W
H
U
F
U
2023

Spots in Oregon

map viewlist view

  • Humbug Mountain State Park
  • Oregon State Parks, Port Orford OR
  • Driven past many times, finally stopping! Good news: It's in a lush, peaceful crevice in the mountains along a little burbling stream which opens onto a driftwood-strewn beach 1/2 mile away. Bad news: US 101, also runs through the same narrow crevice so you rarely hear the burbling stream. You hear semis rocketing past 40 yards away all night. In the summer, you can camp in the Lower Loop, 600 yds from the beach. In the winter you have to walk (or bike!) an extra mile from the Upper Loop.

  • Summer Lake Hot Springs
  • private business Summer Lake OR
  • no assigned sites, just a big field. hot springs are in an old barn-like structure, very pleasant

  • Copperfield Campground
  • Idaho Power, Oxbow OR
  • Right on the Snake River below the Oxbow Dam. On the Oregon side of the river, but run by Idaho Power. Grassy and pleasant and remote.

  • Whittaker Creek
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Florence OR
  • pleasant, quiet campground. off the road across a little bridge, on the creek.

  • Harris Beach State Park
  • Oregon State Parks, Brookings OR
  • deluxe state park. Almost close enough to walk to town, beach and tidepools and trees and grass, pretty much everything

  • Old Town Inn
  • private business Florence OR
  • quiet and pleasant, easy walk to the very cool old bridge and old Florence

  • Cape Perpetua Campground
  • Siuslaw National Forest, Florence OR
  • lovely spot in the valley beneath the cape. Lots of little hikes, and the rocky coast.

  • Elkhorn Valley Campground
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Mill City OR
  • pretty far off the highway. Deluxe as BLM CGs go. North Santiam River is pleasant to swim in. Little red recycling boxes everywhere.

  • Memaloose State Park
  • Oregon State Parks, Rowena OR
  • On a gentle downslope between I-84 and the railroad tracks and then the mighty Columbia River, between Hood River and The Dalles. They have a ton of tent sites (80-ish?), so I easily got a nice spot at 4 PM on Fourth of July Friday - woo! Downhill I can see the river between the trees, and hear the train when it comes through, and uphill is the constant sound of the interstate - as regular and monotonous as the Pacific surf I tell myself :)

  • Castle Rock Campground
  • Suislaw National Forest, Hebo OR
  • nice simple little tents only campground - that is to say, a parking lot, a grassy field, and a pit toilet. There's a little spur in the parking lot where one can park a van away from the picnickers and have a little privacy.

  • Sunset Cove Campground
  • Deschutes National Forest, Crescent OR
  • Small campground on a little strip of hillside between beautiful Odell Lake and busy Route 58, the through-fare between Eugene and the interior. There's a nice boat launch, fish-cleaning station, some pull-through sites - all the amenities for your grizzled old fisher-dude. Site 15 is a not quite level site facing right on the lake (down a 40' embankment). No sounds but the lapping of the waves and the wind in the trees ... and the semis on Route 58. It faces west. Sunset reflected off the lake and through the trees is spectacular. This would be a perfect place to launch a kayak.

  • Vagabond Lodge
  • private business Hood River OR
  • cool place, low price rooms near the road, fancy rooms facing river in other bldg 100 years away

  • Jackson Wellspring
  • private business Ashland OR
  • right outside Ashland, dusty little hippie place near the fancy Lithia Hot Springs Resort. The pools were excellent and clean, as was the pavilion area with wifi and electrical outlets. But the rest of the place was third world and had a weird vibe.

  • Waxmyrtle Campground
  • Oregon Dunes, Suislaw National Forest, Florence OR
  • very restful and quiet, in the piney woods near the dunes. Actually, now I can hear the off-road vehicles in the distance, still restful though. The walk along the river bluff is very nice.

  • Cutsforth Park Campground
  • Morrow County OR, Custfield
  • Rather primitive county park in the depths of a vast forest with few services.

  • Saddle Mountain Campground
  • Oregon State Parks, Elsie OR
  • Seven long winding uphill miles off busy Route 26. Nice when you get here though. A parking lot, bathrooms, and short walks to eleven spots with a picnic table, a fire ring (barred from use - fire danger) and a tent space. That's the whole thing. What people come here for is the 2 mile, 1,640' hike to the top of Saddle Mountain.

  • Boice Floras Lake Campground
  • Curry County OR, Langlois OR
  • Real name is Boice Cope Campground, but that hides its coolest feature, that it's on a sweet little freshwater lake! Site T-2 also looks awesome. Turns out you can park on the grass. This place is crazy popular with kiteboarders and windsurfers, of which there are many in Oregon. Floras Lake is a pretty little jewel of a freshwater lake separated from the Pacific by just one little sand dune. Crowded though the place is, I am angled away from it all pointing at the lake so I can pretend I'm all by myself.

  • Sisters Campground
  • private business Sisters OR
  • handy city-run campground, easy to walk to everything in town.

  • Patrick Creek Campground
  • Smith River Recreation Area, Cave Junction OR
  • Small campground on the busy road from Crescent City to Grants Pass. Quaint lodge a few hundred yards away with breakfast and even a bar!

  • Marion Forks Campground
  • Willamette National Forest, Detroit OR
  • Glad I stopped here, really nice campground at a cool place, behind a State of Oregon trout hatchery. The campground is pretty deluxe, there are heavy wooden fences lining the roadway and each campsite, I guess to clearly delimit where people should walk and where they shouldn't. So the forest ares are pretty pristine. The campground is either new or recently renovated. The hatchery has been around for a while.

  • Sutton Campground
  • Suislaw National Forest, Florence OR
  • Nice clean bathroom, no shower, near 101 but quiet, 20 yards out of the campground you're in the sand dunes