Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Frenchglen, OR

We stayed here on our way to camping on the Alvord.  Very convenient spot from which to explore Steens Mountain , French Glen and the Malheur Wildlife refuge.  

Campground was well maintained.  Friends had trouble with the washboard road knocking their medicine cabinet off the wall, but we took the road more slowly and had not trouble.  The very next morning the road had been graded, so going back to French Glen was no issue.  Sites were fine.  Sanitary dump was uphill so we used their communal dump on the way out.  All was well.  We did check out a little late and there was an extra fee, but we were fine with that!

We'd stay again.

The whole Alvord desert is a dry lake bed.... well most often it is dry, but if it isn’t do not even try to drive out there. The clay silt will stop an cat in its tracks. Tow company won’t even get you until it is dry...

That being said, it is completely open for dispersed camping. You could get to the middle of it and feel like you are stranded.

Total. Solitude.

We came in the summer and the bed was dry. So naturally we drove 70 mph to a spot we seems “fine”.. it’s all just dry dirt, so pick a place that is far from anyone else.

Walking around you could almost loose sight of your car, with the heat illusion ok the horizon. Super trippy, but honestly at night we nearly walked right past our car.

No light pollution, so stars are on full display, but it does get windy at night.

Be safe here, lots of people driving wicked fast.

The sunstone is Oregon’s State rock. HERE AT THIS LOCATION YOU CAN COLLECT THEM FREE OF CHARGE - but don’t be greedy! They come in all shapes and sizes, but most are the size of a fingernail or baby’s tooth. You will need to drive out 45-90minutes on a gravel road to reach this location and it is truly out in Oregon’s Outback and will take a full day to reach your destination. FYI DO NOT PICK SUNSTONES UNTIL YOU REACH END-POINT. The surrounding land is not for public use. You will know you’re good to go and at the end-point when you see the photos below with the sign and camp site. It would be safer to Camp in an RV or car because of rattlesnakes and heat-exposure. We did not stay because of the poor air quality from summer fires nearby. There are wild antelope and rabbits in the area. Keep on the look out for wildlife on your drive! No shade is available except for the covered Camp spots. You will see the MANY Sunstones laying out on the ground, sparking in the sun, no need for digging which is quite fun. Sunstones are made from the minerals in the dried up/preserved lake in this area. Lake county is full of seasonal lakes is what we discovered on our road trip this summer...Good luck and have fun!

Generator quit working so we couldn’t boondock. Way too hot outside. Checked in on a day they were closed so the only signs of life we saw were the people who live here full time. Most sites are 30 amp. The ones with 50 amp were not marked at all and there was no information in the welcome email indicating what site we needed to look for so after driving five hours with four children and a dog, we had to go site by site to look for the proper hook ups in 100° weather. Was not very thrilled about that. Good stop over spot in a pinch. Served us well for what we needed it for

Normally don't stay in RV parks while traveling in our camper van, but we needed to do laundry, take showers, replenish our water supply, and recharge our power storage units after days of dispersed & primitive camping. We really liked this RV park. Tina, who checked us in, was fantastic - very friendly and welcoming. She even gave our dog treats! She put us in site #39 which was not next to big rigs. We used the water & electric at the site. Reasonably priced. The park was very clean. The laundry room and restroom/shower rooms were also clean. The meals at the cafe were good, along with good service. We weren't enthusiastic about staying at an RV park, but we were glad we did. Fit our needs for an overnight stay.