Cow Meadow Campground
1Heads up1 fire 45 mi away
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 15:43 UTC
- A night
- $21When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 18In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Cow Meadow Campground is situated where Snow Creek and the Deschutes River flow into the northeast part of Crane Prairie Reservoir. Located just off of the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, Cow Meadow Campground provides great access to a wide-range of recreation opportunities, including fishing, boating and hiking. Keep reading
Recreation
Crane Prairie Reservoir is a prime location for boating and fishing. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife manages populations of rainbow trout, mountain whitefish, brook trout and largemouth bass. Both motorized and non-motorized boats are permitted on Crane Prairie; however, a 10 MPH speed limit is enforced.
Facilities
Cow Meadow Campground can accommodate RV, trailer or tent-campers; however, water and electric hookups are not available. This is no water at this facility so campers will need to bring their own supply. All sites are equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring with grill and have access to a vault toilet. This campground also has a boat ramp that can accommodate small boats.
Natural Features
Crane Prairie Reservoir is one of Central Oregon's premier wildlife viewing areas for waterfowl, including Sandhill crane, Canadian geese, bald eagles and osprey. The adjacent forest is home to black-backed woodpecker, Williamson's sapsucker and mountain chickadee. Deer, squirrel, beaver and an occasional black bear also find habitat in the surrounding forest.
Nearby Attractions
Nearby Osprey Point is a unique area where visitors can learn about local fauna and observe osprey nesting platforms erected after natural snags toppled from age. Visitors can explore wilderness areas, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and hundreds of miles of hiking trails. Cow Meadow 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. Newberry National Volcanic Monument offers a glimpse into Central Oregon's rich geologic history. Travel 30 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 45 miles to Newberry Caldera to visit Paulina and East Lake, Paulina Peak and Paulina Falls.
Charges & Cancellations
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
What the agency tells you
This is a no water facility so campers will need to bring their own supply.
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
- 18
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…ring with grill and have access to a vault toilet. This campground also has a boat ramp that can…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…hookups are not available. This is no water at this facility so campers will need to bring…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 28 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Night sky · 353rd darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 2
Nothing to book until it reopensread 15:43 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
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.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 10
What you actually pay
“Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.” · 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 · 5
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Cow Meadow Campground closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Roaring River (Group)Willamette National Forest · 18 mi · 1 site
- Gold Lake CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 19 mi · walk-up
- KiahanieWillamette National Forest · 24 mi · 23 sites
- McKenzie River Trailhead at Paradise CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 30 mi · walk-up
recreation.gov availability, read 15:43 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
18 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 18 mapped sitesAll 18 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. 18 of the 18 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Loop 1 | 001 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 81 ft | 253 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 002 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 81 ft | 329 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 003 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 85 ft | 341 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 004 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 82 ft | 421 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 005 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 48 ft | 423 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 006 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 36 ft | 463 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 007 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 107 ft | 513 ftSnow Creek | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 008 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 88 ft | 572 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 009 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 36 ft | 467 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 010 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 88 ft | 572 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 011 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 41 ft | 437 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 012 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 84 ft | 538 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 013 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 79 ft | 493 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 41 ft | 412 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 015 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 54 ft | 370 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 016 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 79 ft | 439 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 017 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 102 ft | 373 ft | $21 |
| Loop 1 | 018 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 126 ft | 244 ft | $21 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Crane Prairie CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 1.4 mi
Cultus Corral Horse CampDeschutes National Forest · 1.4 miElk Lake CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 1.5 mi
Cultus Lake CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 3.3 mi
Quinn River CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 3.5 mi
Cultus Lake Boat In - Little Cove CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 4.2 miFrom Bend, OR: Travel about 45 miles south on Cascade Lakes Highway (46), 0.5 mile east on Forest Road 40, then 2 miles south on Forest Road 4000-790.
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
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
Cow Meadow Campground 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 →