RV Camping

OREGON PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT

We have visited Organ Pipe National Monument 3 times over the years. It still surprises us with new gems, as the Sonoran Desert can change in an instant due to weather and the time of year. If there is a recent rain fall, like this year for instance, you could find yourself in the middle of a desert flower bloom, which is an incredible experience! A lot of the wildlife stay underground in the cooler winter months, so you might just miss the dangerous rattlesnakes.

We usually start our day checking in at the Kriss Eggle Visitor Center to see what talks will be going on or which ranger led tours we may want to join. They will take you in a van on the Ajo Mountain Drive and the ranger will fill you in on their desert knowledge, local history, and amazing geology of the area. The tour is one of our absolute favorite things to do.

The night talks at the Amphitheater can be about the moon, night sky, or history of settlement in the area. At one time cattle ranching and mining were active in the area and there are several mines you can still hike to.

We were lucky on our last visit to run into YouTube personalities Debbie and John from the YouTube Channel From She To Me. They are the nicest couple and Debbie is quite fascinated by geology and anything to do with rocks. Make sure and watch their episodes on Organ Pipe, NM.

Camping at Twin Peaks Campground is all reservation now so book a day before for your stay. There are generator and no generator sites; check the length if you’re over 25 feet. The restrooms are clean and there are even a few lukewarm solar heated showers at some. This is a dry camping CG with water available at spigots and a sewer dump station.

Our next destination is Gibert Ray a Pima County Campground. Check Pima county for info. Cheers Jeff and Liz.

UNION CREEK CAMPGROUND, OR

We love this campground, with this being our third return visit. Beautiful, Quiet and well maintained, with the most helpful camp hosts we have yet encountered. The camp hosts deliver ice and even fishing worms to your camp site on golf carts. Ha, too funny, but we loved it. Our favorite site is # B17, a large very private site overlooking Phillips Lake.

This year we were very fortunate to be able to meet our good friends Dave and Jen from Enterprise, Oregon. We kayaked, BBQed and drank a lot of homemade Kombucha together and just caught up on our lives and what adventure and great fun awaits us. Planning on making this an annual camping experience with our great friends, oh and Mocha!

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Facilities

The parking spurs are paved and gravel and large enough for any size RV. Several sites offer full hookups,and some others offer water and electric.

Units are equipped with picnic tables and grills. Drinking water and very clean restrooms with yes flush toilets are available. Some of the facilities are handicap-accessible. Upon leaving is a very modern and free dump station, very important.

This camp is part of the Union Creek Recreation Area, which includes a picnic and day-use area. Union Creek Campground is set on three loops with separate walk-in tent camping, and it has four group sites that can accommodate from 60-100 people.

Natural Features:

Phillips Reservoir is a popular destination within the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest because it offers scenic views of the surrounding Elkhorn Mountains. The shoreline is forested with a mix of Ponderosa pine and various firs interspersed with small grasslands.

Visitors enjoy several varieties of colorful wildflowers in the spring.

Recreation:

The campground is near a boat launch and a small, rocky swim beach. Activities include swimming, fishing, boating and water skiing.

Anglers can fish for bass, trout and perch. There’s an access point for the Phillips Lake Shoreline Trail, a 6.5-mile scenic trail for hiking and mountain biking.

Nearby Attractions:

The historic gold mining town of Sumpter is about 10 miles away. Visitors can explore the Sumpter Dredge State Heritage Park, browse the holiday weekend flea markets or take a ride on a historic steam locomotive.

Overview

The Union Creek Campground is one of the largest Forest Service campgrounds in eastern Oregon. It’s nestled on the northern shore of Phillips Reservoir amid mature Ponderosa pine, with a few sites offering views of the lake.

Activities and Amenities

Within Facility
Accessible Boat Ramp Accessible Flush Toilets Accessible Swimming Beach Access Birding Boat Ramp Boat Trailer Parking Boating Canoeing Concessions Drinking Water Dump Station Firewood Fish Cleaning Stations Fishing	Flush Toilets General Store Grills Group Camping Hiking Host Lake Access Mountain Biking Paved Parking Spurs Paved Roads Picnic Area Restaurant Security Lights Self Pay Station Swimming

Getting There:

GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude):
44.69694, -118.01861
44°41’49″N, 118°1’7″WFrom Baker City, Oregon, travel south on Highway 7 for about 18 miles. The campground and day-use entrance is signed on the left side of the road. Follow the signs in the Union Creek Recreation Area down to the various campground loops and areas.

Contact Information:

Recreation.gov for reservations

Phone Number: 1-877-444-6777

Getting Ready To paddle

Paddle Boarding

Our Camp at North Twin Lake

Cheers from Just Around The Bend♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
PLEASE JOIN US ON OUR NEXT ADVENTURE AT CLIFFSIDE RV PARK WHIDBEY ISLAND

Twin Lakes Resort RV Park

The Twin Lakes Resort RV Park sits adjacent to the Deschutes Channel into Wickiup and across the street from the Resort general store, restaurant, and cabins. All sites come with 30 amp electrical hook-ups, water, and sewer. Take a short stroll down to the channel shores for sandy beaches and amazing views. They also have real restrooms and showers available for RV Park guest use.

Nothing beats the lakeside dining experience at Twin Lakes Resort! Join them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner on Wednesday through Sunday from opening day through Labor Day weekend. They offer a full menu for dining in or take out service, with a wonderful selection of beer and wine. Make sure to check back for daily specials, but you can count on their famous Slow Smoked Prime Rib dinner every Saturday evening. Don’t miss Sunday brunch as well.

Coffee! Oh yes Java Hut, located in the main parking lot. It’s worth stopping by for a Wickiup Wakeup or delicious espresso drinks, smoothies, milkshakes, and sno cones.

Restaurant Hours:

Wednesday through Sunday: 8am – 8pm
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays for our Lakeside Patio Cookout

Java Hut Hours:

Open Thursday through Sunday: 8am – 2pm

FISHING NEWS:

Fishing is open all year round at South and North Twin Lake and April 22nd for Wickiup!

General Store

The Twin Lakes General Store has most everything you’ll need for your stay at the resort.

Single day fishing licenses and live bait.
Large selection of fishing accessories.
Oil and other small items for your boat.
Souvenir t-shirts, sweatshirts and gifts.
Grocery and pharmaceutical items.
Snacks, drinks and ice cream Jeff’s favorite food!!!
Beer and wine
Crushed and block ice, fire wood
Most things forgotten when camping!
They also have both unleaded gasoline and propane available for purchase

Java Hut

I Love Bears

Dining

Patio

View from restaurant

Store

We reserved RV Site 9 and definitely will return again. Nestled in a waterfront, back-in site approximately 65 ft long, with 30 amp electrical service, water, and sewer hookups. Two picnic tables and a nice over sized fire pit. The featured picture is a view from the kitchen window from our RV.

The Twin Lakes RV Park is located on the shore of the Deschutes Channel leading into Wickiup Reservoir, and each site has a fire pit and a picnic table. Check-in is at 1:00pm, and check-out is at 11:00am.
Price includes one RV, one vehicle, and no more than 2 pets that must be on-leash at all times. Each additional vehicle is $5 per night, parking tags available at the Twin Lakes Store. They do not allow tent camping, however you may set up a tent in addition to your RV and there is a $10 fee per tent per night and a limit of 2 tents per site. We paid $32.00 a night, in addition to a 8% Deschutes County lodging tax and 1% Oregon lodging tax.

Deer everywhere

View from camp

Sunset

Our Camp at North Twin Lake

Exploring the lake

Nu Canoe adventures

We had great fun boating, paddle boarding, fishing and swimming. The water was incredibly warm and felt so good on a 90 degree day. We even found 4 geocaches by walking around South Twin lake which is a very picturesque and enjoyable one mile walk . We will be back.

Cheers From Just Around The Bend ♥♥♥♥♥

PS: Our next Adventure takes us to Union Creek Campground located on Phillips Lake just out of Sumpter Eastern Oregon.

Paulina Lake Campground

2016

A scenic 23.5 mile drive from Bend,Oregon and you are at Paulina Lake. With large camp sites, beautiful trails and amazing fishing, this is truly nirvana. After September 19th, its first come, first serve, with plenty of sites available. Sites include standard non electric, a picnic table, fire pit, large camping site which we paid $27.00 for two nights. In early season the mosquitoes can be troublesome and late season the meat bees. There are 4 campgrounds on the lake. Paulina being the first, then chief Paulina horse camp second, Newberry Group Camp Site third and lastly Cinder Hill Campground.Cinder Hill is the most popular although the most windy.You can reserve the sites through Recreation.gov.
To do: Boat, kayak, canoe, paddle board, swim or fish.The state record for brown trout was at Paulina Lake weighing in at 28 pounds-5 ounces.Other species are kokanee salmon and rainbow trout. There is a maximum 10 mile per hour speed limit on the lake which affords you spectacular views of the lake and the Newberry Caldera. These campgrounds are all in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.There is an entry fee if you do not have a pass. Check out the obsidian Flow and Paulina Peak which on a clear day you could see Mt Shasta. If you make it to the other side of the lake, just right of the red cinder rock slide, you will find a beach that is actually a well hidden hot springs. Dig in the small rocks near the water’s edge and it will quickly fill with very clean hot water, so hot you will need to dilute it with some lake water, very clean and relaxing. You can also hike from the parking lot on a very nice groomed trail about 4 1/2 miles around to reach the hot springs. A lot of people were hiking around the whole lake which is posted as a 7 1/2 mile loop. In addition dont miss East Lake just past Paulina Lake which has a nice store and lodge , boat rentals and small cafe. There is a Mercury warning on fish caught on East Lake, check the Oregon fishing regulation before you fish. There are 2 public campgrounds and 1 private including (full hook ups) on East Lake.

Drive up 6000 + feet and explore Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

August 2017

This year we decided to spend a whole week at Paulina Lake and really get to dig into all of the activities the area has to offer. We had a really good week of fishing, getting up at 5 am and being on the water at 6 am. yikes, really early but worth it, seems that’s when the fish like to bite. NOTE:We did not keep any of the fish and returned them safely back into the lake.

Next we GeoCached a lot. Walking each day around a portion of the lake looking for hidden treasures. FUN.

Then we paddled boarded, finding we are getting better everyday, Jeff only fell once (darn boat waves).

So if you love to camp, fish, paddle board, hike and swim in a beautiful setting this is the place. This year we stayed in space 38, paved, huge and extremely quiet. Here are some pictures to show you of our great camping experience.