Mann Lake Recreation Site

I stayed at Mann Lake as an alternative to camping on the Alvord Desert. We initially were sleeping on the desert until it started raining hard in the middle of the night and we evacuated to avoid getting stuck.

Luckily, even in the middle of the night, there were plenty of spots and everything was pretty peaceful. We ended up staying for two nights.

Just know that Mann Lake is part of an open range so we woke up to baby cows shaking our car (which we didn't mind). All around good place to stay (though less exciting than camping on the playa) if you're going to the Alvord Desert.

I was happy to be able to break up the drive on the dirt road with a stay at this campground. I was the only one there for most of the time and it was very peaceful. The lake, unfortunately, was gross but there are a lot of birds to watch. No shade but very accessible and level.

This campground is on the east side of the Steens Mountain at a small lake. The view of the mountains is incredible and it is peacefully silent with no highway or airplane noise. The view of the stars is unmatched since there is so little light pollution. It wouldn't be my first choice in the area, but may be easier to reach than the spots in the Steens, more affordable than the neighboring Alvord Hot Springs campground and safer on wet days than attempting to sleep in the Alvord itself, so it depends on a number of factors whether you want to stay here. There were a lot of bugs when we went. More than comparable sites in the area. No shade until the sun starts to go down behind the mountains.