Best Campgrounds near Durkee, OR

We've never camped here, mainly because we live nearby.  Yes, it is windy here, great for windsurfers.  

The directions offered are a little off.  From North Powder Hwy 237, you will turn right on Government Gulch Road.  When you get to the RR crossing, turn right, cross the tracks onto Telocaset Lane.  

You can get there from the other side too.  Stop at Pondosa Store for a little local history and some snacks.  From Hwy 203 near Medical Springs, you go West on Telocaset Lane to Thief Valley Reservoir.

Well kept and nice rangers. Accommodating and quiet, lots of wild life. This is bear country so it thats not your thing, i wouldnt camp there. Lots of things to do close by both inexpensive and more expensive.

Conveniently located off the highway if you are traveling.

The spots are pretty close together, A and C loops are very open with no privacy. The B loop has some trees and bushes between the sites which makes it a little more inviting. The A loop is the closest to the road.

We had reserved a spot in C loop with a view of the water but it was so windy when we got there the site was not very comfortable. The camp host graciously let us move up to B loop, since it wasn’t very busy mid-week. Thank goodness we did, it was the windiest night I’ve ever experienced camping.

Sites have electric and water. They have dishwashing water waste stations conveniently thought the campground. The showers are free, had one cold because the water would not warm up. But the men’s shower room had warm showers after a bit of time to heat up.

The bathrooms and showers were clean.

Campground in located in Brownlee Reservoir at the mouth of Hells Canyon Snake River area. Paved, level sights, water, and Electricity on site. Some areas very shady so check in advance. Boat launch at the campground, plenty of room for Kayaks also. If you like fishing, wildlife watching, and hiking this could be your spot. The showers and restrooms were exceptionally clean. Camp hosts came around introduced themselves and were very friendly. WiFi can be purchased thru the telephone company in the area for various fees.

Only the Brownlee loop was open in mid-March. There were plenty of sites to choose from with great views of the river. The water was of at sites, but the sites and bathrooms were good.

I'm just now getting around to reviewing some places that I've enjoyed and plan to return to.  I was here in late August 2022 during a swing through the Northwest, and I spent three days and nights nude here.  Very pleasant and relaxing at the river, not too crowded and there were only a few other campers there, and no one cared that I was naked.  Some people who were camped a distance away were nude as well (nudity is not illegal in Oregon).  I did some short hikes and swam in the river each day.  The weather was perfect and I'm making plans to return there when I go through the NW again.

Nice campground, clean bathrooms and showers.Friendly people beautiful views. Website for reservations was difficult. You seem to have some glitches

Aneroid Lake is one of my favorite locations in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The dispersed camping for backpackers is on the North side of the lake, whereas the South side is private property (Camp Halton). The lake is stocked every few years with rainbow trout, and has a good supply of brook trout.

The water is very cold but worth the dip if it's a hot summer day.

This is a spot run by BLM right on the Snake River. Any sized rig can fit and surrounding area is beautiful.
There is a small pit toilet on site.
This would be a perfect free overnight, but homeless people have been allowed to dump trash in a pile next to their RV. There is also a pile left behind from another.
This is a failing of BLM to manage their sheriffs office property.

We have stayed many times and loved it. But now the place had about seven campers. Most sites had reserved stickers on them . The few remaining had signs say check on line. Our cellular service was too weak to check on line sadly. All the best riverfront sites over by the huts said reserved which I believe translates to out of service. There's normally electricity, water and a picnic table at these sites. A fire swept by the boundary of the park and partly through it to the river.

The campground had just about everything we hoped for: it was quiet, clean, scenic, on a river, green, had showers, and a fantastic host. The dock right in front of our campsite was a bonus and the river was calm enough to swim in. Limited-range WiFi is available at the light pole at the camp entrance. Great stargazing at night, and we were serenaded by a couple of owls! Perfect location to visit the Hells Canyon Dam or start you rafting trip.

I found this place using the Dyrt app and was happy with the stay. We only spent one night here as we were passing through town. I purchased the site after hours, and everything was paid for; check-in and registration were all done from my smartphone. I paid$70 for a backup sight with full hookups. They have 24-hour shower/bathroom stalls that are very clean and nice. It is located right off I-84, so some light traffic will be heard. It is in a small city with plenty of options to eat out. Boise is only 1 hour away, which isn't bad if you want to explore that part of Idaho. Overall, it was clean, quiet, and easy to navigate.

There are a few spots and spurs off NF-6510 that would make for good boondocking. Might be hard to get level, but other than that it’s pretty nice. The spot on the map has a stone fire ring. There are a few spots before and after that would be suitable to setup camp as well.

I got to the spot marked on the map in my extended Transit, but I’m sure road conditions may change with the seasons, storms; etc. Depending on your comfort, you may only want to head this way with high-clearance vehicle.

Great little dispersed spot with a clean outhouse.

There looks to be 4 sites in the trees, but if you keep driving down it’ll take you towards the lake, which is where I camped. Wide open, great sunset views! The lake is dammed, so I assume the water levels vary, but when I was there, there was room for a few more vehicles down by the water. Careful going too far, as some tire tracks looked to have maybe gotten stuck in mud by venturing too far out. 😂

Great spot, would definitely return!

This spot is right off a paved road, so about as easy access as you can find. It’s a gravel parking lot for a boat launch onto Snake River.

There are 2 spots along the water below that are semi-private, but they were taken, so I just parked in the lot, with 2 other campers in trailers. Tons of space, and the road that goes by is relatively quiet, so there isn’t much noise from it even though it’s so close.

Probably not the nicest area to hang for an extended stay because of the lack of privacy, but for a quick stop it’s perfectly fine. Outhouse on site too.

This review is based on an overnight or short stay versus destination campground (CG). Our GPS took us right into this CG. Check-in was easy and we headed to pull through site 118 with FHUs. The pad was plenty long enough for our 40’ 5th wheel and our F450. The utilities were in the middle of the pad, which made it nice for our one-night stay. As the water pressure here is around 100 psi, you need to use a reducer. Sites are close to one another but you still have a grass yard with some separation. We stayed here back in 2019 and not much had changed. They added a small fenced dog area inside the CG. They still have the field behind the park where you go out a gate into a small industrial area. There’s a poop bag dispenser and trashcan. Happily, people were picking up after their dogs. There were a mix of overnighters to long-stay residents and the CG did not have trashy sites. We could not get the CG Wifi to connect, but we did have 2 bars on Verizon. The CG has cable but we did not use it as we were able to stream on our Verizon MiFi. There are a lot of mature trees so satellite could be iffy depending on your site. They have a nice little store with sundry and gift items. Across the street from the office/store is a nice laundry facility. We again enjoyed our time here.