Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Hines, OR

This is in Burns/Hines Oregon. This town is basically a stopover between Boise/Treasure Valley and Bend, Oregon. This park is well suited just for an overnight on the road. The whole property is graveled. All the hookups are in great shape and the whole place looks new-ish. The water pressure is about 100PSI, so use your regulator unless you want to risk popping your plumbing at some place or another. The town has many restaurants, fast food, convenience stores, car parts, car washes, etc. There is a pet park. The host/manager was very down to earth and helpful and greeted us in his golf cart as soon as we pulled up. I recommend this place for a quick/clean stopover. We'll use it again to break up our driving hours. There's not much to see or do in Burns/Hines. The WIFI is excellent coverage and strength and speed. Supports WIFI 6.0. Verizon 3bars.

Not much here since the lake dried up. It is a good stopping place for a nite or two if your traveling this way. The sites are pretty big. We had plenty of room for our 5th well and truck. It was not crowded at all this Memorial Weekend, as there is not much to do…sad to say. It is very quiet and dark out here. Oh and the wind can get a bit strong as well! There are NO trees to hide behind.. Ha! Ha!

We obtained fuel and water from the Shell Station in Hines as we passed through from Salt Lake City. The staff there are very nice and friendly! We did see a Hines Market just as you got East out of town that has a Dump Station, if you need. Not sure how much space they have for big rigs to maneuver around.

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.

The Cabin

Besides the pullout couch leaving a lot to be desired, this little guard station was wonderful. Perfect for two, this cabin comes with propane heat and powered appliances, so no need to sacrifice meal quality or comfort. We were here for Thanksgiving and it was great to be able to explore the Malheur National Forest during the crisp days, and come back to a warm cabin late in the afternoon. In the spring, I imagine you can fish the creek behind the cabin.

The Wildlife

If you hike a little off trail, there's plenty of wildlife to be seen. We ended up hiking to Horse Mountain (about 3.5 miles from the cabin), and saw wild horses early in the morning. We also saw mule deer and turkeys. Maybe it is because it was November, but there were very few people out exploring the area.

The Terrain

The forest was super easy to move through, and if you're driving from western Oregon, the terrain is quite an amazingly unique site given its golden hills and red rocks. All in all, I highly recommend staying here for a nature filled getaway.

We ran across this nice little campground (CG) looking for a place to walk our pups.  Idlewild is located an easy 30 minute drive north of Burns, OR.  Traveling north, the original entrance is now closed but signage takes you to the new entrance about 1/4 mile up the road.  Down by the original entrance is pull through site 1, which is the only paved site in the CG.  Most of the sites are more suited for tents but there are sites that will handle small RVs.  There is a nice trail system that runs out the back of the CG near site 1.  If you want to get away from it all, this is a great CG.

This review is based on an overnight versus destination campground (CG). We followed our RV GPS to Harney County Fairgrounds. We saw the fairground entrance sign, turned into the main fairground area, and stopped in front of the office. We had called the fairground office about a week prior and left a message to call us back, which was quickly returned. The nice lady on the phone said camping was first come, first serve, and if there was no one in the office and it was normal work hours, a worker on the grounds would help us. She also said that there was nothing going on that week, so come on in. No one was at the office, so we proceeded straight into the fairgrounds. We came upon a worker, and he came over and led us to the new full hook-up area, which is in the southwest corner of the grounds. The gentleman could not have been nicer, giving us a rundown on the fairgrounds and camping areas, including opening up the new bathhouse/restroom that is located in the 30-site fenced FHU area. There was no one camping at the time, so he told us to pick any site and either pay him (cash or check) or put the payment in the slot at the office. That evening another camper came into the FHU area and another into the water and electric sites, which are at the end of the office road where you curve around and head to the FHU area about 150 yards further down the road. We chose site 18 as it had the lowest sewer connection, as most were 4 to 6 inches or more above the ground. The water, which we were told was very good/clean water, had water pressure at about 60 PSI, so we used a reducer. The pads are not marked, but you can figure out how they are laid out. Depending on how busy the FHU area might be, you could be parked very close to each other. There are a few street light poles. Overall, the FHU area is just a big parking lot but worked well as an overnighter. There are huge areas to walk or run your dog. We had stayed in the area before, and the fairgrounds are a bit cheaper than the other campgrounds in the area, but you don’t get a picnic table or other amenities other than the bathhouse. Call 541-573-6447 after hours or if no one is around to check in. Highly recommend that If it's your first time, don’t come in after dark as the sites are not well marked, and you could run over the FHU area utilities. Take a right out of the FHU area, as that road is the recommended exit. Though on the pricey side for what you get, we’d rather have the privacy and spaciousness to let our dogs run.