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53_willys's avatar
53_willys
Explorer
Jun 03, 2014

Oregon HWY 395

Hello all my wife and I are headed to Klamath Falls Oregon then headed north from there does anyone have experience traveling HWY 395 , campsites, fuel, and overall road conditions points of interest or what route would you suggest we are traveling with our 5th wheel I've traveled 395 in Ca but not Oregon any info would be appreciated .

6 Replies

  • We took 395 form Washington to California and there are some decent dry camping campgrounds. It definately is not the fastest way across Oregon. It was good to see once which was enough. If you have time then it would be fun to explore more on the way.
  • Good one Paulj! Not only the Steens Mountains, but the Alvord desert.
    Another good side route is to head west from John Day/Mt. Vernon on Hwy 26, then north just past Mitchell on the Burnt Ranch Road to the Painted Hills unit in the John Day Fossil Bed National Monument.
    Travel Oregon has a lot of good info on the Painted Hills and the rest of Oregon.
  • At Burns consider a side trip south to Steens Mtn.


    Page Springs BLM campground at base of Steens Mtn (west side)
  • 395 is a bit slower than 97 with a few more passes, but it's a pretty central Oregon drive. This is a US highway and it sees a fair amount of truck traffic.

    We've been across this area many times on many of our runs.

    The windiest section is between John Day and Pendleton; it's all very good 2 lane road but give yourself time for the turns and grades - there's plenty of them. We like to describe central/eastern Oregon as "you go uphill, you go downhill. You go uphill, you go downhill... rare is the level grade." The stretch between Burns and John Day is also hilly and curvy but less so than the route on north.

    Fuel is available in Lakeview, Burns, John Day, Dale, Pilot Rock, Pendleton, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to fuel up. Ukiah has a station but the operator may or may not be around the pumps, his home is just north across the street from the gas pump. It's always better to keep the upper half full than the lower half - if you have any doubts about making it to the next town, top it up. I rarely let our tank go below the half mark on our travels.

    Campgrounds: We've never stayed at campgrounds/RV parks along this route, but have seen a number of RV parks in the towns mentioned above, as well and forest service campgrounds along the way.
    Oregon State Parks has a good map for locating state campgrounds and parks; there are probably a few county campgrounds as well.

    Hope that helps!
  • the bear II wrote:
    53 Willys can't help you with your travels but just had to write. You represent three of my favorite things:
    1953 Willys M38A1 Jeep was my high school ride and on my bucket list to own another one
    Ventura (Rincon Parkway) is our favorite place to camp and Tony's Pizza on Thompson is our favorite pizza

    Good luck in your travels.


    thanks for the note I have a 1953 CJ3B also had a M38A1 sold it love my 3B . Tonys Pizza is a long time favorite love going to the Rincon for the surf fishing.
  • 53 Willys can't help you with your travels but just had to write. You represent three of my favorite things:
    1953 Willys M38A1 Jeep was my high school ride and on my bucket list to own another one
    Ventura (Rincon Parkway) is our favorite place to camp and Tony's Pizza on Thompson is our favorite pizza

    Good luck in your travels.