Little Crater Campground

We stayed here over the weekend (July 17 - 19, 2015) with 2 other couples. We booked camp site 35 and 36, which were two great spots for a group of 1 travel trailer and two tents.

We had Site #35 back-in for our 25 foot Airstream, it was not an ideal spot, as we had a bit of a lopsided pad but we made it work. The campground site indicates that all sites are 30 feet pads but there were many which we thought were definitely much bigger and pull-through. We'll probably book one of those next time.

You have direct access to the lake. The boys went off and did the Crater Rim mtn. bike trail from Paulina Peak and the ladies did the 7-mile hike with our dogs. It was a nice hike and fun to stop off and go swimming for a while or jump in the hot springs.

There is much to do around this campground, just pick your pleasure. Overall, you don't have much privacy at the camp site, unless you book a couple together. Yet, if you are just using your site for home base, it’s a perfect location.

AT&T - no coverage at all. Our friends on Verizon, little to none.

We only stayed two nights here as it was our first experience camping without any hookups but we will be coming back. Almost all the spots have view of the lake and half the spots are right on the lake.

Having Paulina mountain as a backdrop just makes it even that much more spectacular! The spots are all gravel but looking at others as well as my own experience they seemed very level. I had no problem fitting my 33' long RV into the spot we had but you will want to look at the descriptions on recreation.gov because even though there seemed to be several large spots there were also several that were small and some that seemed large were angled in a way that you might not be able to fit a larger vehicle. The website explains how long they are and even states how long of a vehicle it can fit and the two are not always the same.

I just love that you can reserve more and more of these spots as they used to be out of reach for us before scared that we may drive several hours to get there and have to come back home because it was full.

Has several access points to potable water and grey water dumping spots, very clean (probably the cleanest I have run into) pit toilets. There is not a dump station onsite but there is one about 1-2 miles down the road heading back to La Pine.

Nice little campground with direct access to the lake.
The water and views are fantastic. Paddling/kayaking, fishing, hiking, etc. Hot springs are nearby.
No hookups, so there’s some noise from generators. Can get rather cold.

Little Crater Lake Trail first crosses a meadow then enters a small stand of trees which open up onto a tiny jewel - Little Crater Lake. A viewing deck, bench and information sign are at the lake. To this point, a distance of only 800', the trail is barrier-free. The trail continues another 800 ' to the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. Going south on the PCNST brings you to the Timothy Lake Trail, where there is a 13 mile trail around the lake. If you simply stay on the PCNST for another 150 yards past the Timothy Lake junction you'll reach Crater Creek, a lovely wide creek.Directions: Little Crater Lake (OR) OR From Sandy, Oregon, travel East on Highway 26 for approximately 40 miles to Skyline Road (Road 42). Turn right and travel South 4 miles. Turn right on FS Road 58, travel 2 miles to Little Crater Lake Campground entrance sign. Not on Timothy Lake.

Little Crater is probably the nicest campground in the Deschutes National Forest in terms of views and setting. If you are visiting Oregon with the aim of getting the best camping experience this might be it.  Offering campsites next to Paulina Lake, activities available at this site include hiking, bird watching, bicycling, and sightseeing. The two lakes in the Newberry Monument area are two of the most popular places to camp in Oregon. The lakes may be a bit cold for swimming, but are great for fishing and the views across the lakes are spectacular as they are located in the center of an extinct volcano, and you are camping on the lake edge with towering sides of the cone around you. Volcanic rock is within site all through the Monument area with some great hikes available through the lava and to nearby waterfalls.