Best Campgrounds near Merlin, OR

Wow! I had heard some mixed reviews of Loeb; lack of privacy, loud partying. That wasn't my experience. Maybe I got lucky but I had super chill neighbors and it was dead quiet once the sun went down. There are options up the river for more private dispersed camping I checked out the next day, but solo camping as a woman I prefer to have some lowkey families or older couples camping nearby, which is what I got. Gigantic trees swallowed my site which was a 3 minute walk to the riverbank. Chetco is the most gorgeous river I have ever been lucky enough to swim in. Honestly the campground could have been a dump and I might not have even noticed due to how dazzled I was by the river, which flowed gently behind my site. I swam for hours, walked into camp for a hot shower & dinner, stared up at the stars before bed. I heard barred owls at night. So hard to leave this special place. I will be back as soon as I can.

This little spot is such a gem. The reviews are correct in the fact that it can be a tight fit. My husband and I were the only camper here when we stayed so we didn’t experience that as a problem. It is a bit steep coming down but since we were the only ones we had plenty of room to back the camper where we wanted. The creek is absolutely clear, a bit chilly but stunning. I would definitely recommend this spot and would absolutely come back for another stay. If you miss this spot or it’s too full there are plenty of other dispersed campsites farther up. Might not be as much room for campers or splashing around in the river but you’ll still access to the river. We came late August.

Camped one night, so peaceful. Quiet and dark. Took several divine swims. The water is crystal clear and cool, comfortable to stay in for minutes. Had a wild and beautiful romp up the State creek canyon across the bar. Just one other camper was there overnight. Plenty of room for both of us. Couldn’t even see them most of the time. 3 other parties came and went during the day, all focused on swimming and low key family time in nature. The only negative is a pile of the grossest trash, human waste in plastic bags, and some other random defunct camping items. I collected them and piled them up at the side of the road. People clearly struggle with how to manage the absence of toilet. I dug a little hole in the thimbleberries across the road and used their wide and soft leaves to clean myself up. No biggie.

Quiet spot not far from I5. No noise at all, just the wind in the trees and bullfrogs. There are defined spots with a vault toilet next door. The spots are VERY close together, 10 to 20 feet apart. All of the spots are right on the edge of the water. Spots are small but room for a single vehicle or van at each. We had the place to ourselves on a random Wednesday in August. Tons of blackberries growing wild along the waters edge.

Road in from I5 isn’t bad, well maintained gravel with a few large potholes. GPS via Apple and Google wanted me to go on a rarely used and overgrown forest road to get here, I recommend using GPS to get in the general area then look at the map to manually navigate the last half mile or so.

Starlink mini had decent reception for being hard mounted to my roof. Cell service is basically non-existent, one bar of LTE every now and then.