Big River
1Heads up1 fire 48 mi away
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $23From, per site
- Sites
- 13All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Big River Campground is located along the Deschutes River south of the town of Sunriver. Large, open group sites offer a perfect setting for family reunions or group gatherings. Keep reading
Recreation
Popular activities in the area include hiking, fishing and rafting in the summer months and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. Big River provides the perfect place to launch a canoe or kayak into the Deschutes River. Only non-motorized boating is permitted on the river, and the water is Class II flatwater for about 6 miles below Sunriver. The Deschutes River is renowned for its fly fishing, and sustains populations of kokanee, rainbow, bull and brown trout. Boat fishing or drift fishing is the best way to catch fish at this part of the river.
Facilities
Big River Campground offers three group sites that accommodate both tent and RV camping and 10 single sites. The sites are equipped with picnic tables, campfire rings with grills and vault toilets. A boat launch is located across the road and provides access to the waterfront.
Natural Features
Nearby peaks, lava flows and Ponderosa pine stands provide visitors with a variety of landscapes, showcasing ecosystems typical of central Oregon. The Deschutes River, a tributary of the Columbia River, is central to the campground. The river flows through areas of ponderosa and aspen, with its shoreline varying from marshy meadows to basalt bedrock. Flows fluctuate less on this part of the river because of tributaries, and the river features many deep pools, a relatively stable bank and rocky in-stream structure. Wildlife found in the area include deer, elk, native fish and migratory birds.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors can explore wilderness areas, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and hundreds of miles of hiking trails. Newberry National Volcanic Monument offers a glimpse into Central Oregon's rich geologic history. Travel 12 miles to Lava Lands Visitor Center to explore exhibits at the interpretive center, attend a ranger talk, take in scenic views from the top of Lava Butte and travel one-mile underground through Lava River Cave. Travel 25 miles to Newberry Caldera to visit Paulina and East Lake, Paulina Peak and Paulina Falls. Big River Campground offers easy access to the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway which weaves through multiple high lakes with views of South Sister, Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor.
What the agency tells you
No drinking water or electric hookups are available at this campground
Prevent the spread of invasive species by inspecting and cleaning packs, equipment and tires before using lake or trails
Please Note: One RV with tow vehicle per single site or one vehicle per tent site. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. Extra vehicle will be charged a per night fee and collected at the campground.
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.
During your time in Central Oregon, you can find wildfire, prescribed fire and smoke information at centraloregonfire.org .
Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).
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.
Click here for more information about Deschutes National Forest
Camping or otherwise occupying a single location (including leaving camping equipment and/or related supplies) for a period longer than 14 consecutive calendar days is prohibited. ‘Location’ means the occupied area, the occupied campsite, and the National Forest System lands in the immediate vicinity thereof. Camping or occupying any location on all National Forest lands for more than 28 calendar days total during a calendar year is prohibited.
NO generator use is allowed in campgrounds between 10:00PM and 7:00AM (36 CFR 261.10). Silent power banks or battery powered devices are allowed.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 13 · 3 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…tables, campfire rings with grills and vault toilets. A boat launch is located across the road and…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 28 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach, Meadow
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 676th darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 3
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:09 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $23 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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:09 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
13 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 13 mapped sitesAll 13 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 13 of the 13 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 13 of the 13 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| BIG RIVER | 001 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 107 ft | 90 ft | 266 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 002 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 107 ft | 195 ft | 160 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 003 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 45 ft | 238 ft | 149 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 004 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 39 ft | 199 ft | 156 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 005 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 28 ft | 161 ft | 167 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 006 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 28 ft | 134 ft | 178 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 007 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 66 ft | 172 ft | 110 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 008 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 46 ft | 97 ft | 167 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 009 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 46 ft | 111 ft | 152 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | 010 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 62 ft | 136 ft | 148 ft | $23 |
| BIG RIVER | GRP A | group standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 158 ft | 159 ft | 745 ft | $126 |
| BIG RIVER | GRP B | group standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 141 ft | 95 ft | 642 ft | $126 |
| BIG RIVER | GRP C | group standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 141 ft | 92 ft | 613 ft | $126 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Fall River CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 6.9 mi
Pringle Falls CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 7.1 mi
Ogden GroupDeschutes National Forest · 7.3 mi
Prairie CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 7.4 mi
Fall River Guard StationDeschutes National Forest · 7.6 mi
Wyeth Campground - DeschutesDeschutes National Forest · 7.9 miFrom Bend travel south on Hwy. 97 for about 17 miles, then make a right onto Vandervert Road. Make a left onto S. Century Dr. then another right to stay on S Century Dr. Follow S Century Dr. / NF-4205, then make a right onto Bonanza Lane, and another right to stay on Bonanza which will lead you into the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Three Rivers, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 31°F, day 62°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 21°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Big River is in Oregon’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Cliff Bentz (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →