Best Campgrounds near Unity, OR

We've never camped here, mainly because we live nearby.  Yes, it is windy here, great for windsurfers.  

The directions offered are a little off.  From North Powder Hwy 237, you will turn right on Government Gulch Road.  When you get to the RR crossing, turn right, cross the tracks onto Telocaset Lane.  

You can get there from the other side too.  Stop at Pondosa Store for a little local history and some snacks.  From Hwy 203 near Medical Springs, you go West on Telocaset Lane to Thief Valley Reservoir.

Conveniently located off the highway if you are traveling.

The spots are pretty close together, A and C loops are very open with no privacy. The B loop has some trees and bushes between the sites which makes it a little more inviting. The A loop is the closest to the road.

We had reserved a spot in C loop with a view of the water but it was so windy when we got there the site was not very comfortable. The camp host graciously let us move up to B loop, since it wasn’t very busy mid-week. Thank goodness we did, it was the windiest night I’ve ever experienced camping.

Sites have electric and water. They have dishwashing water waste stations conveniently thought the campground. The showers are free, had one cold because the water would not warm up. But the men’s shower room had warm showers after a bit of time to heat up.

The bathrooms and showers were clean.

Only the Brownlee loop was open in mid-March. There were plenty of sites to choose from with great views of the river. The water was of at sites, but the sites and bathrooms were good.

Nice campground, clean bathrooms and showers.Friendly people beautiful views. Website for reservations was difficult. You seem to have some glitches

We have stayed many times and loved it. But now the place had about seven campers. Most sites had reserved stickers on them . The few remaining had signs say check on line. Our cellular service was too weak to check on line sadly. All the best riverfront sites over by the huts said reserved which I believe translates to out of service. There's normally electricity, water and a picnic table at these sites. A fire swept by the boundary of the park and partly through it to the river.

There are a few spots and spurs off NF-6510 that would make for good boondocking. Might be hard to get level, but other than that it’s pretty nice. The spot on the map has a stone fire ring. There are a few spots before and after that would be suitable to setup camp as well.

I got to the spot marked on the map in my extended Transit, but I’m sure road conditions may change with the seasons, storms; etc. Depending on your comfort, you may only want to head this way with high-clearance vehicle.

Great little dispersed spot with a clean outhouse.

There looks to be 4 sites in the trees, but if you keep driving down it’ll take you towards the lake, which is where I camped. Wide open, great sunset views! The lake is dammed, so I assume the water levels vary, but when I was there, there was room for a few more vehicles down by the water. Careful going too far, as some tire tracks looked to have maybe gotten stuck in mud by venturing too far out. 😂

Great spot, would definitely return!

This review is based on an overnight or short stay versus destination campground (CG). Our GPS took us right into this CG. Check-in was easy and we headed to pull through site 118 with FHUs. The pad was plenty long enough for our 40’ 5th wheel and our F450. The utilities were in the middle of the pad, which made it nice for our one-night stay. As the water pressure here is around 100 psi, you need to use a reducer. Sites are close to one another but you still have a grass yard with some separation. We stayed here back in 2019 and not much had changed. They added a small fenced dog area inside the CG. They still have the field behind the park where you go out a gate into a small industrial area. There’s a poop bag dispenser and trashcan. Happily, people were picking up after their dogs. There were a mix of overnighters to long-stay residents and the CG did not have trashy sites. We could not get the CG Wifi to connect, but we did have 2 bars on Verizon. The CG has cable but we did not use it as we were able to stream on our Verizon MiFi. There are a lot of mature trees so satellite could be iffy depending on your site. They have a nice little store with sundry and gift items. Across the street from the office/store is a nice laundry facility. We again enjoyed our time here.

We planned to stop here on a let of our trip and found the park closed. Their website explains that there is an issue with the water system. Check their website before heading out there.

This is always such a great place to stop when traveling between Idaho and western Oregon. It has lots of shade, lawn, and hedges that offer privacy between the large camp sites. Super clean showers and restrooms, dog friendly, and a nice trail to walk along next to the river. Yes, the sites closer to the road are noisier due to traffic, while the ones closer to the river are the buggiest in the summer, but if you want hook ups, easy access, and an RV dump and don't mind paying for all these amenities, this is the place. We stayed in site 9, which has a super long paved and level driveway giving you lots of peace and quiet.

We spent one night here in July 2024.  Did not feel crowded.  Showers were hot.  Bathrooms were ok.  Very quiet even though it was close to highway.

We were surprised how quiet this state park was during our visit. Very clean and beautiful green grass through campground. Enjoyed the river trail along the John Day river. Perfect to cool off in during the hot summer months. Mosquitoes definitely come out at night and we were tent camping. A little highway noise at night but not bad.

This is a basic campground but it sits on a nice lake. There were forest fires burning in the distance so I didn’t have the best timing. That being said, I think it is a good place to stay in the area for a night or two. It was quiet, easily accessible, and reasonably maintained. It would not be a destination for me, but I’d stay there again