Best Campgrounds near Joseph, 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.

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.

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.

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 campground worked great for our small teardrop trailer. It wasn’t the quietest campground we’ve stayed in, but people were respectful of the quiet hours. Sites were clean. Restrooms were acceptable. Last several miles of the road were very washboard-y - something that has not changed from previous visits over the years.

This campground is pretty busy during the summer season but was fairly quiet on the last weekend of the summer. Weather was good but temperatures did get down to 26F.

This park accepts Good Sam discounts. There are a few full timers but are kept clean. The park is right on the edge of town. Nestled between a river and a horse farm he will hear a rooster everyday you will hear a donkey. There are wild turkey in the area but they're quite quiet. I paid just under $150 a week. Laundry machines work well there are two washers and two dryers buck and a quarter each. They have showers. They have a tent area for tent camping. There is usually no one on duty but they do have propane I just don't know how to use it or get it. There is a Wi-Fi password and the cell phone signal is not bad. I use T-Mobile. 5 minutes away from a decent grocery store. 30 minutes away from Miller's home improvement and Walmart. And did I mention full hookups.

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.

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.

This is a little pullout off route 95. Has about 10-15 feet of separation from main road, which gives privacy and protection from cars. The surface is a gravel and can fit a fairly decent amount of vehicles. The sign says you can camp up to 10 days consecutive, we only stayed for the night and continued on. This is also right on little salmon river.

The sites are nice and most are lake front. There were a few other campers but none near our site. The road up is steep and bumpy gravel but we managed in our two wheel drive van. Would definitely stop by again.

A group of friends and I went and tent camped in spot 14 for a couple days and had a great time. The site was fairly trashed when we got there so we did some cleanup but besides that it’s surrounded by a beautiful forest and even on a 95 degree day the shade is perfect and the water was refreshing to swim in. I liked the spot we stayed in, it was spacious enough for 3 tents (10 person, 5 person, and 2 person tents) it was shaded and fairly spaced out from other spots. The lake was pretty busy and there were lots of people but it’s easy to find places on the water to have to yourself. There was also an awesome rope swing maybe half a mile from the camp site, super fun!

Lake is beautiful. This campground is what you expect from a state park, appreciated having showers and running water for the day we were there. Plenty to do in and around the lake.