Crescent Lake, Deschutes Nat'l Forest

Your in the mountains and most sites will be tent/small trailer accessable, but not good for large trailers. Deschutes NF camping has not seen any real upgrades in sizes for many years if ever. You would be far better off getting reservations down the hill and go up there to fish or what ever during the day.

Thanks. There are several NFS campgrounds around the lake, but none seem to take any reservations. I'm looking at a 3 hour drive on a Friday evening in mid-July, and am nervous about not finding anything. I may just take a drive out there without the trailer a few weeks ahead of time to scope out the area.

Sarvi, there are two other things you could do before heading up there to scout (which is a great idea, by the way). First, you can cruise Google Earth to look for boondocking sites -- they are usually pretty easy to spot, except in dense forest. Second, call the ranger! They are often very helpful.

Good luck!

If you do plan on going mid July take your best skeeter repellent. Lots of snow this year, so there'll be plenty of standing water for skeeters to breed in. Or what ever they do in it. By early to mid august most will be gone. We've been to Crescent Lake many times. It's beautiful up there. Can't help with dispersed camping as we always stay at one of the CG's around the lake. Friday night arrival will be tough.

What would you assume my chances would be of getting a spot in a campground at 7pm on a Friday evening?

Basically zero

I will second the motion to "call the rangers." They often will know and share what they know about dispersed sites that you could fit into. That said, by 7pm Friday all those spots may be taken anyway.

If you were showing up mid-afternoon on a weekday, you'd be in much better shape. I'm reminded of the time I was driving south from Capitol Reef toward Boulder UT on Hwy 12, about 3 pm. It sure is a pretty drive and it made me wish I could camp up there on the mountain and enjoy the view of the valley below. Well, lo and behold, I passed a visitor center up there and I turned around and went in. The fellow behind the counter was very happy to suggest a couple of great spots that could work for my rig. I pulled off the highway about 50 yards and set up under the evergreens. A short walk put me right on the edge of a steep dropoff where I could sit and enjoy the view. You could see for miles and miles.

Sarvi wrote:
What would you assume my chances would be of getting a spot in a campground at 7pm on a Friday evening?

It may depend on the weather. If there's been thunder and lightening during the day and it's forecast for the weekend then there may be some spots open as the ski boat crowd might pass. If there's anyway to get up there in the morning or thursday night then that would be your best bet. Just guessing but by 7:00 friday night it could be all but full. Not sure who's all going but if someone else is going and could go up in the morning then that would help.

Your best bet might be Contorta Flat Campground on the south end of the lake.

Sarvi wrote:
Thanks. There are several NFS campgrounds around the lake, but none seem to take any reservations. I'm looking at a 3 hour drive on a Friday evening in mid-July, and am nervous about not finding anything. I may just take a drive out there without the trailer a few weeks ahead of time to scope out the area.

This is an excellent idea! Go scout it out, without the trailer, record your spots on the GPS, then go back with the trailer. I highly recommend going up a day early (Thursday) if possible, even first thing on Friday is better than waiting until the end of the day.

Are you wanting to fish at Crescent or just camp?
There is lots of hiking trails and high lake too.