Broken Arrow Campground

Would probably have enjoyed this campground more if it wasn't for the unbelievable mosquito infestation we found there in late June. They were everywhere and they were aggressive. We spent our time in our tent and everyone got bit. I ran my stove long enough to boil some water and by the time I was done there were seven dead mosquitoes by the burner. This made it difficult to enjoy the campground. It might have otherwise been worthy of a 5* rating.

The Broken Arrow Campground is located in the Diamond Lake Recreation Area. Set back from the shore in lodgepole pine forest, at the south end of Diamond Lake, is a quiet, less-hectic playground for golden mantle ground squirrels. This picturesque spot boasts views of both Mount Bailey and Mount Thielsen. The campground features interpretive programs provided in the summer at the amphitheater in addition to the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway. Facilities at the campground include 147 trailer and tent units, tables, fireplaces, running water, flush toilets, showers, garbage bins, gray water sumps, and an RV dump station. The Thielsen View Forest Service Campground with 60 camping units is located on the west shore and the Diamond Lake Forest Service Campground with 238 camping units is on east shore. The area also features the Forest Service South Shore Picnic with 26 single family picnic tables, 10 group picnic tables, a lighted pavilion, barbeques, fire pits, horseshoe pits, a volleyball court, a playground, a bathroom, and a swimming beach. A full service resort operating under special use permit from the Umpqua National Forest including motel units, cabins, a restaurant, a pizza parlor, two grocery stores, a sporting goods shop, a post office, a service station, propane, a Landromat, a swimming beach, boat and mountain bike rentals, moorage, charter fishing, hunting and fishing licenses, and horseback riding stables is also located in the Diamond Lake Recreation Area. Also located in the area is the privately operated Recreational Vehicle park operating under special use permit from the Umpqua National Forest including 160 RV units with full hookups, laundry, shower facilities, and a recreation hall.

First, many of the details in the header for Broken Arrow CG are incorrect. The corrected information is as follows:
Number of sites: 134 (not 118)
Maximum size rig: 50’ (according to the camp host; definitely bigger than the 32’ listed)
Roads and camping pads are asphalt (not gravel)
This lovely campground in the Diamond Lake Recreation Area is one of three NF campgrounds around Diamond Lake. The other two, Thielsen View and Diamond Lake, are right on the lake. Broken Arrow CG is just off the lake but the South Shore Picnic Area, with a swimming beach and boat ramp, is right around the corner. It’s only five miles to the north entrance to Crater Lake National Park, making it the perfect spot to explore the park and the area.

Approximately 60 sites are FCFS with the remainder being reservable. According to the host the CG fills up 3 out of every 5 summer weekends. We arrived early on a Friday afternoon at the end of July and had no trouble finding a site large enough to accommodate our 40’ 5W. The sites are huge and well spaced from adjoining sites. Some sites are ‘singles’ and some are ‘doubles;’ in general the doubles are either twice as wide or twice as long as singles. The singles are $15/night ($7.50 for Senior Pass holders) and the doubles are $20 ($10 for senior pass). Most sites are back-ins but there are also come pull-throughs (like B7 where we were). Bathrooms have electricity and flush toilets, the dump/fill station is easily accessed, there are hot showers, and water spigots are strategically spaced throughout.

A beautiful 11 mile asphalt bike trail encircles Diamond Lake and can be accessed from the
CG. I had a workable Verizon signal on weekdays, not so much on Friday-Sunday. Surprisingly the whole Diamond Lake, Highway 138 area has decent Verizon coverage; there's a tower above the Ranger Station on Highway 138 near Lake Toketee. We ended up spending a full week here instead of the four nights we planned on. The CG was busiest on the first Friday night we were there, but during the week it was very quiet.

Right now there are huge piles of dead wood scattered around the CG and the Diamond Lake area in general with more dead wood yet to be piled up so it’s not looking its best. According to the camp host the wood will be burned during the winter. The NF has been taking down dead trees and thinning the forest. This is one of the few forested CGs we’ve been in that we had no concerns about low hanging tree branches striking our 13’ tall 5W.

Area amenities: Groceries-basically none. There’s a small camp store in the Diamond Lake Marina with very, very basic stuff, mainly microwavable meals; no fresh produce. Post Office, UPS, FedEx-there’s a tiny post office in the Diamond Lake Lodge, where they also receive UPS and FedEx packages. If you’re expecting mail via General Delivery, go in and let the post mistress know. Gas/Diesel-there’s a gas station just north of Diamond Lake Lodge with regular, super, and diesel. South Shore Pizza does a good job and has a decent collection of beer on tap. There’s a restaurant in the Lodge but we didn’t check it out. Visitor Information-there’s a Umpqua Forest Information Center across the street from Diamond Lake CG where we were able to pick up a Motor Vehicle Use Map and brochures with waterfall and hiking information. The Diamond Lake Ranger Office is a beautiful building with maps for sale and detailed trail information, about a 20 mile drive from the CG, on Highway 138. Verizon-On a Thursday I had 5.53 download, 0.07 upload, workable but slow. Early in the morning I was able to stream video. On Friday I couldn’t get my hot spot to connect. Waterfalls-there are over 25 waterfalls within a 30 -45 minute drive.

Crater Lake National Park notes: Through more accident than design, we landed in the area at the right time, late July. The summer season is very short. The rim road was open, we were able to purchase boat tour tickets, and there were no forest fires.

The location can not be beat when a Crater Lake National Park visit is on the agenda. We were able to get a reservation for a Saturday in July only about a week in advance. The spot we were in was extremely close to the main entrance and one of the bathrooms so there was some traffic - vehicle and foot - but it wasn’t bad or disruptive.

The park is very large and it appears most sites are spacious with trees everywhere to help with privacy.

Big plus was running water in the bathrooms. There are also shower facilities which we didn’t use.

Overall, a great campground, close to a bunch of activities!

We pulled in here on a Sunday afternoon and there were only 2 other campers in our loop. I'm guessing the lingering haze from fires contributed to the lack of people. Last check showed 10/14 spaces occupied. Nice, level, asphalt pads with plenty of room between sites. Centrally located restroom facilities, hot showers hear the camp host, a dump station, and potable water availability make this spot pretty nice. Good access to Diamond and Crater Lakes with tons of biking and hiking paths nearby. Will likely go back here next summer, just maybe earlier!

Would I return to Broken Arrow Campground? Absolutely. Overall, the campground is nice.

Let me begin with the positives - which definitely outweigh the negatives:
1) Spacious campsites which will accommodate most, if not all, RVs.
2) Decent separation between campsites, especially for a campground of this size.
3) Awesome location - about 15 minutes from the north entrance of Crater Lake National Park and minutes from the south shore recreation area of Diamond Lake.
4) Free showers with hot water, 24 hours per day.
5) Quiet; very little road noise and other campers were low key and respectful.

The negatives:
1) The showers really needed a cleaning - mildew, algae, and globs of hair in the drain; wear your shower shoes or sandals. I saw a sanitation van one day so I'm guessing that thorough cleaning is not the responsibility of the camp hosts.
2) Poor cell signal, except in the middle of the night. My Verizon showed two bars of LTE, but I had trouble accessing anything (apps/internet).

The bathrooms have flush toilets and running water. Multiple potable water spigots and grey water disposal sites are conveniently situated on each loop.

The nearest gas is a small but rather expensive station near the Diamond Lake Resort (about 6 miles away). Other choices for gas are in Mazama Village, near the southern entrance to Crater Lake National Park (26 miles away); and a choice of Pilot or Chevron on US-97, in Chemult, OR (29 miles away).

If you're lucky, you may hear the local wolf pack howling at night! Very cool!

Enormous campground. We were there in the middle of the week so it wasn't busy but it could be a madhouse if full I imagine. Crater Lake is about 45 minutes away and is lovely (but check to see what's open and what isn't - no boat tours this year and the trail down to the lake was closed when we went).

Enjoyed paddleboarding and swimming at Diamond Lake though. There's a bike trail that goes all the way around the lake, 11.5 miles and pretty easy. Camp host was unbelievably nice and stopped by to give my boys Junior Ranger books and check on us almost every day.

if this is full, there is quite a bit of dispersed camping in the National Forest nearby. Note that this campground is not on the beach, you take a path (recommend biking) to get to the actual lake. There's a boat ramp but you exit the campground to get to it.

I travelled here in a 35’ 5th wheel and stayed in Loop F, #3. It is a no hookup, back in site. And backing in was very difficult for me given the narrow road, the angle the site was off the road and trees that were close to the edge of the site and on the far side of the road cutting down the turning radius I had to work with. In addition, it was uphill to get to the flatter portion of the site. There are many other sites in the park that would be easy for my rig to get into, I just was unlucky in my choice. The road/site is asphalt and has some root heaving in places so drive slowly. The sites are very large and spacious which makes it a great place for families with multiple tents or tent/trailer combos. There was mixed sun and shade so my solar panels were able to keep up during the week. The bathhouse was in bad shape. The shower building also needed maintenance with rotten walls and broken tiles. There was hot water with good pressure though which is most important. Had a weak Verizon signal. I could receive emails early in the morning, but couldn’t always open them. No wifi. Didn’t check OTA channels. There was a picnic table and fire ring. Buy groceries before you go. Also, there is only one gas station with diesel in Diamond Lake. It took about 25 minutes to get to the rim of Crater Lake from the CG. The North Entrance seemed to be much less busy than the west side. I would stay here again if I went back to Crater Lake. Paid $11 with my Sr. Pass.

Hot showers. Wide, paved site with picnic table, fire pit, and surrounded by tall trees. Short walk to beautiful Diamond Lake. Stayed here when visiting Crater Lake National Park. Would come back here again.

This is a great dry camping location. Beautiful. Camp sites are spaced out generously. Potable water spigots throughout campground. Dump station. Bathrooms. Everything needed for a great camping experience. We were a little worried that road noise was going to be an issue, but aside from the occasional obnoxious Harely, there were no issues. The one thing that was unexpected was that the campground is not flat - at least loop A where we stayed. It's build on the side of a hill. The pull through at our specific site even required quite a bit of wheel lift on one side of our rig. If you are prepared, you won't have any issues. There were quite a few mosquitos, but I suspect this may have been due to the time of year in the beginning of July and the proximity to Diamond Lake (immediately across the street). All things considered, I would definitely camp here again. Highly recommended.