Cold Water Cove - Willamette NF (OR)
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $25–$50Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 3933 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
This campground provides 34 campsites, 31 singles and 3 double, that accommodate vehicles 18 to 50 feet in length depending on site. No sites are directly on the shoreline of the lake, but several offer views of the lake. Drinking water is available at two handpumps, one in the campground and one in the boat launch area. There are four double vault toilets shared by both sites. The boat launch area includes a boat launch for canoes or small non-motorized crafts (no motors are allowed on the lake), a small fish cleaning station, and a picnic site. There is also an extra vehicle, or overflow, parking area. Keep reading
*Extra Vehicle Fees for campers & Day Use/Boat Launch Fee for non-campers/day users. Campfires allowed until and unless otherwise posted. Fire bans are common during summer months. Please plan accordingly. Cold Water Cove Campground offers stunning views of turquoise-colored Clear Lake and 3,000-year-old lava fields, making it an ideal location. On clear days, visitors can catch a glimpse of the Three Sisters and Mount Washington. Fishing, hiking, canoeing and boating are popular activities. The campground sits at the south end of the lake at an elevation of 3,100 feet. A mix of maple, alder and Douglas fir trees cover the area. Some sites have limited views of the lake, and all sites have privacy from neighboring campers. Cold Water Cove sits in the midsection of the Cascades mountain range. This campground offers both reservable and FCFS campsites. Scan and Pay might be offered at this campground; It is recommended that you pay by cash or check for FCFS campsites. There are no refunds, modifications, cancellations, or other fee changes allowed with FCFS payments. This system is the same as putting cash into a fee tube and cannot be refunded. Please download the Rec.Gov app prior to arriving at the campground as there may be no cellular service or very limited service at the campground. If no Scan & Pay option is available you must pay via cash or check. Reservation may be made up to 6 months in advance of arrival date by reserving online at RECREATION. GOV or by calling 877-444-6777.
Recreation
Clear Lake is popular for fishing, canoeing, kayaking and row boats. Anglers cast for brook, rainbow and cutthroat trout. Power boating is not permitted, which makes for calm waters. A boat ramp and fish cleaning station are located in the campground. Boat rentals are available at nearby Clear Lake Resort. The McKenzie River National Recreation Trail passes through the campground and runs along Clear Lake. The trail stretches 26 miles and is open to hikers and mountain bikers.
Facilities
The campground offers single and double-family campsites. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets, trash collection and drinking water are provided. No hookups are available. There is a restaurant/lodge located nearby at Clear Lake Resort.
Natural Features
Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (541) 967-3917.
Nearby Attractions
Nearby attractions include: Clear Lake for fishing, non-motorized rowboat use and hiking. Rowboats and Kayaks are available to rent at nearby Clear Lake Resort. Clear Lake is the head waters for the McKenzie River, and is renowned for its cold, clear water and preserved grove of underwater trees. The McKenzie River National Scenic Trail is on one side of Clear Lake, and a connecting trail offers a loop hiking trail opportunity around the lake. Trails also connect the campground to short hikes to Sahalie and Koosah Falls, spectacular waterfalls located within a mile of the campground. Also, close in proximity, is the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass National Scenic Byway and Mt. Washington Wilderness.
What the agency tells you
An additional fee of $10 per vehicle per night will be charged for extra vehicles parked at your campsite.
A fee of $10 will be charged for day-use visitors
No discharging firearms, possession of fireworks or use of chainsaws allowed
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Scan and Pay might be offered at this campground; It is recommended that you pay by cash or check for FCFS campsites. There are no refunds, modifications, cancellations, or other fee changes allowed with FCFS payments. This system is the same as putting cash into a fee tube and cannot be refunded. Please download the Rec.Gov app prior to arriving at the campground as there may be no cellular service or very limited service at the campground. If no Scan & Pay option is available you must pay via cash or check.
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
Click here for more information on Willamette National Forest
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 the area after eating
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 39 · 7 tent-only, 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 99 ft
- Paved pads
- 34 of 39
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 2 of 41 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…but several offer views of the lake. Drinking water is available at two handpumps, one in the…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 383rd darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 2
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- Spotty
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 33 of the 39 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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 · 15
What you actually pay
“An additional fee of $10 per vehicle per night will be charged for extra vehicles parked at your campsite.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $25–$50 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
41 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 31 mapped sitesAll 41 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 31 of the 41 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. 38 of the 41 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.
| A | 001 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 193 ft | 315 ft | 830 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 51 ft | 92 ft | 366 ft | 396 ft | $25 | |
| A | 003 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 76 ft | 443 ft | 395 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 004 | shelter nonelectric | 45 ft | 76 ft | 412 ft | 320 ft | ||
| A | 006 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 118 ft | 585 ft | 273 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 007 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 89 ft | 594 ft | 253 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 008 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 51 ft | 510 ft | 167 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 25 ft | 51 ft | 503 ft | 196 ft | $25 | |
| A | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | 86 ft | 439 ft | 120 ft | $25 | |
| A | 011 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 97 ft | 183 ft | 233 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 012 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 51 ft | 157 ft | 329 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 013 | tent only nonelectric | 32 ft | 51 ft | 199 ft | 358 ft | $25 | |
| A | 014 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 118 ft | 143 ft | 504 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 015 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 87 ft | 187 ft | 622 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 016 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 87 ft | 222 ft | 707 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 017 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | 108 ft | 237 ft | 803 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 019 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 117 ft | 166 ft | 920 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 020 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 55 ft | 699 ft | 1,053 ft | $25–$50 | |
| A | 021 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 55 ft | 645 ft | 1,043 ft | $25–$50 | |
| AREA COLD WATER COVE | 005 - MANAGEMENT SITE | type not stated | $25–$50 | |||||
| AREA COLD WATER COVE | 020 | type not stated | $25–$50 | |||||
| AREA COLD WATER COVE | 034 | type not stated | $25–$50 | |||||
| AREA COLD WATER COVE | 035 | type not stated | $25–$50 | |||||
| AREA COLD WATER COVE | XXX | unnamed record | 40 ft | yes | $25–$50 | |||
| AREA COLD WATER COVE | XXXX | unnamed record | 45 ft | $25–$50 | ||||
| COLD | 022 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 84 ft | 555 ft | 1,143 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 023 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 84 ft | 558 ft | 1,227 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 024 | standard nonelectric | 99 ft | 51 ft | 462 ft | 1,329 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 025 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 51 ft | 445 ft | 1,279 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 026 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 92 ft | 360 ft | 1,306 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 027 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 100 ft | 263 ft | 1,321 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 028 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 120 ft | 155 ft | 1,219 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 029 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 87 ft | 275 ft | 1,204 ft | $25 | |
| COLD | 030 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 59 ft | 330 ft | 1,132 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 031 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 59 ft | 309 ft | 1,083 ft | $25 | |
| COLD | 032 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 85 ft | 379 ft | 1,016 ft | $25–$50 | |
| COLD | 033 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | 85 ft | 375 ft | 932 ft | $25 | |
| COLD | 034 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | $25–$50 | ||||
| COLD | 035 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | $25–$50 | ||||
| S&P | Double S&P | type not stated | 42 ft | $25–$50 | ||||
| S&P | Single S&P | type not stated | 30 ft | $25–$50 |
The agency files 2 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It types every one of them MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
25 of 41 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Ice Cap CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 1.7 mi
Fish Lake Remount Depot CabinsWillamette National Forest · 2.9 miLakes End CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 3.6 mi
Lost Prairie Group SiteWillamette National Forest · 5.1 mi
Big Lake West CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 5.3 miFrom Eugene, Oregon, take I-105 east to McKenzie Highway 126. Travel east on 126 for 55 miles to McKenzie Bridge.
From McKenzie Bridge,OR, travel east on Highway 126 for 18 miles to the Clear Lake Area. Before reaching Clear Lake, turn right on Forest Road 770, heading northeast 1 mile to Coldwater Cove Campground at the end of the road.
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 October night 38°F, day 60°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°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
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
Cold Water Cove - Willamette NF (OR) 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 →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…app prior to arriving at the campground as there may be no cellular service or very limited service at the campground. If no Scan & Pay…”