Best Tent Camping near Burns, OR

Our truck broke down just outside of Burns and we ended up having our travel trailer towed to this RV park, as it was the only place we could stay for the week while waiting to get our truck repaired. We had a full hookup spot, which was super nice, but the spot itself was pretty small. This is typical of many RV parks I have been too - good amenities but small spot.

There were some other spots in the park that were slightly larger and had picnic tables, but ours did not. We had only a tiny plastic table with 2 chairs, but we were so close to the RV next to us that we were basically either looking in their window or we would have to be right next to the "road'. Not ideal so we didn't spend much time outside.

There was room here for all sizes of campers - from tents (I saw I guy on a bicycle who tent camped for the night) to giant motorhomes with cars towed behind. The park hosts were all extremely nice and helpful, given our circumstances. They also gave us a military discount since my husband is a veteran.

Restrooms and showers were fairly small (only 2 toilets and 2 showers in each bathroom) but I think most folks used the facilities in their RVs. The shop/office sells propane and ice, so we were able to restock on both (plus they have wine and ice cream if you need a little splurge).

The park is right off of the highway so you may get some truck/traffic noise but it didn't seem to bother us city folks too much. :)

Wifi was fairly decent and you can get some local channels in the TV, if those things are important to you.

Dog and kid friendly, but there is really not much for either to do here.

Overall, this suited our purpose, in that we had a nice safe place to stay while our truck was repaired, but I'm not sure I would stay here just for kicks. Close to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge and a great stopover if you need a night to rest while driving through the high desert of Oregon.

General: To say there are not many choices to camp around here would be an understatement! Fortunately, our stay turned out to be decent. We were greeted cheerfully by Tina (she and her husband Scott own the park). This place mainly attracts birders in the spring, hunters in the fall, and people passing through (this was us). There is a mix of back-in and pull-through sites. The back-in sites are along the east and north sides of the property with the pull-throughs in the center. There is a coin-operated laundry, store/gift shop, and restaurant. We didn’t eat in the restaurant but did indulge in Tina’s delicious homemade fruit turnovers! 

Site Quality: All sites are level on gravel. Each site has a nice patio with a plastic picnic table, fire ring, and bbq platform. There are some trees scattered throughout but when we were there, they had not quite bloomed yet. Our site (34) was at the end of the row which gave us privacy on one side. Backs up to a fence and you will hear some road noise from the road behind it, but it is minimal. 

Bathhouse: Three all-in-one units with a code to enter. Entering was a little tricky until we got the hang of it but once in, the units were clean. Showers take quarters. 

Activities: Not much for us as we were passing through but a nice haven for birders (the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is close by) and convenient for hunters. Note that on GPS it looks like Mudd Lake is fairly close by, but the lake has been dry for at least 10 years according to Tina! Again, this was a pleasant stay for us as we were traveling through.

We visited Crystal Crane Hot Springs Aug, 2018. The property has a general store, large common room with board games and book sharing, and a kitchen that can be used for cooking or food storage by all guests. Overnight accommodations include: 9 cabins, 9 RV spots, 15 tent spots, a 3 bedroom ranch house, 3 bedroom inn, and a teepee with a private hot tub. Our RV spot had a gorgeous view of the surrounding high dessert and the stars at night were amazing as there is very little light pollution. 

The employees and owners are friendly, helpful, and eager to make sure guest's needs were met. One of the men told us about a pair of tundra swans that made there home on a pond at the back of the property 

I enjoyed our stay so much that I wished we had booked more nights. It's a long drive from major towns but the drive is worth the effort,  Note this is not an appropriate campsite for the "party" crowd. This is a family-friendly place with a no-open-alcohol policy and clothing required in the pond.

Bosch's Big Bear RV Park was easy to find and we knew from our pre-arrival email that we were in site 2. We also knew from the website that if you arrive between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM its a $10 charge. We arrived after 1:00 PM, but no one was in the office. There are 10 FHU sites that are pull throughs. However, if you’re longer than about 35’ it is best to just line up on your site in the huge parking lot and back-in. The lane for pulling through is a little tight and we would have hit the nice shade tree they have planted between sites. After we set up, we went back to the office and there’s a chalk board that had info plus a phone number to call. We called the number and talked to the owner who said that her son, who normally manned the office, was out for the afternoon. We didn’t need anything but the WiFi code, which was texted to us. Overall, this is an impressive little campground (CG) that is perfect for an overnight or, in our case, a three day stay. The big and very nice lodge, which at one time had a restaurant, was closed. There is no playground, laundry nor showers, but they do have a porta-potty and a small tent area. There’s obviously water, electric, and sewer at each RV site but also a fresh water spigot and hose at the front of the lodge area and a dump station at the end of the RV sites. A picnic table was set up at our site and there were picnic tables and fire rings you can grab and take to your site, however there was a burn ban so no fires. A WiFi booster is at site three and due to the small size of the CG, plus it was not full, the WiFi signal was outstanding. We got three OTA channels so we set up our satellite with a clear shot to the southern sky. We also got three bars on Verizon. The website provides good info on the CG plus things to do in the area. They are open year round but water is turned off November to March. Hines is just down the road and has your major amenities. Overall, we had a good time exploring the area and would stay here again.

Crystal Crane Hot Springs has a lot to offer but I'm not sure camping is one them. They have hot springs (which we didn't actually try because it was during the middle of the pandemic) which looked great and I will definitely try if I'm back. They have cabins, glamping, RV sites, tent camping, a small shop, firewood for sale, showers...a little bit of everything.

We stayed twice in December, once in site 5 and once in the overflow area. The camping area feels more like an open field than an actual campground, especially in the overflow area, which I think is just kind of an open area. At site 5 there was picnic tables and a fire ring. Site 5 was good because it was a pull in, at the end of area so it was quiet, and it overlooked the hot springs.

On the plus side, the staff were super nice and the hot springs seemed great and I think that's the main appeal.