Little Crater Lake

Little Crater Lake

Date Visited: July 2013

Location: Mt. Hood Area

Type of Campground:  Forest Service

Reservations: Yes can be reserved online

Description:  This was a pretty forested campground.  It is a small loop of 16 campsites but they are fairly spread out with a few outhouses.  The lake is a tiny beautiful deep blue lake more for enjoying with the eyes then swimming since it is really tiny and soooo cold.  The PCT is a close hike from the campground and so there is lots of exploring to be done by foot.  Timothy Lake is nearby and can be hiked to or driven to. This lake is definitely for swimming and boating with gorgeous views of Mt. Hood.  There is camping there as well and I will have a post about one of the campgrounds that we stayed the next summer. One downside of this campground that I can remember is that there is only one water pump and it is a bit of a walk- so bring large containers to fill up with water.  There was some serious partying going on one of the nights there too - I don't know if that is the norm or if we just hit it on a bad night.

Pros:   Beautiful campground near Mt. Hood, lots of hiking and swimming nearby

Cons: Walk to water, Little Crater Lake is not for swimming (though of course Timothy Lake is nearby)

Hikes Nearby: PCT which heads North to Mt. Hood and South to Timothy Lake.

Hart-tish Campground

Hart-tish Park Campground

Date Visited: July 5-7, 2013

Location: On Applegate Lake near Jacksonville, OR

Type of Campground:  Forest Service

Reservations: All sites reservable (I think)

Description: We planned to head down to see the Michael Franti Kids Concert at the Britt this summer and wanted to camp as well.  There were not a lot of campgrounds that you could make reservations near there so we picked this one and hoped for the best.  When you get to the campground it is a bit confusing because there is a large day use area attached to the campground but follow the signs and you will come to the Hart-ish store in a trailer.  You check-in there and then you pack your gear into these walk-in sites in wheelbarrows which are provided.  Once you get up to the sites-they are gorgeous! The sites are located on a little peninsula overlooking the lake and near the day use area which has a large grassy area and rocky beach.  There were only 9 sites and they are pretty large.  Many of them you can easily fit 2 or 3 tents.  Sites 3,4,6 and 7 are all on the lakeside which are up high and not the best choice for small kids.  Sites 1, 2, and 5 were wonderful -near the lake but not scary.  There were two more sites that I think were not reserveable but were also nice- near the grassy area of the day area.  The RV sites were reserverable and horrible-just parking spaces basically.  The bathrooms and water are both a bit of a hike so keep that in mind.  The beach was rocky, the water was a very comfortable temperature, there were motorboats but they could only go 10 mph and we saw actually very few.  We saw some kayaks and canoes and paddle boards.  The day use area did get pretty busy on the weekend but in the morning and evening it was very quiet.  EDIT:  I also was by this lake September 2015- the reservoir was very very very low so it may be important to check lake levels before planning on camping there.

Pros: Near the Brit Festival, Goregous lake setting, beautiful campsites,

Cons: Some motorboats, pretty decent walk to water and bathroom facilities, day-use area can get pretty busy, poison oak, low lake levels some year.

Hikes Nearby: We didn't get a chance to hike much but there were several hikes around parts of the lake and one up to some famous bigfoot trap which looked interesting.  This lake is also near Squaw Lakes which has a gorgeous walk-in campground.  I will review this at a later date.