Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Oakridge, OR

This campground is just 10 miles out of Oakridge. Although just off the highway, you can’t tell it is even there. The best spots are those closest to the river. Most have well cleared spots for tents amid towering Douglas fir trees. The sites only have enough room for one vehicle, and many did not appear long enough for a larger motor home over say 20 feet.

The river is the real attraction here. When we were here in June it was low enough to wade and swim, and there were families hanging out in chairs along the gravel bars and floating in the river. Great place to chill with beers after a day hiking or mountain biking.

The only downside is the train tracks are just on the other side of the river and at least when we were there the train went by 4-5 times throughout the night. For whatever reason it blows its whistle repeatedly, hard to tell why as there is no road on that side. It does wake you up for a moment but we were so tired from mountain biking we went right back to sleep.

Although it is only a short distance from Oakridge, we had no cell service at all. Had to get most of the way to Oakridge before we picked it up. We had Verizon and AT&T so maybe another carrier has coverage.

Great campground overall, would definitely come back.

Campground review

Great hidden gem in the high elevations just behind Oakridge, Or. It's about 20 miles from Oakridge up a washboard gravel road. I suggest an awd/4x4, or a car that can handle the terrain. I have a 4x4 truck, but with bad tires, so I was fishtailing the whole way up, and down. Once you arrive, the campground opens to a gorgeous little alpine lake with a surrounding ridge.

It is a very small, very primitive campground with six sites, two all gender pit toilets, bear proof garbage can and water pump. At $8 a night though you can't go wrong. I do suggest however to have a backup plan, as it would be a bummer to find it full after driving so far out.

Three of the sites are park and walk in, with the others park at site style; all are first come. I was able to score a walk in site right on the lake! Each site does have a table and fire ring, and you can even find some mountain Huckleberries along the trail into the sites. My site was huge and all three sites had enough space for at least 3 tents and were decently spaced from each other.

If you do find it full, or while you are staying; take advantage of the nearby Blair lake trail before you leave. It is a 17 mile moderate-difficult trail that heads toward the Waldo lake wilderness, through a great meadow and and then forest above the lake. You can take it about 4 miles to the Mule mountain lookout if you prefer a shorter hike. I wasn't able to go to the lookout as the trail was in the process of being closed due to a nearby active fire. I was able to get to a good viewpoint of the lake and grounds below; with a little bushwacking. There is also an overgrown trail circumventing the lake, but I hear it also takes a little bushwacking to complete. The lake itself is warm and great for swimming and floating, and I even saw some fish jumping so I imagine you could do some catching as well.

A great place to just get away from the grind and city noise, where you feel like your out in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to have to come back in the shoulder season when there is some snow in the hills and I can finish the hike that I started.

Product review

This isn't a traditional Ranger review, as this is the item that I purchased after winning a $50 REI gift card via The Dyrt contest in Oregon.

After contemplating my needs I decided on the Columbia Silver ridge lite LS shirt from https://www.rei.com/product/895032/columbia-silver-ridge-lite-long-sleeve-shirt-mens

In the past I haven't been able to afford true hiking, non cotton shirts. I have always just gone with my old T-shirts, sleeveless dri-fit or Dickies 50/50 work shirts. I can't believe the difference! This shirt is so lightweight, and with its vents and breathability, it keeps me dry on hot hikes. It does soak up the sweat a bit though, but when removed it did dry out very fast and didn't leave salt stains like cotton. I like that it is also UPF-40 rated with omni-vent, and the sleeves roll up and with a button strap; stay rolled up. It also has mesh, breast, velcro closure pockets.

The only down side to this shirt is it's length, and no "Tall" size availability. Being on the tall side, this is a problem I will always run into. It rides a bit underneath my pack and is not quite long enough for tucking. Other than that a great shirt and for the price, as compared to the other brands at higher cost; I can't see the advantage in those without trying them first. A good shirt to get away from cotton, I will definitely try other styles from Columbia in the future.

It's $33 a night, but hey, at least you get a lot of somethings for it. These are 32 reservable sites, pretty well spread out with - bonus - vegetation between some campsites. Overall it kind of has a little bit of a sanitized, urban feel with what's on the outskirts of the campground, but it's fairly open and roomy, there's a boat ramp to the large McKenzie River, an active park host in an active go-cart, a volleyball court, lots of room to walk and walk dogs (includes a 2-acre dog park), horseshoe pits and, because it's just a few miles north of Eugene I suspect, wi-fi (that could be a good or bad thing). Drinking water, flush toilets? But of course. You won't be blown-away, but you won't be disappointed. A clean, well-organized camping area, a step up from KOAs for those true campers out there (and you know who you are...).

I've stayed here a number of times and each time it's a pleasure. Nice big sites, super clean park and facilities and nice staff. I personally stay in all sorts of locations, but usually stop here for a couple of nights to take advantage of the great stores in Eugene to stock up before heading off for more primitive camping. This park is pet friendly with 2 reasonable dog yards and there doesn't seem to be a quantity or breed problem (I'm parked next to a rig with 2 pitbulls, a small mixed breed and 2 cats). Everyone I've encountered in here is super respectful. They also have a small inexpensive laundry. While walking around with my 4 dogs, I noticed they have Tepees for rent also. I always feel safe and comfortable when I stay here. The only downside is that it's right off I-5 so lots of freeway noise.

We stayed here because we had an appointment in Eugene in the morning and wanted to be somewhere close the night before.

Though this isn't the type of park we usually prefer to stay at, it does a good job at being a good, safe, basic RV park.

There are activities right on site: horseshoe pits, playground, half court basketball hoop, small dog park (small is referring to the size of the park, it's for all dog sizes), and rec room.  The free showers and laundry room were nice and clean.  The park as a whole was nicely maintained and clean, though some residents seem to be pushing the limits on that on their individual sites.

There's a little store with basic items in the office, as well as a $1 DVD rental.

There's bulk propane on site at $3/gal, and a dump station (free for guests, $10 for non guests).

Good strong free wifi.  Good cell reception here as well.

There are recycling bins here but they don't specify what they allow.  It's just the generic blue toters that say "recycling."

It's near the road and near a TA truck stop, so there's noise from that, but it wasn't obnoxious.

Lots of long termers here, some of them look really settled in.  Sites are really close together.  We didn't have neighbors on either side of us, thank goodness.

With fees, etc our stay was $49 for a water and electric site.  FHU was just a few dollars more, but since the dump is free for guests we went that route and saved a couple of dollars.  Way too expensive but I suppose it's the proximity to Eugene.  We weren't asked about pets when we checked in, there don't seem to be any restrictions or additional fees.