Best Cabin Camping near Foster Lake

Smith Creek Village is such a great place for easy lodging in nature. My family stayed in one of the tiny cabins. The cabin was very clean and well kept. The cabin was nearby a few other similar cabins, but everything felt very private. There was nice walking paths and a large grass area supplied with lawn games.

We decided to take the easy route this particular trip and ate all our meals at the Big Leaf Coffeehouse. The food there is fantastic and the building has a cozy lodge vibe.

Another thing that I loved about Smith Creek Village is that although the Silver Falls state park is always busy, Smith Creek Village is not. It feels like a hidden gem inside the state park. We definitely plan on coming back.

A small quaint Resort. Would love to stay at the cabins, but my schedule is the same as everyone else. Was told by the Ranger to come and stay after Labor Day, they are open year round. I find it easy to bring my kayak up and use the lake to enjoy rowing around. This would be a great place for those paddle boards. The lake is for non-motorized boats. Can do fishing too. The Lodge is open as a restaurant between Memorial to Labor day. Boat rentals, cabin rentals and tent sites avaiable check the www.linnparks.com or call (541) 967-3917. A must to RSVP

This campground is one I wanted to visit for the chance to check out the hiking trail nearby that has tons of waterfalls along it (Ten Falls Trail). I wasn't sure I would be able to hike very far and I was right. I hiked down into the canyon to walk behind South Falls. It was spectacular! I’m glad I hiked that particular trial since I only had enough energy for that one. It was quite steep down into the canyon and wet in most areas. Watch your step! The full trail is 8.2 miles. They had a nice place to buy snacks and meals, a gift shop, and had nice printed trail information posted at the trailhead. The campground itself isn’t huge and was fully booked, but it is decently laid out (sites have nice space between them). Most sites are shaded. They sell firewood, have a pavilion with picnic tables, a playground for the kids, and have a few small cabins you can rent by the night. The campground is kind of close to a somewhat busy road, but the noise wasn’t too bad. The bathhouse was clean and approximately 100 yards from my campsite down a footpath. The only thing I was disappointed to see was that two of the 4 showers were out of order. I had fantastic cell service here (AT&T) and was able to text, call, and go online on my phone (which is nice since I work online). Given the fact that I was unable to physically do more hiking this trip, I would definitely come back to this campground to try another section of the trail to see more waterfalls since the trailhead is only 1.5 miles from the campground.

We had a great time staying at River Bend! This was our first trip here and won’t be our last, we’ve already made reservations for next year.

The sites were maintained very well and the camp hosts were very friendly. In addition to the paved driveway for our trailer, there always a nice, large concrete pad for the picnic table with a fire pit built on to the corner. The neighboring site on the right was 20-30 yards away and the site on the left was 100+ yards away. Lots of trees all around, good shade for those hot August days.

The bathrooms for the loop were a nice walk but not too far and they were cleaned 2x per day.

We spent most of our days at the river swimming, floating in tubes, skipping rocks and looking for crawdads. It was an easy walk on well maintained trails to get to the river.

The playground and adjacent field were fun for playing and games in the evenings.

Being a long, hot year there were no fires allowed in the fire pits. That was a small bummer, but the fire danger was so high that it wasn’t a big deal. We used our propane fire ring instead and that was great. Kind of nice coming away from a camping trip and not smelling of smoke 😁

The park is beautiful, I made sure to see all the falls (except of Winter Falls which wasn't running), and the hike was great. The park is pretty big so you do have to drive from your campsite to the trailhead, not quite hike-in.

We stayed in one of the cabins, which was quaint and nicely separated from the rest of the sites. The cabin has two small rooms, with a dining area and a sleeping area. There's no fancy appliances but we brought an electric cooler to keep our food cold, and the bathroom and parking was a short walk away. The site was outfitted with a fire pit with grill and picnic table.

On the first night we were awoken to rustling through our stuff in the other room and when I checked it out a mouse booked it out of there. Not a big deal but my fiance and I found it a little hard to sleep after that. Be sure to keep any food in your car rather than the cabin. Another night an army of raccoons made its way through our campsite, despite all our food being put away. On our way out we told the ranger about the mouse in the cabin and they didn't seem phased by it, I don't expect they did much to fix the hole (which we spotted the next day and tried to cover). Would have preferred just to stay in a tent and save a bit if the cabin is so obviously penetrable.

General: Two loops with a mix of electric and non-electric sites plus cabins. 

Site Quality: All sites have paved, level camper pads, a picnic table, and a fire ring. Reasonable separation/privacy between sites, although you will see and hear your neighbors. 

Bath/Shower House: Bathrooms have been updated since our last visit six years ago. Automatic flush toilets and sinks. Soap dispensers and air dryers. They were clean. Showers are individual stalls with a bench and hooks for toiletries. The only thing missing was a garbage receptacle and there were signs indicating you needed to take your garbage out. I can only guess that previous campers abused the bathroom garbage, thus taking away the convenience for everyone else! 

Activities: Highlight for us is the Trail of Ten Falls which, as the name suggests, takes you past ten waterfalls. The entire trail is just over seven miles but there are shorter loop options. The best access is from the day-use area but you can get there from the campground to add mileage. Pets are not allowed on this trail. There are paved bike trails and other backcountry trails that allow dogs and horses. 

Our first visit to this state park was in 1990, and we returned in 1997 and 2017. We have loved it every time, even when it rains, as it does almost every time we visit!