Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Umpqua National Forest

My visit to Musick Guard Station in southwestern Oregon was a truly memorable experience. Nestled in the remote Umpqua National Forest, this historic site offers a fascinating glimpse into Oregon's mining past. Built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the guard station and its outbuildings stand as a testament to early fire protection efforts in the Bohemia Mining district. 

Situated atop a forested ridge between Fairview Peak and Grouse Mountain, the location provides breathtaking views and ample opportunities for hiking. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the trails around the station, immersing myself in the serene beauty of the surrounding wilderness. What made my stay even more enjoyable was the ability to listen to music offline, thanks to Spotify MOD. 

In such a remote area with limited internet access, having offline access to my favorite songs enhanced my hiking experience. It allowed me to relax and unwind amidst nature while enjoying my preferred music tracks. The Musick Guard Station itself offers a unique lodging experience, steeped in history and surrounded by tranquility. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it serves not only as a cozy retreat but also as a gateway to outdoor adventures. 

Whether you're interested in history, hiking, or simply seeking a peaceful escape, Musick Guard Station in the Umpqua National Forest is an ideal destination. I highly recommend visiting Musick Guard Station for anyone looking to reconnect with nature and history while enjoying modern comforts like offline music streaming with Spotify MOD. It's a place where past and present converge, offering a truly unforgettable retreat in Oregon's wilderness.

Owners are very kind and welcoming. Helped us back into our site. Sites are large enough to park vehicle next to camper. Picnic area is on cement. Roads in good shape. Very clean and organized. River is right by campground and you can walk by it. Nice dog park. Would stay again.

I mean I guess if you are the power boating type this is your jam too, lots of people in the lake and marina - I found the lake to be dirty (but felt good as it was 106 degrees that day) and the swimming area just a tiny span of gravelly rocks and mud. 🤷🏼‍♀️ The campground itself is pretty poorly run, nobody checked me in or made sure I had a hang tag and had paid (I did not, so I could have been anybody, I didn’t preregister my vehicle) every staff member had a sour look on their face, did not seem to be enjoying the job and not one of them was wearing a mask. The bathrooms were disgusting, I’ve had cleaner experiences at dispersed campsites, a toilet was plugged literally the entire time I was there (3nights) and waste was filled to the brim. The lawn sprinklers were going all night and one kept hitting my tent and startling me. I would not stay here again. Pluses : for families, I bet this is a fun place. Huge dog park area, badminton set, playground. Sites are huge, people had half a dozen tents in one site. Nice shady spots easily found. (I was in D) showers go forever without having to push a button and have great pressure. And....the miles of biking and hiking trails are great! I walked halfway around the lake and it really was so beautiful and peaceful. Not a great home base for a solo wilderness adventure, but again, families with powerboats seemed to be having a good time.

Ive been here throughout the year at different times for many years and experienced a lot of mosquitoes and interesting transient people. Bring spray and long sleeves. They are worse near the water but spray keeps them away. :) You will meet some good people and not so good. Most will drive in after dark waking you up in the middle of the night then leave before light without paying but the few that stay have a story. A few incidents experienced would be Domestic violence, (that was scary) cats let out of trailers to hunt all over the park where you wake up with dead mice all over your camp site. Car alarms that wont stop and people walking through sites when residence are not present. Women changing in the open completely naked. (Cool but I have young kids 😱) Feels safe during the day and is beautiful but at night keep your stuff locked up and be open minded 😂 Worth it if your a people person and love nature.

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I have the distinct pleasure to tryout and review gear from great outdoor companies. This is my ranger review of the Primus Lite+ backpacking stove kit at Rujada campground in Oregon.

Campground review

Rujada is smaller campground located just south-east of Cottage Grove, Oregon; up Bryce creek rd.

This is a nice, well-maintained campground right on Layng Creek, in a heavily wooded area. It offers 15 campsites, some of which can be reserved online and others are first come, first served. The sites are quite unique to each other, some offering privacy, some larger and open, and a couple just off the "Swordfern trail" next to the creek. You can hear the creek's small waterfall from most of the sites, and there is even a couple of spots on the creek to take a dip; if you wish.

The "Swordfern trail" starts at the day use area; where you can find a large ball field, horseshoe pits and a tiny playground. The trail continues into the forest following the creek, until it takes a big bend back around to the campground. It is an easy to moderate 2 or so miles, that I feel is family and dog friendly, as the grounds allows pets. If you want bigger hiking payoffs, just up the road approx. 6 miles, you can find "Pinard", "Moon", and "Spirit falls". Each are around 2 easy hiking miles and worth hitting, you can easily do all three in one day. I highly recommend these falls as they are some of the better, lesser known falls in Oregon.

As for amenities; Rujada has two restroom facilities, one pit and one gender-specific flush, with sinks, located nearby the day use area. They also have trash service, recycling, water bibs and dish water troughs. There are no r.v. specific sites, so no power or sewer hookups. Each site also offers the expected firepit rings as well as awesome picnic tables made from big timbers from back in the day.`

I liked this campground overall for its small size and more primitive nature, I will return and use it for a good jumpoff point for the many beautiful hikes nearby.

Product review

Primus Lite +

https://primus.us/products/eta-lite-7?variant=17262691525

The Primus Lite+ is a great, light and well built integrated backpacking stove/pot kit from the makers of the original soot free kerosene stove back in 1892. These stoves have come a long way, now offering auto start piezo igniters, no need for manually lighting with a match.

The integrated pot system is attached with a grasp on the neoprene surround and a twist. No need to worry about your pot falling off while boiling water. If you would rather use your ol' trusty pot or kettle; it does have 3 small pegs that can be screwed into the burner to better balance your cookware. These pegs also attach to the pots strap and are at hand anytime. For more stability it also comes with two more options, one is an included tripod stand that fits 3 size fuel bottles. The other is a sweet, included hanging lanyard, so if you can't find a suitable surface, you can hang it from a nearby branch.

If you purchase the smallest size fuel canister, all items(less the tripod) will fit into the integrated pot, taking up the least amount of space possible in your pack.

This unit burns very hot, as the flame is concentrated directly on the pot and is not very adjustable. It does boil water very quickly though, 3-4 min. depending on conditions. I do feel that it might not be the best unit for cooking food as I could see it easily burning the food to the bottom. I might try rice or soup, just keep an eye on it. It is a perfect setup for making Mountain house meals and I love it for my coffee.

My only criticism would be the pouring spout, or lack thereof. The cap has a hole for pouring with two alongside to allow for airflow. My problem, which may be user error, is most times I'm pouring, the water spills down the side of the pot. I tried to pour quicker, or slower, at an angle, and almost always have this problem. It is getting better each time I try, so hopefully I can solve this soon.

All and all a great unit and does all that would be expected from this type of system, with some cool unique features. I recommend this to any backpacker or even the casual camper.

Water is not safe for dogs kids or swimming. Major mosquitos. See Poole Creek review. Same story.

Father’s Day weekend our small group of 4 plus a dog stayed in site 32. We chose this location for a few reasons.

• We could see the lake from our site.
• We could leave our kayaks on the shore and just hop right in and paddle if we wanted.
• Our dog loves to swim, so having a relatively private place for him to swim off leash was desired.
• Easy access to the trail (this time the bridge was down, so we could not venture).

We enjoyed our stay, for the most part. The site across from us was loud until the early hours of the morning, openly drinking and using drugs, and were just all around disrespectful. They were kicked out (thankfully) and the hosts were very helpful and quick to act in times of need.

I will say, that I will never stay at site 32 again. Many visitors to this site felt that because we were right next to the trail head (that they did not know was inaccessible) they could just walk directly though our site. We have a dog who has PTSD, so having people walk through our camp just because they felt like it was extremely stressful.

The sun rose across the lake which was extremely beautiful.

Love Baker Bay as a whole, the people who stay there are a whole other matter.

Cheap site but no hookups for RV. Water is avail throughout the place but you better have a water bandit as there are no threads on the spigots. Tons, I mean TONS of mosquitoes. Major blue green algae blooms going on in the water, so it's not even safe for your dogs kids or old folks. Hard pass next time I'm invited here TBH.

Good space between sites. They were working on getting some of the grass to grow back, so some sites might have more grass than the little we had when we were there. Friendly hosts. Dog area not completely fenced in, and basically just dirt, but it was fine. It was a quiet and peaceful stay.

Even fishing if you're interested. We tried boondocking in 2 spots close by, but couldn't keep our batteries charged. Otherwise, the casino has a dry lot with a 5 day limit for free, and there's a rest stop across I5 that is free too, and has a dog run. $29/n. for full hookup.