Black Canyon Campground - Willamette NF

This is a HUGE campground. Every site is gorgeous, lots of forest in between so you have privacy. All of the best spots along the river with a view are first come first serve.

This is our second time staying here and I loved it even more this time. We arrived on a Thursday and were able to get Site 26 which I think is the best site in the whole campground. It backs up to the river and is almost totally private. We could barely see our neighbors over at site 27 but couldn't see our neighbors on the other side at all because there is so much forest between those two sites.

Some sites here are reservable and some are not. We did not have a reservation. While it did fill in on Friday and Saturday it was definitely not full and there were still good waterfront sites available all weekend.

The pit toilets were the cleanest ones I have ever been in and the camp host was super nice and had wood available to buy.

We drove about 5 minutes down the road to the Hardesty Trailhead and did some awesome hikes during the day before coming back to the campground to cool off by the river.

I have AT&T and there was no cell service at the campground but there was about 5 minutes down the road as you are heading back towards Eugene (or the trailhead).

Looked like a decent campground, would have been great and had direct river access. Saw bathrooms but didn’t see showers. No service.

Gates were locked, billboard with fee area was empty with no explanation or hours. Saw one truck & RV parked behind a gate . Maybe closed for the season?

Looked lush but closed. Also, no cell service.

We stayed at Black Canyon Campground for one night en route to Crater Lake.  It's a pretty campground with 75 sites nestled between Highway 58 and the middle fork of the Willamette River in the Willamette National Forest near Oakridge.  Since we stayed in October, most sites were available and we chose site #44, which was nice and level.  Though we could hear a little traffic from the highway, we could also hear the river and enjoyed the river access trail at the back of the site.

Not the place to take a big motorhome and no cell service but nice if you want to tent camp in the woods

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.

We just happened to stop at this campground and I'm so glad we discovered it! Because we arrived on a Sunday we had almost the entire campground to choose from. I believe sites 24-30, 33, 35-39 are all on the river side which are great. 

We ended up at site 27 which I think may have technically been a walk in site. We were able to get the Cricket parked at a good angle and then could just walk the 10 feet into the site which was totally private. Lots of space, with bushes all around and an area that is clearly made for a tent. The best part is that beyond the fence is a short private walk from the site down to the river. Absolutely beautiful spot to park our chairs and drink some wine. 

The campground seemed pretty big but I think the sites near the river are the best, not only because of the river views but because you can't hear the road noise, which you can hear from other parts of the campground. 

Another thing about the campground…there is a train track directly across from the river. The train went by around 4 or 5 times in the 24 hours that we were there, at least once in the middle of the night. I personally LOVED that. I love the sound of trains and I loved sitting at the river watching them go by.

We love this campground. We’ve only tent camped here. The site we’ve always stayed at is huge, way far from any other sites, and has a neat little trail between the parking spot and camping spot. The river is a short walk away and has wonderful spots for the kids to play in away from the main channel. The one downside is the train that goes during the night across the river, but we were usually tired enough it didn’t bother us too much. We’ve since moved away from Oregon but will always remember this spot fondly and will camp there anytime we can when we’re back in Oregon!

We originally booked a reserved site at the campground. These slots are all in the center of the campground. The spot was nice but located about 200 ft from riverfront first come first serve sites so we packed up and moved there. Site manager said paying for these was different and we had to pay again. That sucks. Don’t reserve a site here. Pros: Our site was great with a trail down to the river and a rocky beach. Fire pit, table, tent site. It had all the standards. We were lucky to have a fresh water station across the road from us. Bathrooms were adequate. Cons: The train tracks are literally across the river. Maybe 200 ft away. The train runs all day and sadly all night. If you fall asleep easily to the sound of a train horn and train cars along a track then you’ll love it here. If you sleep lightly or generally dislike train sounds, good luck sleeping. Our “neighbors” told us they had moved to the river site because at the other end of the campground road noise was louder than the all night train noise. Summary:

If you stay here it will be beautiful and the river is great but might want to bring earplugs. Fortunately you won’t need to bring your sounds of the train yard sleeping CD with you to lull you asleep at night.

This is a good campground if you are traveling between the Portland area and Crater Lake and want to stop half way. It is a very large campground located between the Highway and the River. There is road noise as well as train noise that is across the river, but didn't notice either in the early hours of the morning. The spot I was in was good size, had very little shade, and was a distance from the toilets and water. There was a nice access ramp to the river, as well as additional parking near the ramp. Not a campground I would travel to stay in from the Portland area but would stay again if I was headed to Southern Oregon and needed to stop.

Overall a good campground. Sites on the river are spectacular. Other sites are mostly small or have issues with road noise. Plan on reserving a site on the river if possible. They do not disappoint!

I really liked this campground. I really enjoyed our 3 days here and the dogs loved swimming in the river. There are nice trails running through this campground. It was nice and quiet and plenty of space and privacy from your neighbors. Next time I stay here I would pick a different site since the one we were in wasn't good for hammock camping and we had to set up two tents instead of one. The site was small and parking was tight for two vehicle.

The access to the water was nice and so were the park hosts. They gave us free passes to see the beach up the road - but it was dried up and probably was for years. Strange they gave us the passes. There are some hikes around but you have to drive to them. The toilets are the vault toilets and there are no sinks/showers. Not a bad experience but if I'm already car camping I like nicer amenities. We stayed in the group camping area and it wasn't bad. More privacy than normal group sites since everyone had their own site on the loop. Some road noise. It wasn't a bad place, just not somewhere I would make a special trip to camp at.