Best RV Parks & Resorts near Malheur National Forest

FEATURES:

PROS:

-A firepit with wood is provided for guests. The owner says he sometimes hosts "Smore Nights," for guests in peak season. 

-a propane grill is also available for use.

-Our back-in site for our 30 amp travel trailer wasn't too hard to get in too.

-Good wifi, though there weren't that many other people in the park at the time we were there.

-The campground is on a river, though you can't really sit by it or see due to growth along the banks.

-The office was closed when we were there, but according to their website, they have local beer, wine, and snacks for sale.

CONS:

-Bathrooms are small, two showers, two stalls.

-Our site was unlevel so we needed our levelers.

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Overall a fine stay. We didn't hear the road much at all inside our trailer. We enjoyed sitting out on the picnic table at our site. Owners very nice.

We had reserved a site here and upon arrival, pulled in among all the large RVs, where our campervan was dwarfed. Spaces were all level and gravel with full hook-ups (20/30/50 amp). Large picnic table but difficult to determine which one was ours as the sites are close together with no privacy between them. The sites in the row we were in were all pull-throughs and the John Day River was just beyond the road which was nice. 

The most welcoming part of the park was the sign on our site otherwise it was dismal (the overcast weather didn’t help). We later heard from someone that there had recently been some thefts at the park. 

The bathhouse is accessed by walking through a grassy area and was pretty basic but clean. We chose this campground based on the reviews and I realize our opinion may be in the minority but we just didn’t get a good vibe here. If we had a large RV, we might have felt differently. We stayed for about 45 minutes debating what to do but in the end, left and found a space at the state park about eight miles away that better suited our needs.

Free camping in sno park parking lot in Malheur National Forest between May and October. Huge parking lot, accessible for any giant RV. Lot is flat enough, not totally flat but good enough for the night. 

There’s an accessible pit toilet here but it was locked when we stayed here in July. 

We had the whole lot to ourselves for the night. Very peaceful and quiet, very minimal traffic and road noise. Nice forest roads to walk along. Lots of green grass and trees when we came in July. 

No amenities here at all, please pack out your waste and keep it clean. Zero cell reception here in this entire area with Verizon or ATT but the lot is in a big clearing with no trees around so I’m guessing starlink would work well here.

This campground is about 20 miles southwest of Baker Or. Hundreds of miles from Crator Lake or Prospect that the other reviews said were close...must be another Union Creek Campground over there.

Excellent campground. About 50/50 reservable vs first come first serve. Good space between sites. Elec and water hookups...a few have full hookups. Dump on site. Cell service and over the air TV....surprisingly.  Some sites have lake (reservoir) view. Mixed shade sites.

We intended to stay 2 nights but stayed 4 because of great weather and campground.

This campground is located off highway 395 in the Malheur National Forest. We camped in space 11 near the entrance after driving the loop almost back to the beginning near the single rustic vault toilet. We stayed there in late October and paid $5, ½ of the $10 camping fee. The water was shut off but the toilet was open and clean with tp. We were the only ones who stayed there that night. Several people came in during the night to use the toilets as there is another one further back, the first as you drive in.

The sites aren’t spaced too close together and the large pines create shade. Since we were there in October, we didn’t need the shade. We couldn’t hear the highway traffic as 395 isn’t that busy but during logging operations, yes, the log trucks can be heard. There is also a large timber day use structure. There are mountain bike trails nearby. If you need supplies, Burns Safeway is a good store for a small town.

We visited during Oregon’s “high” season, so by the time we booked, only back in spots were available for our big rig. Okay stay, just not impressed with amenities for price and that park has sappy trees over spaces.

Pros:

• Nice place to be for a week. Slower change of pace.
• Proximity to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
• Nice staff.
• Had a little lending library, so donated some books and took a couple of new ones for the road.

Cons:

• Our back in spot was under trees that drip sap. We have sap on our rig and our tow. The rules allowed you to wash your windshield, but you could only use water in a bucket - no spraying with a hose. First time we have ever had to wash our windshield before leaving a park.

• Sites, despite an apparently fresh dump/spread of gravel, were not as level as site managers seemed to think. Back of the back in space sloped just enough to cause issues.

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.