Best Tent Camping near Cottage Grove, OR

Not the place to take a big motorhome and no cell service but nice if you want to tent camp in the woods

Not super geared toward tent camping, if you have an RV or trailer it may be better. Super open with sites right on top of one another.

Blue Pools is a great family campground, open for walk-ins during the summer. The sites are large and versatile between RV and tent sites. There are paved paths that are great for bike rides. Some campsites require a walk in with parking nearbye.

Beautiful. About 30 min away from groceries and stores. Came in late to this campround. No reservation needed. Lucky they had a couple of tent sites open. We ended up staying an extra day. About $21 for a night with a car. Extra vehicle extra $7.

We love this campground. We’ve only tent camped here. The site we’ve always stayed at is huge, way far from any other sites, and has a neat little trail between the parking spot and camping spot. The river is a short walk away and has wonderful spots for the kids to play in away from the main channel. The one downside is the train that goes during the night across the river, but we were usually tired enough it didn’t bother us too much. We’ve since moved away from Oregon but will always remember this spot fondly and will camp there anytime we can when we’re back in Oregon!

Staff was extremely friendly, professional and attentive. They have everything super clean on bathrooms, kitchen and around the park. Tent sites has electricity and picnic tables. They also a full kitchen to cook with free coffee and perishable food. They had free movie night on big screen with free popcorn and a nice forepit.

Great spot for a quick stay. There are only a few flat spots for RVs but quite a few decent spots for tent camping next to the pond. The west side of the pond has at least 2 spots that are a good distance away from the others. At the moment, no fires or barbecues allowed but propane stoves and lanterns are fine. Look for Bandits blue squeaky disk! We lost it and never found it.

The on-site host is available by phone at 1pm to 2pm and I believe 4pm to 5pm. Otherwise you have to call the main line and book a space. It’s $20 or $30 for a tent site and $30 for a rv site. I have stayed there multiple times. It has showers and bathrooms and it is clean and safe. It’s a great place to stay close to town and avoid the hotel scene.

Tent campers beware! The tent sites have cats that roam the area and the world is their litter box. The smells at night were rough. The cats caused dogs to bark all night. People playing loud music throughout the night. Screaming kids and adults all night. People throwing rocks. And again, the smells are awful. Very Overpriced. Go up the road or just find somewhere else. I camp 6-7 times per week for the last few months across the country. This is by far the WORST campground I’ve ever encountered.

Large, spacious tent sites with fire rings & tons of trees. The hosts are great and deliver firewood to your site. The showers are HOT and have great water pressure. Dumpsters & a recycle bin near the bathrooms. There is a road near some of the campsites but I didn’t mind the road noise. I was able to show up and get one of the 6 camp sites for 2 nights without reservations. There are a ton of mosquitos - bring bug spray!

This campground has 0 privacy, even the picnic tables for the RV spots, you have to walk thru a tent site to get to them. Half the sites are reserve online. The entrance to the park is hard to find in the daylight, and near impossible to find in the dark. There is one good thing about this place, it is only a couple minute drive from a great hot spring....so if you can put up with everything I have already said, I strongly recommend you go just for that hot spring.

Close to Cottage Grove, COE spot accepted the Passport for half priced camping. 

The campground roads can be tight if you have a big rig so be careful. Because there is no power in the sites people were running generators for hours, even the tent campers.

Large groups were utilizing the group areas when we stayed, lots of children having fun. 

It would not be a destination place but okay for an overnight stay. 

Alchol ban in the park but based on the trash bins it was not enforced.

no hookups in this little campground but you can’t beat the location. nestled on the shores of Dorena Lake east of Cottage Grove in the trees. little boat dock. stocked lake. rental kayaks and swimming hole. one of our favorite places.

The Baker Bay Campground and Marina is a county park outside of Cottage Grove, Oregon. It has a boat launch and boat rentals. There are several huge inflatable water structures in the bay which kids can play on for a fee. The concession stand is currently under construction however there is plenty of green space for picnics. There is a large play structure, horseshoes, and a sand volleyball pit.

Great site for families with kids.

Decent main restroom and showers however, the vault toilet near the main camping spots was the WORST I have ever been near. I can't imagine how people near the toilet could stand being there - especially in the heat of the summer.

One option when looking for a campground last minute during the summer close to Eugene, Oregon. This one is not usually very busy during peak season in my opinion.

This is a primitive campground so no hook ups for your rv. Bring the generator if your needing a power source during the day.

There are restrooms/ showers on site along with drinking water, a playground, and an rv dump station. Picnic tables and fire pits at each site. Trails are nearby along with a beach/ swimming area at Dorena Lake. Watch for signs of Algae or Swimmers Itch as it has been present the past few years at Dorena Lake.

Overall its a great last minute campground not far from town ( Cottage Grove- Eugene), but doesn't make my list of top 5 if I can make reservations a head of time.

This lovely county park campground near Roseburg offers trees, shade from the summer heat, and scenery, but I'm giving it 3 stars for being crowded and somewhat noisy. I admit I was there during peak season, and spent only 1 night, but found that my tent site lacked privacy, and the structure of the gravel road and pull-ins was such that almost every site (except for 1 perimeter drive) was subject to regular vehicle and foot traffic. There is a large yurt for rent on one end of the campground, constructed on a spacious deck overlooking the creek. It appeared to be handicapped-accessible, but as I stood admiring it, I could hear traffic noise from the highway. In between my campsite and the Campground Host's was a camper full of kids in their tweens, who started roaming the small campground after 10pm, making loud, obnoxious noises and laughing hysterically at themselves. When this went on for nearly half an hour with no intervention from adults, I did shout "SHUT UP!" at them after they passed my site and seemed to direct a shout at my tent. They stopped after that, but I hated to be That Person. There were flush toilets, running water, and showers. Bathrooms had neither soap nor paper towels or a working blow-dryer for your hands, so be a good scout and go prepared!

This was the first time for me at this campground, and I will definitely be back. The sites don't have hookups, which is fine with me because I tent camp anyway. Most of the sites have some privacy, which is nice, and they seem to have ample room for a large tent if you have one. During my stay, there was a mix of tents and RVs.

The sites on the north side of the campground (on you left as you drive in) back up to the south fork of the Alsea River. The opposite side backs up to a BLM road, but it's not busy at all.

The drive coming in from east to west is a bit stressful. The BLM road is narrow, and if it's sunny, the sunlight coming in and out of the trees very rapidly makes it hard to see the road. I drove on a weekday around 2:00 (check-in time) so I was able to slow it down a bit without any angry drivers behind me.

The campground is one of the trailheads for the Alsea falls and Green Peak falls trail. The trailhead most commonly mentioned is about half a mile up the trail at the day use area, though, so keep that in mind if you go. I would definitely recommend hiking it. Two gorgeous waterfalls on one hike, but it can be close to 6 miles round trip from the campground, so hike prepared and bring your trekking poles for the 2nd waterfall. There are also a couple of other trails that are less frequented, and for me that means more attractive, so I'll be back. Just check the reviews on AllTrails before you go because some of the trails cater to mountain bikes and some are geared toward hikers.

We originally booked a reserved site at the campground. These slots are all in the center of the campground. The spot was nice but located about 200 ft from riverfront first come first serve sites so we packed up and moved there. Site manager said paying for these was different and we had to pay again. That sucks. Don’t reserve a site here. Pros: Our site was great with a trail down to the river and a rocky beach. Fire pit, table, tent site. It had all the standards. We were lucky to have a fresh water station across the road from us. Bathrooms were adequate. Cons: The train tracks are literally across the river. Maybe 200 ft away. The train runs all day and sadly all night. If you fall asleep easily to the sound of a train horn and train cars along a track then you’ll love it here. If you sleep lightly or generally dislike train sounds, good luck sleeping. Our “neighbors” told us they had moved to the river site because at the other end of the campground road noise was louder than the all night train noise. Summary:

If you stay here it will be beautiful and the river is great but might want to bring earplugs. Fortunately you won’t need to bring your sounds of the train yard sleeping CD with you to lull you asleep at night.

This is a very small remote campground past Dorena lake near Bohemia mountain. There are only 3 spots at this free of charge campground. If you can luck out, or go in the off season, this is a nice far out spot, off the beaten path to just relax by the 'Sharp's creek'. It is watched over by the local mining authority as it is located nearby many open mining claims. That being said, there are no camp hosts or water bibs, but there is a pit toilet, as well as fire rings and picnic tables in the sites . There are no stores or gas stations past Cottage Grove, so get your supplies before leaving town.

I liked how this place is small and more primitive than others, while still being a legit campground.

There are a few nearby hikes including the spectacular Trestle creek falls and Bohemia mountain, but you have to double back and up Bryce creek rd to find them, unless you have 4wd.

Ranger Review: TEPUI Luxury sheets - Kukenam 3 at Fish Creek Campground

Campground Review:

The drive to Fish Creek Campground on the 224 (Clackamas hwy) is beautiful. You’ll be surprised by sudden breathtaking views of the river along the way while delving deeper into a sea of beautiful green trees. We chose this campsite because it is reasonably close to a few of Oregon’s most interesting hot springs and we ended up visiting Bagby during our trip. The campsite itself has everything you would expect from a somewhat remote campground including a horrifying bathroom scene (not to mention the mouse that surprised me when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night). There are a few sites with river access but ours (spot 8) was blocked from the river with a small fence. There are also a couple of yurts you can rent that include bunk beds and some advanced shelter as compared to tent camping if you have kids with you. I’d give this campsite a 3 out of 5 stars, and can promise you there are many better sites along the way if you book early. This has everything you need for minimalist camping, but be aware that you probably won’t be able to start a campfire if you visit in August/early September. 

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt I get to review some great and often very practical products. This trip I was lucky enough to upgrade my Tepui Kukenam 3 rooftop tent with Luxury sheets.

I chose the blue sheets to compliment my Haze Grey tent (the other option is green). I have to admit I was a little hesitant to admit that sheets could be a necessary part of camping. It is after all referred to as “roughing it” but I have to say that adding these sheets to my rooftop tent has made a huge difference. I put the bottom sheet on the first night and left it on when I folded the tent down for the night. It stayed in place perfectly, and these sheets are so much softer than the green, rough, water resistant cover that sits on the mattress by default. Now that I have these sheets I can’t imagine sleeping up there without them. I still used my sleeping bag along with the sheets and an extra blanket because it was pretty chilly at night, but the added comfort the sheets provided took my comfort to the next level. I highly recommend them to anyone sleeping in a rooftop tent!

Schwarz campground is located just past Cottage grove, right on the Row river. I hadn't realized, until I took a nice little walk, it's located just below Dorena reservoir. It has about 60 sites and a few larger open group sites. The inner sites don't offer much for privacy or shade, but found that the outer had a little more privacy and tons of shade from the oak and pine trees. There are many sites with riverfront views and a couple have private access; with public access at the end of the row. The water is slow and shallow, but still very cold. Great place for families and kids, just be on the lookout for poison oak. There are clean showers and restrooms although they are kind of outdated and could have used another, as it gets busy at peak hours. There are also drinking water bibs, recycling and jr. ranger programs, I didn't seem to see wood sales.

PROS

• Short easy 1 mi. trail(good for kids)
• River adjacent
• Family friendly

CONS

• Outdated facilities(too few)
• Poison oak at sites

Awesome spot right on the river. Water was flowing and chilly but not painful in late July. There are a couple of good spots to jump off some rocks into the pools. Supposedly fishing is really good. Trees are tall and shady.

Lots of great trails for biking/hiking nearby.

The sites themselves are par for the course: table + fire ring. Enough space for 1-2 tents. Sites are a little close together / exposed to each other. It's fine if your neighbors are mellow but would be rough if you had rowdy folks adjacent.

It's a small couple of loops that tend to fill up fast. Plan on arriving mid-week in peak season to get the best spots. Keep in mind that if you're on the river side, people will be walking through/by your sites a lot.