Best Equestrian Camping near Malheur National Forest

This area is on your up to strawberry campground, its nice and clean and quite! Slide horse has areas for your horses. It's gorgeous and the creek is just a few feet to go get water for animals and your fire pits and to put your feet in. Looking forward to coming back soon!

This is a FCFS, primitive campground with nice spacious sites and some with river views. There are 4 equestrian sites.  There was a camp host during our stay but he was only there one of the 3 nights we stayed.  The North Fork John Day trail departs from the campground and it is possible to make a loop using the Crane Creek trail if the river crossing is possible.

Really nice small campground. It’s accessed from a nine or ten mile dirt road, a bit of a challenge to navigate the last mile. There was a beautiful creek running through the campsite and great large pine trees. Clean bathrooms. We camped there on a Monday night and the campground was probably two thirds full.

Off the beaten path, but we'll worth it! Dropped 20 degrees from the hot valley floor. Around 8 spots, first come, but a few other spots on the way up, for dispersed. Right along strawberry creek, beautiful, quiet. Trails to explore, wildlife to see.

Nice sites with lots of separation and easy access to a trailhead. Multiple vault toilets available as well as water taps that I don’t think are potable but good enough to rinse dishes. We got caught in rain, sleet, snow, and graupel all in one day but that’s hardly the campground’s fault. If you can get up the sketchy and rough road, it’s a beautiful site.

I was lured to Strawberry Campground by it's accessibility to the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness. I'd been planning my trip for months! But, the drive to Strawberry Campground proved a bit difficult. It started with approximately 6 miles of gravel road...no problem. Then the road became a forest road...no problem. Then it began raining. It looked as though the area had experienced rain recently. The road was slick. The ruts and holes in the road began to increase. When I was about 2 miles away from Strawberry Campground, I turned around. I just didn't trust my Mazda 3 to make it without bottoming out or getting a flat tire. If I had been with someone, I might have tried to make it; but, as a solo camper, it didn't seem worth the risk.

Would I go again? Yes...but, only in a high clearance vehicle.

This was a great little campground for getting away from the Memorial Day crowds. Over the weekend we stayed, there were only 2 or 3 other campers as well.

Just south of Prairie City, this was a good location to explore the surrounding Strawberry Mountain wilderness and John Day Fossil Beds. As the road turns to a forest road, it’s gets a bit adventurous, but we just kicked it into 4 wheel drive and had no trouble getting there. We picked a site next to the creek in the back and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We even got a visit from a few deer every night around dinner time. They kept their distance but still came within 20 feet to check us out.

From the campground, you can take the trails to the lake, which was a fun hike. The vault toilets were clean and the Ranger came around every day to check in. The only thing I would change is the temperature. We didn’t realize it was still so chilly at the end of May and we’re thankful for our extra layers and warmer sleeping bags we packed just in case.

Tips for camping here:

*I had my 9 year old nephew with me for this trip and was thankful I brought our bikes and games. Since the campground wasn’t busy, there weren’t other kiddos for him to play with so we needed some fun stuff to do between hikes and outings.

*There’s a steep drop off next to some sites that goes right into the creek. Keep an eye on kiddos or pick a site farther away from the creek if you’re worried about that.

*The campground was a bit dusty so bring stuff to wash up when needed.

*Lots of wildlife in the area so make sure to keep your food and other items locked up so the critters don’t get into it.

*Bring your own firewood, as there isn’t a camp host to buy it from.

This is basically a little RV park adjacent to a museum and playground. Points for character. It’s off the main drag and there are not a lot of choices in the area. Big lawn is well watered. However, I can’t get behind the prices. $14 just to pitch a tent is steep. Bathrooms are filthy, shower (behind a ragged shower curtain) is not worth paying for.

a couple tent spots. sub-par for tents, not scenic. but clean, bathrooms, fresh water. rv hook ups, some nice shade and a play area for kids. in the town of prairie city, with good coffee

We just stopped for the night and it worked well. I checked in late and it was a little confusing. Had a hard time getting the PIN to access the bathroom. Site had what we needed and was very quiet.

Shaded pull through and easy back in sites. Good value. Stream running next to the sites. Close to town. It is next to the fairgrounds, but very quit when no events. Good place to spend the night while traveling through

Pretty nice park, bathrooms and showers a mile away. Did not stay here we moved on

After a long day of driving we came up on this campground and got lucky finding two spaces available during hunting season!

Level  pull through site, clean pit toilet.

Enjoyed a walk down to the river.  Peaceful overnight!

Located where desert meets the forest. This lovely area provides thrills for all. Bring your ATV'S, hiking boots, and fishing polls because this area has it all!

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.