bowl trail head where both campers and locals gather to watch the sun rise or set over the mountains.

Off season visit, Sept 13: After a long bike ride through the National Forest, I arrived after dark. The campground was empty when I arrived, but one truck pulled in just after me, which was a little freaky. Another truck pulled in a few minutes later, and they both headed to the other side of the campground, and everything was fine.

There seemed to be two sizes of camp sites, but it wasn't clear in the dark how they differed. I may have ended up in the double, but I only paid for a single, $15, I think. The vault toilets were decent, the water from the spigot was good. There weren't any bear boxes, but the trash was a bearproof unit.

The trains could be heard much of the night, but they were far enough away to be a low rumbling rather than a heart-stopping clatter. Occasionally they would blow their horns, but it didn't seem like they did every time. Much quieter than the previous night at McArthur-Burney at a site next to the highway. I would choose Shafter for noise every time.