Big Lake West Campground
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $55From, per site
- Sites
- 1211 on recreation.gov
- Season
- May 1 – September 30Open May 1 through September 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Big Lake West Campground offers sites located on the shores of Big Lake, situated at the top of the Santiam Pass. Opportunities to enjoy the outdoors are numerous and range from off-highway vehicle exploring, boating, swimming and hiking. There are 11 tent only double campsites. There is one single and one double vault toilet. Drinking water is available through the system shared with Big Lake Campground. There are no parking spurs; vehicles must park along the road's edge. Each campsite is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. All sites are by reservation. Campfires allowed until and unless otherwise posted. Fire bans are common during summer months. Please plan accordingly. Reservations may be made up to 6 months in advance of arrival date by reserving online at RECREATION.GOV or by calling 877-444-6777. Keep reading
Recreation
Facilities This tent only campground has vault toilets, drinking water, a boat ramp and swimming area. Ice and firewood are also available. Each campsite is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring.
Natural Features
Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (541) 967-3917.
Nearby Attractions
The major activities in the Big Lake area revolve around motorized use. Boats frequent the lake and off highway vehicles (OHVs) us the adjacent Santiam Pass Motorized Recreation Area. Other attractions include Mt. Washington Wilderness and associated access trails, historic Santiam Wagon Road, McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass National Scenic Byway, Pacific Crest Trail, and Sand Mountain Lookout.
What the agency tells you
No electric hookups at this facility.
This facility has first-come, first-served sites.
Limit one vehicle per campsite; a $10 fee will be charged for additional vehicles.
Everything else this campground posts · 12
Click here for more information on Willamette National Forest.
New regulations are in effect for the Santiam Pass Summer Motorized Recreation Area. Off-highway vehicle use in the campground is strictly prohibited for any purpose other than entering or leaving the campground.
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating
Narrow parking. RV pop outs must not extend over the road surface
No discharging firearms, possession of fireworks or use of chainsaws allowed
Be sure to reserve a site that will accommodate your equipment. The site you reserve is your site. You may not move to another site.
There is No Day Use Parking at Big Lake West. Big Lake campground next door offers Day Use for a $10 per vehicle fee.
Campfires allowed until and unless otherwise posted. Fire bans are common during summer months. Please plan accordingly.
Check-In 2:00PM
Check-Out 12:00PM
Firewood and ice available for purchase, at this facility, while supplies last.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 12 · 11 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…There is one single and one double vault toilet. Drinking water is available through the system…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…one single and one double vault toilet. Drinking water is available through the system shared with Big…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Biking
- Boating
- Hiking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- OHV riding
- Swimming
- Water Skiing
- Night sky · 432nd darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 2
Something open on 14 of the next 14 bookable nightsread 16:52 UTC
recreation.gov lists 11 of the 12 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBookedNot reservable
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“a $10 fee will be charged for additional vehicles.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $55 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:52 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
12 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 11 mapped sitesAll 12 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 12 of the 12 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 40 ft | 245 ft | 269 ft | $55 |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 172 ft | 279 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 132 ft | 123 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 132 ft | 32 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 136 ft | 85 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 006 | tent only nonelectric | 136 ft | 64 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 171 ft | 65 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 105 ft | 96 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 103 ft | 93 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 103 ft | 65 ft | $55 | |
| BIG LAKE WEST CAMPGROUND | 011 | tent only nonelectric | 119 ft | 68 ft | $55 | |
| S&P | Standard S&P | type not stated | $55 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Big LakeWillamette National Forest · 0.7 miLost Lake CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 4.2 mi
Lost Lake - Willamette (OR)Willamette National Forest · 4.3 mi
Cold Water Cove - Willamette NF (OR)Willamette National Forest · 5.3 miCold Water Cove CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 5.4 mi
Ice Cap CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 6.2 miFrom Eugene, Oregon, take I-105 east to McKenzie Highway 126. Travel east on Hwy 126 for 90 miles to Santiam Pass. At the top of the Pass, turn right onto the access road (sign says Hoodoo Ski Area, Big Lake Road & Benson Sno-Park). Travel one mile to the fork in the road and stay left on Forest Service Road 2690. Continue for 4 miles to the entrance to Big Lake West Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Black Butte Ranch, OR
Typical weather
Typical May night 36°F, day 63°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 36°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Big Lake West Campground is in Oregon’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Janelle Bynum (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →