Susan Creek Campground

General: 30-site BLM campground on the North Umpqua River. No hookups. 

Site Quality: All sites are level and paved. An extra-large picnic table, bbq, and fire pit complete the site. You will likely hear the river from all sites but the best sites back up to the river (3-7; 22-30) and sites 4-7 have a view of the river. The sites on the other side of the loop have, while functional, evidence of the wildfires that closed this campground for a while. 

Bathhouse: Brand spanking new in 2022! Five individual shower stalls, and one handicap toilet/sink room in addition to the men’s and women’s bathrooms. The bathrooms had signs indicating they were not currently cleaned up to the Oregon Health Authority, but I thought they were very clean! 

Activities: You can hike the Emerald Trail to the Day Use area which accesses a trail to Susan Creek Falls. Roundtrip from the campground is just short of three miles. Be aware of poison oak all along the trail! In addition, we were warned to be cautious of burned trees/branches/debris falling on us, particularly if it is windy. This was not a problem when we hiked but we were glad to be aware. The North Umpqua Trail runs for miles in either direction from the campground. 

We happened upon this campground by chance after dark four years ago; what has changed is that it is now reservation only. I love the peacefulness of this campground and falling asleep to the sound of the river; it is one of the few campgrounds we have visited that I loved returning to. So happy it re-opened after fire damage!

The tent pads have soft squishy stuff under them. All the sites are groomed. Bathrooms are spotless and always stocked. Camp hosts make their rounds and say hi or chat. This is by far the cleanest I've been to. Lots of hiking trails around this campsite.

A takeout point on the N Umpqua river trail, this is a reservation only campground. However, there is a phone in the campground you can use to make a reservation! I didn’t try it, but I am betting it is a dedicated line so you couldn’t use it to make other calls. The sites next to the river/riverside are really nice even though not all have river views or access. Access trails are steep, users be warned. Even though the campground is next to the highway, the river really drowns out the noise in the day and there are few cars at night. While the showers are temporarily closed due to Covid, the bathrooms are nice and clean and feel new-er. I love that Oregon has put so many sink water disposal units in their campgrounds, really makes a person feel a bit cleaner and safer.