Crescent Lake Campground
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 2 of the next 2 nights; a database flag says not open read 16:52 UTC
- A night
- $27–$29Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 43All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Crescent Lake Campground is located on a hill overlooking beautiful Crescent Lake in Deschutes National Forest. It offers visitors the opportunity to experience the beauty and recreational opportunities of the eastern Cascade Range. Crescent Lake is the first campground in the Deschutes National Forest to offer yurts in a scenic location, great for individuals and groups alike. Keep reading
Recreation
Crescent Lake is a prime location for boating, fishing and swimming. The Summit Lake Trail is popular among hikers and mountain bikers, offering excellent views of Diamond Peak across Crescent Lake. A boat ramp is located on-site. Visitors can take advantage of skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling in the winter months. Crescent Lake Snowpark offers a base camp for exciting winter excursions. The Summit Lake Trail is open to snowmobiling.
Facilities
The campground is located near a small lodge offering a small general store, restaurant and various types of boat rentals.
Natural Features
Cresent Lake is nestled in a glacier basin east of the towering Cascade Mountain Range. It boasts brilliant blue-green water and sandy beaches. A forest of lodgepole pine provides the backdrop to this area, with mountain hemlock, fir and spruce also in the mix. Wildlife found in the area includes deer, native fish and migratory birds.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors can explore wilderness areas, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and approximately 1,600 miles of trails that comprise nearly 2.5 million acres within the Deschutes National Forest and the adjacent Ochoco National Forest. Lava Lands Visitor Center in nearby Bend, Oregon, and the unique geological landscape of Newberry National Volcanic Monument draw visitors to the region as well. Visitors enjoy traveling the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, known as Oregon's Highway in the Sky, which climbs into the clouds on a 66-mile drive through the Cascade Range, weaving past snow-capped peaks and alpine lakes.
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
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.
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.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
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
- 43 · 2 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 36 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 28 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Winter sports
- Night sky · 250th darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 2
Full this Saturdayread 16:52 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
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, $27–$29 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.
“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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:52 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
44 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 44 mapped sitesAll 44 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 41 of the 44 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 001 Host | host pad | 40 ft | yes | 90 ft | 329 ft | $27–$29 |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 002 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 90 ft | 366 ft | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 006 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 95 ft | 294 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 007 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 95 ft | 389 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 008 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 91 ft | 358 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 009 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 91 ft | 268 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 010 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 85 ft | 209 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 011 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 85 ft | 294 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 012 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 113 ft | 317 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 013 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 118 ft | 232 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 117 ft | 342 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 015 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 117 ft | 338 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 016 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 95 ft | 422 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 017 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 95 ft | 504 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 018 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 87 ft | 376 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 019 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 87 ft | 463 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 020 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 103 ft | 455 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 021 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 103 ft | 352 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 022 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 116 ft | 376 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 023 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 82 ft | 272 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 024 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 76 ft | 260 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 025 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 63 ft | 181 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 026 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 53 ft | 139 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 027 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 53 ft | 184 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 028 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 101 ft | 106 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 029 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 110 ft | 93 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 030 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 109 ft | 90 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 031 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 107 ft | 187 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 032 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 81 ft | 185 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 033 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 69 ft | 120 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 034 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 82 ft | 295 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 035 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 81 ft | 267 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 036 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 69 ft | 93 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 037 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 72 ft | 91 ftCrescent Lake | ||
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 038 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 117 ft | 92 ftCrescent Lake | ||
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 039 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 120 ft | 188 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 040 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 93 ft | 73 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 041 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 73 ft | 111 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 042 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 73 ft | 42 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 043 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 62 ft | 177 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 044 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 57 ft | 170 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 045 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 49 ft | 171 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 046 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 49 ft | 171 ftCrescent Lake | $27–$29 | |
| CRESCENT LAKE (OR) | 047 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 151 ft | 199 ft | $27–$29 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 44 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Crescent Lake YurtsDeschutes National Forest · 0.1 mi
Crescent Lake Guard StationDeschutes National Forest · 0.2 mi
Simax Group CampDeschutes National Forest · 0.8 mi
Contorta Flat CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 3.2 mi
Contorta Point Group CampDeschutes National Forest · 3.3 mi
SpringDeschutes National Forest · 3.5 miFrom Crescent, travel 12.2 miles west on County Road 61, then 3.5 miles north on Highway 58, then 2.6 miles west on Forest Road 60.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Crescent Lake, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 55°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 20°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
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
Crescent Lake 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 →
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 moneyCliff BentzU.S. Representative · Oregon’s 2nd 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 Crescent Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon
Dear Cliff Bentz, I’m a constituent in Oregon’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Crescent Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 43 sites at Crescent Lake Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 5 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Crescent Lake Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crescent Lake Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Crescent Lake Campground (Deschutes National Forest, 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 Crescent Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon
Dear Jeff Merkley, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Crescent Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 43 sites at Crescent Lake Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 5 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Crescent Lake Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crescent Lake Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Crescent Lake Campground (Deschutes National Forest, 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 Crescent Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon
Dear Ron Wyden, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Crescent Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 43 sites at Crescent Lake Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 5 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Crescent Lake Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crescent Lake Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Crescent Lake Campground (Deschutes National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com