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.

This is one of my favorite campgrounds that we’ve come across in OR, it’s very charming & quaint. Perfect place for dog owners as they have the best dog park; it’s actually the community dog park, so they’re always dogs/people there. The sites here are spaced enough so you don’t feel like you’re in a traditional RV park. The hosts are nice, grounds are clean and there’s great opportunities for walking & fishing.

More of a motor home campground, although there were some tents. Nice dog park at entrance. 

Pretty quiet.

Small, convenient campground near Eugene. Large dog park adjacent, which is very convenient when traveling with your four legged friends.

This park has everything! Clean bathrooms, laundry, full hook ups, dog park, river access... all within a 10 minute drive to downtown Eugene! I love this campground.

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.

Loved this park! The campsites were nicely situated so you weren’t right on top of each other and the park was great. There is an off leash dog park and access to the river. The laundry and showers were closed due to COVID but the public restrooms were still open and were just fine. Would definitely stay here again

Located near Eugene, OR, this is one of the few local campgrounds near us.

Open year round and it is usually full year round as well. Reservations are definitely a must for this small campground!

This campground has all the amenities! Full hook up sites, toilets/ showers, laundry, swimming/boat ramp, picnic area, and even a dog park. Wide variety of site sizes and can accommodate most RV sizes. There are also hiking trails nearby.

Close to town so you can easily get forgotten supplies or groceries. Perfect stay for a quick overnight when in town for Ducks games or just getting out of the house!

Definitely recommend checking this one out if your in the area!

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...).

This campground is open and there is no warning in effect. I have no idea why The Dyrt has inaccurate info on this page. I tried to update the listing but there is no option to correct it so I contacted customer service but they said they would not help. The campground definitely is not closed, though, and there is no warning or any other advisory in effect.

As other reviews have stated, this is a great place to stay for a couple nights if you are in the area for a specific reason. It isn’t a great place if you’re just planning to hang out at the campsite. The trail along the river is pretty limited and the sites are close together. The one thing about some of the full hookup pull-through sites that was a huge bummer is the picnic table and fire pit are on the wrong side of your camper. If you want to sit at the picnic table or have a fire at your site, you’re sitting along the main road instead of with your camper in between to give some privacy. I have not seen this at other campgrounds. Probably because most people don’t want to be in the middle of the road when they’re hanging out. Our site was one of the ones like this and we tried sitting out there for a bit one evening but it was just awkward. Not every full hookup pull-through site was like this but a lot of them were so choose wisely if you can.

The camp host is super nice, firewood is available at $5/bundle, and there is a dog park. The dog park is not exclusive to the campground, however, so it’s very busy since it’s public. $35/night for a basic site and $38.50/night for full hookups. There is quite a bit of open grassy area, which was nice to walk the dogs through, but again everything is public so you’re sharing it with day use people or anyone who wants to come in and hang out for a bit. The bathrooms are functional and pretty clean, although the water does not work consistently in the sink in the women’s restroom near the first few sites. There are showers and laundry.

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.

Tent campers beware! The tent sites have cats that roam the area and the world is their litter box. The smells at night were rough. The cats caused dogs to bark all night. People playing loud music throughout the night. Screaming kids and adults all night. People throwing rocks. And again, the smells are awful. Very Overpriced. Go up the road or just find somewhere else. I camp 6-7 times per week for the last few months across the country. This is by far the WORST campground I’ve ever encountered.

Tucked back in the deep forest lays old french pete, everything’s covered in moss and old growth, the camp host was so sweet and was willing to help with anything. The bathrooms were cleaned nightly! The river running behind the campground is beautiful and swimmable.

One night there were 4 of us and one time we woke up to hearing a cougar screaming, it was definitely close by, under 400ft. We managed to go to bed and woke up around 4am by a huge cat running past our heads in the tent. This was approximately June 2021. There are a lot of cougars so beware it traveling with dogs or any animal, keep them inside with you. Definitely a gem.

There seems to be some confusion or mixing of campgrounds in the Dyrt reviews.  There are only two campgrounds at Lava Lake and one at Little Lava Lake which is right next door.  

I did not see any dispersed campsites. However, there is a private campground run by the Lava Lake Resort and you can only make reservations there by phone (541-382-9443).  Their campground is the only one with full hookups, power, water and sewer.  This is also the only dump site in the area and costs $10.  They also have propane, gasoline, showers and a small camp store.

The NFS Lava Lake Campground has nicely spaced sites, but not large parking areas.  They only have 2 or 3 drinking water sources and because they are not threaded you will need a bucket or 'Water Bandit' to fill you fresh water tank.  I saw only 1 or 2 places tent campers could dump their dishwater.  There are no showers, but the vault toilets were exceptionally clean, odorless and well stocked with TP.  We were able to get 1-3 bars on our Verizon phones that took a while to eventually send photos.

We were there mid June, 2021, and the mosquitoes were moderate, but well controlled with repellant.  The lake had a toxic algae bloom and was closed to swimming and pets.  What we really enjoyed were the many trails that were nearby along the Cascade Highway, like Blue Lagoon and Lucky Lake, non of which required advance reservations.