National Forest Camping in Oregon

You could see if Silver Falls State Park has available dates, though it may be more people than you're looking for. A few of the west side National Forest Cascade rivers were burned out in our 2020 fire season.
ADDED: Lake in the Woods Campground on the Umpqua National Forest, 25+ miles from Glide, is a small campground (maybe 14 sites), but you can hike to Yakso Falls and Hemlock Falls from the campground. There's a third waterfall, Grotto Falls, within 15 miles. Further up the road is Hemlock Lake with more primitive campsites, with a great 7-mile Yellow Jacket Glade loop trail; it's also a great fishing lake.

Good suggestion, Leonard. Silver Falls campground is full. Additionally, my husband was there in May. He said it is a lovely area. I think we need to stick with National Forest Campgrounds. They are more likely to have vacancies at this point.

Lake of the Woods area, I saw that its just north of Crater Lake, I'll give it a closer look, thanks!

I'm not a camper so I don't have much help for you there. But if I were, I would probably look around the Oakridge area (it's between hwy 97 and I5 (where it goes through Eugene). I know it's a popular area for camping. A couple of other areas I'd look in are along Hwy 20 maybe around Cascadia or Sweet Home, and along Hwy 22 maybe around the Detroit Lake State Park area (that's a beautiful area). I visit the State Parks and Nat'l Forest in that area for hiking, but not camping.

Camping, hiking near Mt Hood- check out Timothy Lake, Lost Lake, Trillium Lake.
Go hiking in the gorge. Spend the day in Hood River. Go for a bike ride through Mosier Twin Tunnels.
Billy chinook lake is further east. Great for boating.
Off of highway 20 there’s Suttle lake and further up the road is the little town of Sisters has on old western vibe.
Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway is a must! Lots of wonderful lakes.
Newberry National Volcanic Monument features two great camping lakes East Lake and Paulina Lake.
Enjoy your trip! Lots to choose from!

Take a look at Suttle Lake not far from Detroit. We have camped there many times, and we always camped there in the summers growing up.

Twin Lakes "Resort" outside of Bend, as well as Elk Lake are places we have enjoyed.

I also like Lost Lake in Parkdale, especially the walk in sites.

Sherwood campground on 35 is nice.

Have you looked around Trout Lake or Goose Lake, which are actually in WA? We like Goose Lake. but you do need to bring in your own water. Tents only there too, which we like.

We gave up on Timothy Lake as it was chuck full of partiers every time we went.

Clear Lake is a really nice campground we have stayed at outside of Eugene, closer to Sisters, near the McKenzie.

I really appreciate all the great responses and I understand the effort that goes into writing them! Thank you! My husband used to tease me about “my people”, but now he says, “ can you contact your people. . .”

Right now, I’m trying to find campsites along highway 138. (Thanks, Leonard) My husband says he thinks that is the area people call waterfall alley. The issue I’m having is that our dates are over a weekend, plus a fair number of the national forest campgrounds are 1st come. But, I haven’t given up, yet. I could resort to the area north of Crater Lake. They’re pretty far from some of what we want to see on HWY 138, but it’s something:

I appreciate the other suggestions and welcome more.

I know you mentioned Highway 138, but a campground further north, east of the Eugene/Springfield area is Smiling River campground, along the Metolius river (catch and release). Some sites reservable; others not.
Further south, along Highway 66 (close to Crater Lake) is the Union Creek campground. Creek is stocked with trout weekly. Again, some sites reservable; others not.
We’ve camped at both campgrounds. Both meet all your requirements. Both quite primitive.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/umpqua/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=63372&actid=29 This site lists the campgrounds on the Umpqua NF. Those that are not reservable are pretty rustic.
These are on OR-138: Apple Creek, Boulder Flat, Eagle Rock, Horseshoe Bend, Island, Clearwater Falls, and Whitehorse Falls. There's also Susan Creek CG on the federal BLM and just 5 miles paved road off the highway is Steamboat Falls CG.
These are at Diamond Lake: Thielsen View, Diamond Lake, and Broken Arrow. Broken Arrow doesn't usually book up.
These are at Lemolo Lake, about 10 miles paved road off of the highway: Poole Creek, Inlet, and Bunker Hill. These usually don't fill up.

Take a look at www.hipcamp.com . We use them often for tent camping when we don't feel like backpacking. You can use the map to zero in on an area and it will show everything that is available. W

Thank you so much for all the help. Much appreciated. We are going to stay 3 nights at Susan Creek National Forest just off Highway 138. We do have to switch campsites after the 1st night, but we've done it before.

I am still going to look through all your wonderful responses for things we might want to include on this trip and for future trips. With a son in Seattle we get to the PNW frequently. Our itinerary is as follows:

1. Drive from Minnesota over a couple days.
2. Pick up daughter at Portland Airport and drive to Susan Creek Campground for 3 nights
3. Drive to Olallie Campground by Mackenzie Bridge for 3 nights 4 Drive to Mt Hood AirBnB for 5 nights
4. Drive home to Minnesota

I will take any recommendations for unique dive bar/restaurant options, independent coffee shops, craft breweries and great hikes/viewpoints.

Dang everyone is so fast with the answers! You've selected a campground and area I have not done much camping (and I've done a lot!) but Toketee Falls is one of the most iconic waterfalls in Oregon and not too far from where you'll camp. The Umpqua is beautiful so I'm sure you'll have a great time. Don't forget to swing by REI or a ranger station to get a Northwest Forest Pass for parking at trail heads.

Re: the McKenzie portion of your trip, unfortunately the 2020 wildfires were pretty awful up the that way, so you'll need to check availability of things. My favorite part of the McKenzie River trail (I've done almost the entire thing) is the out and back to Tamolitch Falls/Blue Pool. And very crowded in summer, so go early and watch for mountain bikes coming downhill. The hike around Clear Lake (north of your campground) is also lovely, and it's fun to rent a rowboat and go out on the lake. Proxy Falls and Linton Lake hike is a nice little stroll. Belknap Hot Springs lets you walk in and use their pool. Depending on your driving route from the Umpqua, you can also stop at Sahalie Falls on the way up the McKenzie.

As for Mt. Hood area - there are dozens of hiking options, most will be more tolerable mid-week rather than weekends. Check out Mt. Hood Brewing at Government Camp, they use glacier water :)

Hope you have a nice visit!

Wee love the Huckleberry Inn in Government Camp. It is the go to place after hiking for us.

I strongly recommend stopping in at Blue Pool on the McKenzie - but get there early. The place can get very busy and a week day would be better. Paradise Campground on the McKenzie almost always has an open space or two that are non-reservable. Lovely large sites with the sound of the river. Flush toilets and water and we have never had a neighbor issue there. Belknap's secret garden is charming and they may have open tent sites on the river for the reseort. You use one of their many wheelbarrows to haul your gear in. If you are going to be up on Mt. Hood, you could day trip to Hood River which is charming and there's a lot of moderate hiking there. Mosquitos are very bad this year. Plan to Premetherin some clothing and bring DEET. We were just at Diamond Lake and they were thick. I've heard the same about other lakes. There is an Oregon Camping Facebook page.

I appreciate the great information I'm getting. Definitely going to Toketee Falls! We (especially husband) are really into waterfalls. We've added camping at Camp Creek Forest near Government Camp. We will stay there 2 nights before picking up our daughter at the airport. We will definitely try the brewery to see if the glacier water makes a difference. Sounds like the Huckelberry Inn is a must do.

My husband was in the MacKenzie River area this May on a solo camping/photography trip, and he thought it was wonderful in spite of the fire damage. There were a few things he didn't get to, plus, he wants to take us to some of the more stunning sites he saw.

Ugg, Mosquitos. Usually we get mosquito relief when we leave Minnesota. We do have a screen tent that we sometimes use.

You'll be happy with Susan Creek Campground. It is in the middle of the 2020 Archie Creek Fire, but firefighters saved the campground and trees between the highway and the river. There will be plenty of water in the river to bath, maybe too swift to swim. There's a grove of old growth firs you can hike to 1/2 mile west of the CG, between the picnic area and the hiking bridge over the river. If the bridge is open, there's also old growth across the river on the North Umpqua Trail.
Here's a few brochures on the Scenic Highway, the North Umpqua Trail, the North Umpqua River and the waterfalls: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/umpqua/maps-pubs/?cid=stelprdb5374247 Susan Creek Falls can be hiked to from the CG, however the trail is wholly in the burn scar. As is the next waterfall, Fall Creek Falls.
You might check out other campgrounds as you travel up and down the highway. You might find a different campground to move to for the second and third nights.
EDITED: When you get East of Steamboat on the North Umpqua Highway, you'll be out of the burn scar. The Steamboat Inn has great berry pies.

Thank you, Leonard! It has been so helpful to get advice for this vacation from people with so much experience.

For a unique eating establishment if you travel through Crescent on US-97, you might look up the Mohawk Restaurant. Its subtitled "Taxidermy and Avon Bottle Collections". It's under new ownership since October 2022, so I'm guessing the dive aspects of it have been cleaned up, but folks say the taxidermy collection is still there.

Trip follow up--We had a wonderful time. Oregon didn't disappoint.

We started with camping a couple nights at Camp Creek National Forest Campground near Government Camp. We should have known to check, but there was a camp fire ban. So we had hotdogs cooked over the camp stove the first night. My daughter said that method doesn't do vegan hot dogs any favors. The campground was nice and central to our hikes. We did Little ZigZag falls, the hike around Trillium Lake and we hiked the paths from the campground. Mostly we rested from our 2 day drive halfway across the country.

After the Government Camp area we picked up daughter #2 at the Portland airport and made our way south. We stopped for lunch and covered bridges in Cottage Grove, near I5. I became increasingly nervous as we made our way to Susan Creek Campground on Highway 138 near Glide. All the trees were burnt and the smoke from some fire somewhere was thick. It did get better at the campground and west. We had a beautiful site on the river and what a great national forest campground--spotlessly clean showers and flush toilets. We had a little hiccup the next morning when our minivan wouldn't start. We had actually just purchased AAA when we got our International Driver's Permit. IDP was free with membership so we decided to give it a try. I can't recommend AAA more. We didn't have cell service but fortunately there's a land line at the campground. My husband went with the van as it was towed about 40 miles to Roseburg and fortunately the shop kindly moved our car to the top of the queue. No paperwork for the tow, the driver submits it directly to AAA. While husband was gone, the girls and I hiked to Susan Creek Falls. Its a pretty falls but the surrounding area is pretty burnt. As my daughter said, it does give it kind of a surreal feel. Its also interesting to see how the forest starts to regrow after a fire. We found all the waterfalls off of Highway 138. There were some fantastic brochures with directions to each at the campground. Not sure if it's put out with the forest service or a local chamber.

After Susan Creek we headed to the Mckenzie River area. We camped at Olallie with another beautiful site on the river. We hiked to Blue Pool and did the scenic drive. Sahalie Falls and Koosah Falls were spectacular stops. We did a hike to Proxy Falls off the scenic drive. My daughter fell on the Blue Pool hike and injured her wrist. When we got home 2 weeks later and had it xrayed we found out it was broken, oops.

We were able to have campfires in the McKenzie River area and at Susan Creek. Maybe there's nothing left to burn??

From McKenzie River we headed to a VRBO near Hood River and met the rest of the family. We did make a stop for lunch at Trillium Lake. We thought the view was so stunning we wanted our other daughter to see it. While at the VRBO, we did different types of activities given an expecting momma and a 2 and 1.5 year old. We picked berries, pet goats, went to a farmer's market, spent time on the river and visited wineries. Some of us did do a hike to Tamanawas Falls, which is a more frequented hike, but the falls are absolutely stunning.

I appreciate the help from you Oregonians on this post. It allowed me to get this trip together quickly. Oregon is a beautiful state.

Jules thanks for the update and glad you had a good visit. The campfire restrictions are sometimes a mystery even to those of us who camp regularly! I think it depends on the managing entity (BLM vs. forest service vs. county). I'm sorry you saw so much burn area, but that is the sad reality of the past few bad fire years here. And sorry your daughter got injured, I hope she mends quickly.

CL, yes there was a lot of burn area making me feel anxious on the way to Susan Creek. However, the burnt area pretty much stopped at the Susan Creek area. It was obvious that the campground was a priority because everything around the campground was burnt, right up to the border.

Yes, it was a bummer that my daughter broke her wrist but she's a trooper. My husband drove about 30 minutes to a place that had ace bandages. We had her soak it in the icy river water a few times a day and I wrapped it. By the time she got to the orthopedist 2.5 weeks after the fall, he felt that the break though on the slightly complex side, had healed quite a bit. I attribute that to her mother's excellent first aid. ;) But, it all seriousness, had I thought it was broken I would have urged her to go to urgent care or an ER. (She's 26)