Pamelia Lake

I lived in Oregon for a couple years as a kid and my family got big into backpacking. One of our family favorites was Pamelia Lake. The trail is gentle and the basin the lake is in has great mountain ranges surrounding. As an adult it was only right that this was my first place to solo. I spent a little over 3 days hiking around the area. This is a great place that has many trails of varying difficulties nearby.

We decided to hike to Pamelia lake as a labor day backpacking trip, and this trip did not disappoint! One of our friends was a beginner, so we decided to tailor the trip to his experience. This hike-in dispersed campsite was easy to get to, about 2.4 miles one-way from the parking lot. We setup our basecamp right by Pamelia lake and was able to do day hikes from there. We summited Grizzly Peak and saw beautiful views of Mount Jefferson.

Sites were very spacious, we could have easily fit 8 people at our site. Since the hike in was relatively easy, we felt comfortable bringing some camping luxuries like a backpacking chair and hammocks. Be sure to bring your own water filter! The best place to access water was about 0.4 miles away from our site; there is a main stream that feeds into Pamelia Lake. The ranger we spoke to advised us against getting water from the lake or the river we passed on the hike-in due to the algae bloom. We were easily able to access water the entire time we were there.

One big thing to note about this campsite is that permits are awarded via lottery. We were lucky enough to snag a permit the week before and we were very glad we did since we were asked to show proof of our permit twice during the 4 days we were staying there.

Hiked here and around and up Grizzly Mountain but looking forward to staying here this summer.

This is a hike in only spot (3miles) and special permits are required but it is a beautiful lake with great fishing. Sites are first come first served but there are several established campsites around the lake complete with fire pits and lake views. Summit Grizzly peak for an epic view of the lake and mount Jefferson. Mosquitos are abundant June-July. No amenities, bring or filter your own water and pack out all your trash.