A Tale of Two Campsites: Cheaper Forest Campground Near Crater Lake
Just off Highway 97, about 30 miles from the entrance to Crater Lake National Park, you'll come to a wooden sign pointing to two campgrounds. To the right is Collier Memorial State Park, and if you want flush toilets, showers and/or RV hook-ups, that's where you should head. But if you want to pay just $10 and travel 1.5 miles on a gravel road for much larger sites with less facilities, turn left to Williamson River Campground for a great deal.
On Forest Service land, Williamson River has 20 spots well-spaced-out, including at least two pull-throughs. There's a camp host right in the front, a self-service kiosk, and we were able to pull up and grab a spot with no notice in July for a 32-foot RV. There's several water spickets throughout, two pit-toilets that weren't too gross, a day-use area, a short trail down the the Williamson River and a 1.3-mile trail that hooks up with Collier Campground. I'm not sure if there's a per-person or car limit per site, but several of the spaces had 2-3 trailers and several families, so could be a really great deal at $10 plus $4 per extra vehicle for what's essentially a "group" site.
Pros:
- Beautiful country
- Large spaces
- Just $10
Cons:
- Mosquitoes!!!! They were everywhere, especially at dusk.
- No flush toilets or showers.
Tips:
- If you need an RV dump site, head over to Collier, where there's a dump site and water hook-up for free/donation.
- The logging museum back on highway 97 is worth a visit.