Williamson River Campground

The campground offers three tent sites, seven tent / RV sites and three picnic sites. Amenities include hand pumped water and accessible restrooms. There is a fee for use of the campground and sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Although you need only to drive 1 1/2 miles on a dirt washboard road from Hwy 97, this beautiful US Forest Campground is pretty isolated. There are only 20 campsites and most of them were empty during our visit in August, Sites are huge and can easily accommodate a large diesel pusher or fifth wheel. The Fremont-Winema National Forest offers a setting of classic western beauty derived from the land's volcanic legacy. With over 2.3 million acres of forests, this campground proves a safe haven for any camper looking to get away from the crowds and norm.

The campground, situated in one big loop, is heavily wooded and each site offers something not normally found in a public campground...solitude and privacy. Water is available on the loop and vault toilets were very clean. The regular $10.00 fee was only $5.00 with a National Parks Senior Pass...a 50% savings...I love that pass! Close by is the Williamson River and miles of isolated hiking trails. Dump station at Collier State Park on Hwy 97.

Nearby Collier State Park is where most folks want to go but this NFS campground just a mile or two away is no slouch. Located near the Williamson River and nestled in a Ponderosa Pine forest it is a nice, relaxing spot to hang out for a few days. The campsites are spacious and relatively far apart.

It's a 2 mile gravel road of the washboard variety into the camp but I've been on worse though so I shouldn't complain.

I arrived in mid-May and although I was expecting to pay the usual $10 per night fee, it was actually "free with limited services." That pretty much meant that the water was still off for the winter. I believe the "full service season" runs from May 15 to October 15. Either way it's a bargain.

One minor quibble: My quiet Saturday morning was punctuated with sounds of gunfire and chainsaws. Not nearly as pastoral as the sound of wind in the trees that I experienced the other days!

The only other downside was a fair amount of mosquitoes - especially considering we were still in spring weather with temps falling to around freezing at night.

First, let me get the only minor negatives out of the way. The 1.5 mile dirt entrance road is washboarded badly enough to make it unpleasant to drive a motorhome on, and there is some distant train & highway noise occasionally. That said, the road is probably enough of a barrier to entry that many people might skip this spot, making it less crowded. All the better for those of us willing to deal with it, as the place is peaceful and very quiet, except for the aforementioned train and traffic sounds, which really are no bother, as they're just not that close, loud or frequent. For all intents and purposes, this place feels every bit like you're camping in the middle of nowhere.

The amount of space between the sites is excellent, and the forest is lovely. There are plenty of sites large enough for big rigs, including our 43' motorhome and toad, with plenty of space to spare. There are a couple of very large pull-throughs (one of which we stayed in), but mostly back-ins. Unlike many forested campgrounds, it's open enough to allow for plenty of warming sunshine. Our solar panels have been pumping out the juice virtually the entire day every sunny day. Of course some sites are shadier than others, with some enveloped in the trees.

The peaceful river is just a short walk through the woods and the picnic tables, fire rings, and vault toilets are all in great shape and pretty well-maintained. Getting ready for the upcoming high season, the forest service crew came through while we were here, checking and repairing picnic tables in unoccupied sites.

Speaking of "upcoming" high season, we arrived here on May 16, to find the iron ranger (pay station) covered for the season, and no sign of any type on the board regarding payment. The nightly fee we've heard about is not in effect during the off-season, so our wonderful 5-night stay was free.

We drove south in the car one day to spend the day in Klamath Falls, and north another day to visit Crater Lake National Park (an absolute MUST-SEE for anyone coming to this part of the world). This campground is convenient to both places.

We would stay here again in a minute, and will keep it on our list of places to return to. The only reason we gave anything less than 5 stars in any category was the rough road and slight noise, as mentioned. Really, the noise is nothing, and the road keeps the campground very lightly used, at least while we were here, so it's actually a plus. With so few big-rig friendly campgrounds in the national forests, us oversize types consider this a real find.

Most of the other reviewers covered the pros and cons well, we just wanted to add current cell reception, since it had been over a year since someone reviewed this campground.

We had planned to stay at Collier State Park Campground, we even had reservations. However, after driving through it, we decided it was way too crowded and it seemed everyone had a campfire going which meant the campground was covered in a cloud of smoke.

Williamson River was thankfully right next to Collier State Park. It is a nice cozy campground with much more space between sites. During the "season" it costs $10 a night. There are vault toilets and water spigots several places in the small campground. There were some mosquitoes in the morning and the evening, but that seems to be an issue almost everywhere we have camped this month (June 2017).

Collier State Park does have better cell reception, but we still had some at Williamson River.

Verizon - 2 bars LTE - 12 Mb download, 1.62 MB upload
AT&T Mobley - 2 bars LTE - 7.38 MB download, 1.82 upload
T-Mobile - No Service

Unless you need hookups, Williamson River NFS campground is an excellent alternative to the popular Collier Memorial State Park right next door. We’ve stayed at Collier before, but decided this trip to check out Williamson River and we’re so glad we did! There was some washboarding on the gravel road mentioned in other reviews but it wasn't too bad, just very dusty.

The sites are very spacious – nearly every space in the campground could easily accommodate our 33' motorhome. Better yet, they are well separated with plenty of vegetation for privacy. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. There are no hookups, but there are water spigots throughout the campground, pit toilets, and garbage service.

This campground is a little further away from the river than Collier, so you’ll need to go to the day-use area to access the water. There is a trail running through the woods and along the river which connects the two campgrounds and the Logging Museum, which is well worth a visit.

Mid-week the campground was nearly deserted which made it seem even more secluded. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and will made this our go-to spot when staying in the area.

Just FYI – when we visited in mid-July 2017 signs were posted on the all water spigots to boil, filter, or treat it before drinking.

We had 3 bars of Verizon 4G unboosted.

This campground was our Plan B for this trip, a five-day boondocker we have been planning for awhile. Our first choice was smoked out (wildfire just to the west) and very buggy, so we came here. A little smoky, bugs were not bad, and plenty of spaces even arriving on a Friday afternoon. Good spacing between sites, although there were sightlines, and large and fairly level pull ins. There was one pull through that we saw. The road in was dusty and washboarded, but nothing that a slow pace could not deal with. Vault toilets were clean, water was good, and the chipmunks are bold! Put away your food, or it will be gone! Great base from which to explore the Williamson River, Crater Lake, and the headwaters of the Wood River.

We stayed a week, next door, at Collier Memorial State Park which was amazing but Collier was booked solid for the Memorial Day Weekend so Plan B.

We woke early Friday morning and quickly packed up and headed over to Williamson River Campground expecting it to fill up quickly. To our surprise there were only 2 sites taken and about 4 more campers arrived on Saturday during the holiday weekend. We pretty much had the campground to ourselves and loved it.

Both parks are connected with a series of trails so you still have access to the stream and the logging museum; its just about 1.25 miles further when you're at Williamson River. (See our review for Collier State Park on Campendium as well).

Although strictly dry camping the campground does offer pit toilets, water spigots and trash containers. We saw the park ranger come through at least twice checking the garbage cans and cleaning the toilets.

The camp host was a very friendly gentlemen and we really enjoyed visiting with him.

As others have commented, the road in was a bit dusty and wash-boarded but don't let that deter you. Take your time getting down the road and you'll be richly rewarded with a beautiful and secluded US Forest Service campground for only ten bucks a night. If it weren't for the road this would be a 5 star review.

Just like the State Park next door,cell service was a little slow but we were able to use our WeBoost booster to work and stream without any issues.

Next time we visit the area Williamson River Campground will be our Plan A.

Wow!! Don’t be intimidated by the washboard access road - just drive slowly and you will be rewarded.
20 sites but there will almost always be an available spot (per the camp host).
Not all sites will fit big rigs but about half will.
Our 36ft class A did fine! We found a spot with some sun to let our solar panels work for us :)
Gorgeous, clean, quiet - just the way we like it.
Oh and super level sites!
(Cell coverage shown below is boosted)

This place is a hidden gem. Very affordable, inexpensive and clean. A great location to explore this part of Oregon from.