Cedar Grove Campground
3Heads up3 fires, nearest 21 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 1 of the next 1 nights read 16:43 UTC
- A night
- $15–$30Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 10All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
No cash, check, or cards are accepted on site. Make a reservations online or use the mobile app. Cedar Grove campsites are only available by making a reservation . Reserve a campsite on recreation.gov or Recreation.gov Mobile App prior to entering the Molalla River Recreation Corridor. There is no cell reception in the drainage. Situated in a picturesque grove of western red cedar 6 miles south of Glen Avon Bridge, the site has 10 tent campsites, each equipped with a tent pad, metal fire ring, BBQ grill, and picnic table. The campground also has vault toilets and river access. Keep reading
Recreation
Camping, fishing, swimming, hiking and biking on nearby trails (Hardy Creek TH closest)
Facilities
Amenities includes a vault restroom, individual campsites with picnic tables, BBQ grill, and a metal fire ring. There are two parking spots for each campsite located in the central parking lot. There is a central handpump for potable water. There is no firewood at the site or firewood collection allowed, please bring your own firewood if you wish to have a fire.
Natural Features
Molalla Wild and Scenic River and forested environment.
Nearby Attractions
Enjoy a scenic drive along the Molalla Wild and Scenic River which offers easy river access and opportunities for picnicking, swimming, camping, whitewater boating and fishing. The Molalla is one of the few undammed tributaries of the Willamette River and cuts a picturesque gorge on its way to the valley floor. Table Rock Wilderness is further up the canyon and accessible through three trailheads.
Charges & Cancellations
Standard processing fees apply and are non-refundable. Visit https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies for more information.
What the agency tells you
Current fire information for the Northwest Oregon District can be found at BLM Fire Restrictions and Closures under the district specific section.
Vehicle parking is centralized, campsite access is walk-in and distance from parking area varies. Check in time is 3 p.m.
There is no cell phone service. In case of emergency go to an area where you get cell service and dial 9-1-1. There is a payphone on the east side of Glen Avon bridge.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Please use available dumpsters for packing out your campsite’s trash.
Pets are allowed but must be leashed (max. 6 feet). Please dispose all pet waste in trash receptacles.
Beware of wildlife. They will scavenge your campsite. It is advised to keep items secured in a container.
Be aware that the main S. Molalla Forest Rd is regularly used for hauling timber and forest products.
The Molalla River Recreation Corridor sits between 800 and 1200 feet in elevation.
No horses allowed in the campground.
No motorized vehicles allowed outside of the central parking area.
Please observe posted rules and regulations.
Be prepared for flying and biting insects. Bring your bug spray.
Poison Oak is in the area. Leaves of three - let it be.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 10 · 10 walk-in
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 12 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…picnic table. The campground also has vault toilets and river access. Recreation Camping, fishing,…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…lot. There is a central handpump for potable water. There is no firewood at the site or firewood…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 13 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Water access
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 766th darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 4
- Cell signal · Cell signal · BLM says
- None
- Fall color · reported 6 days ago, 31 km away
- Patchy color
Full this Saturdayread 16:43 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
2 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:49 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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 rates for this season, $15–$30 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.
“Standard processing fees apply and are non-refundable. Visit https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies for more information.” · this campground’s own terms
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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 2
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:49 UTC
- Three Bears CampgroundNw Oregon Cascades Field Office · 0.9 mi · 15 of 30 site-nights open
- Aquila Vista Recreation SiteNw Oregon Cascades Field Office · 3.4 mi · 1 of 2 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:43 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
10 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 10 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. 10 of the 10 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Camp | 01 | walk to | 12 ft | 192 ft | 117 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 02 | walk to | 12 ft | 57 ft | 78 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 03 | walk to | 12 ft | 57 ft | 135 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 04 | walk to | 12 ft | 49 ft | 75 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 05 | walk to | 12 ft | 49 ft | 121 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 06 | walk to | 12 ft | 48 ft | 59 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 07 | walk to | 12 ft | 49 ft | 141 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 08 | walk to | 12 ft | 48 ft | 73 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 09 | walk to | 12 ft | 56 ft | 121 ft | $15–$30 |
| Camp | 10 | walk to | 12 ft | 63 ft | 72 ft | $15–$30 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Three Bears CampgroundNw Oregon Cascades Field Office · 0.9 mi
Aquila Vista Recreation SiteNw Oregon Cascades Field Office · 3.4 miShady CoveWillamette National Forest · 16 mi
Elkhorn Valley Recreation SiteNw Oregon Cascades Field Office · 16 miThe Molalla River is located approximately 10 miles southeast of Molalla in Clackamas County. From the town of Molalla, drive east on Main St/OR 211. Veer right at the OR 211/Mathias Road intersection, follow signs for Feyrer Park. Once past Feyrer Park, cross over the Molalla River, turn right, and follow signs for Dickey Prairie Rd. Continue south on Dickey Prairie Rd, keeping the Dickey Prairie Store on your left. At 3.7 miles past the store, turn right on Molalla Forest Rd and cross Glen Avon Bridge. Continue 6 miles, Cedar Grove will be on your left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Molalla, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 64°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 35°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Cedar Grove 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 →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyJanelle S. BynumU.S. Representative · Oregon’s 5th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJeff MerkleyU.S. Senator · Oregon
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRon WydenU.S. Senator · Oregon
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Cedar Grove Campground, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon
Dear Janelle S. Bynum, I’m a constituent in Oregon’s 5th district. I tried to camp at Cedar Grove Campground, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 10 sites at Cedar Grove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 10 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Cedar Grove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cedar Grove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Cedar Grove Campground (Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Cedar Grove Campground, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon
Dear Jeff Merkley, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Cedar Grove Campground, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 10 sites at Cedar Grove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 10 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Cedar Grove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cedar Grove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Cedar Grove Campground (Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Cedar Grove Campground, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon
Dear Ron Wyden, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Cedar Grove Campground, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 10 sites at Cedar Grove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 10 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Cedar Grove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cedar Grove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Cedar Grove Campground (Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…the Molalla River Recreation Corridor. There is no cell reception in the drainage. Situated in a picturesque grove of western…”