Swimming

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.

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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

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Body Glove Performer Paddle Board

What do 66 year old retired people do in Bend, Oregon? Yes!!! that is correct we  play hard and buy paddle boards. Ok mom I hope you never read this. Our first plan is to get in shape with the Body Glove Performer 11′ Inflatable Stand Up Paddle Board.
The Body Glove ISUP (Inflatable Stand-up Paddleboard) PERFORMER is a multipurpose design for families, fitness activities, fishing and on water yoga. The Performer is designed for incredible stability and durability while also exhibiting an industry leading performance shape from paddling professional Luke Hopkins. He designed this board to be the ultimate board for family fun, fitness, and on water adventures.

The ISUP is made from incredibly durable puncture resistant heavy duty PVC and can support over 320 pounds. This allows for an adult to paddleboard with a child (children) on board. The traction deck pad is made from EVA foam and provides a soft yet grippy feel, perfect for children or as a platform for yoga. The bungee tie down area is perfect for securing gear from fishing tackle to a cooler.

This ISUP package is easily portable, and includes many convenient accessories. When you are ready to hit the water, the high-pressure hand-pump can be used to fully inflate the board in as little as 5 minutes. When it is time to pack up, the board can be quickly deflated and will fit into the included backpack. The 3-Piece travel paddle allows increased portability and ease of use. Including accessories and the board, the backpack only weighs 32 lbs.

COSTCOS PRICE WITH FREE SHIPPING IS $479.99

Accessories include:

Lightweight 3 piece travel paddle
High pressure pump that can switch from single action to dual action
Leg coil/leash
Repair kit
Cell phone dry bag
Specifications:

Inflatable Stand Up Paddle Board:

Length: 11 ft.
Width: 34 in.
Thickness: 6 in.
Nose Rocker: 4.5 in.
Tail Rocker: 0 in.
Board Weight: 24 lbs.

Paddle:

Length: 70 in. – 85 in. (Adjustable)
Weight: 29 oz.
Design: 3 Piece
Shaft: Aircraft Grade Aluminum
Blade: Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon

 

More Paddle Boarding

PERSONAL NOTE: Very stable, easy to carry and glides through the water very nicely, with easy effort. We also love the way the board deflates and packs away for easy storage, highly recommend. We rate the body glove inflatable board a 10 with no reservations.

Until our next adventure, stay tuned and Cheers from Just Around The Bend ♥♥♥♥

NOTE: We have not been contacted by body glove or Costco.

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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.

Twin Lakes Resort Restaurant

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
Me
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.

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North Twin Lake Oregon

This is a small but popular campground and lake just north of the South Twin Resort. Located next to North Twin Lake, this site offers opportunities for fishing in the summer as well as the winter. There is also a little beach at the shallow end of the lake that is great for wading and swimming.

There’s an interpretive trail leaving the campground near the water that informs visitors about “dwarf mistletoe” infecting the ponderosa pine trees in the area.
There is a boat launch area within this campground.Water levels vary little over the season and the lake is rich with weed beds.
At a Glance
Reservations:  visit HoodooRecreation.com.
Fees Per night, per site fee: $14/first vehicle; $7/each additional vehicle.
Open Season: 4/20/2017 – 10/31/2017
Usage: Medium-Heavy
Restrictions: Maximum site spur length is 30 feet.
Water: No
Restroom: Vault Toilet  Not my favorite, and heavily used!!!
General Information : Motorized boats are prohibited on this body of water. 
Directions:
From Bend, OR: Travel 26.8 miles south on Highway 97 to Wickiup Junction, then 11.0 miles west on County Road 43, then continue 4.6 miles west on County Road 42, and finally 0.2 miles south on County Road 4260.

On a personal note, we made it around the lake on a very nice groomed trail and found two very nicely placed geocaches. I also left a painted rock on a log, hopefully someone special will find and it puts a smile on their face. Next we are going to Paddle Board this lake as it is so calm, serene and scenic. Please join us for the next adventure and Cheers to all from JUST AROUND THE BEND♥♥♥♥♥liz-logo-1DCIM100GOPROGOPR0786.

Lake Simtustus Oregon

Hello to all of my family, friends and followers. I am very excited to show you our pictures and share our boating adventures at Lake Simtustus on Saturday. It was one of those perfect boating days, very little wind, 68 degree water and a 90 degree day. Not to mention that the fish were in a good mood and we caught fish, yes Jeff and Liz caught fish!!!. Our trick was using old worms from our grandchildrens visit (3 weeks ago)and frozen scented white corn from last summer. We caught over 12 fish and managed to release them all back into the water and the fish were all in good shape, I love that for the environment.We especially like to fish and explore this lake as we actually catch fish and the set speed from the marina to the dam is 10 miles an hour, making it perfect for trolling for fish, swimming and napping on the boat (we do this often).

FISHING INFORMATION
The lake has steelhead trout, rainbow trout, kokanee, brown trout and a
few bull trout. Since it borders on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation,
a Tribal Permit is required for fishing. The lake is stocked annually with
catchable size hatchery steelhead. Kokanee found in the
lake have escaped from Lake Billy Chinook either through the turbines or
through underground channels. The last reservoir on the lower Deschutes River, in central Oregon, before the river flows into the Columbia River. The lake is formed by Pelton
Dam and stretches approximately 8 miles from below Round Butte Dam
to Pelton Dam.

  • Lake Simtustus was named after an Indian warrior who served with the U.S. army back in the mid-1800s. The warrior died on the Warm Springs Reservation in 1926 where he lived for many years.

PELTON PARK CAMPGROUND
The park is operated by PGE, which also operates Pelton Dam. The park
features RV Sites, platform tents (Yomes) and regular tent sites.  The camping sites  are very well maintained but narrow  and not very deep, if you are longer than 25 feet its tight. There is a store and marina at the south end of the park which has camping and
fishing supplies, boat rentals, fuel, moorage slip rentals and a restaurant.
PARK OFFICE 541.475.0517
STORE/MARINA 541.475.0516
OFFICE 541.475.1085

♥  Until Our Next Adventure  we are Just Around The Bend  ♥