Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR)
3Heads up3 fires, nearest 6 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 21 of the next 30 nights read 16:42 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Hilltop Hideaway is a 1930's era cabin that allows guests to relax in the outdoors and step back in time to the bygone gold mining days. Hilltop Hideaway is part of the Fremont Powerhouse complex, a hub for mining built in the early 1900s. It is one of four cabins located at the site near the town of Granite, and provides great flexibility for larger groups. The surrounding valleys once teemed with mining activity, primarily gold. The Fremont Powerhouse was built as an economical power source for mining. Keep reading
Two dams were constructed at Olive Lake and the water was piped through an 8-mile wood and steel pipeline to the powerhouse to generate electricity. Homes were constructed to shelter workers who monitored the pipeline. Today, these same homes are available for the public to enjoy. Hilltop Hideaway is the cabin farthest uphill from the Fremont Powerhouse. Winter access may require skis, snowshoes or snowmobiles. Click here for a virtual tour of the area.
Recreation
Guests can hike on trails into the North Fork John Day Wilderness or go mountain biking on forest roads. A drive along the Blue Mountain Scenic Byway is a treat, as are other activities like huckleberry and mushroom picking, bird watching, wildlife viewing and photographing the vast landscape. Nearby Olive Lake offers boating, fishing and swimming.
Facilities
This cozy little cabin features one bedroom with a queen over queen bunkbed, a full bath with hot and cold running water (during the summer months only), a kitchen, and a living room. The cabin has electric lights throughout and is heated with electric heaters. The cabin sleeps up to four and is fully furnished with beds, a couch, and a table with chairs. The kitchen is equipped with an electric stove and oven, refrigerator, microwave and a variety of utensils, such as pots/skillets, a coffee pot, toaster, dishes and silverware. Cleaning supplies are also provided and renters are required to clean the house before they leave. Guests must bring sleeping bags or bedding, a flashlight, first aid kit, washcloths, towels and dish soap, among other general camping supplies.
Natural Features
The cabin sits at an elevation of about 5,000 feet, on a hillside overlooking the expansive Umatilla National Forest near the North Fork John Day Wilderness. A grassy lawn in front leads to the other three cabins in the area. The forest lies in the Blue Mountains and is home to Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. Birds in the area include the black-backed woodpecker, American kestrel and the Boreal owl. Black bear, cougar, wolves, elk and deer are among the native land mammals. Click here to learn about bear safety.
Nearby Attractions
The cabin is located less than 6 miles from Granite, Oregon, a ghost town that once bustled with prospectors and pioneers. The town provides groceries and fuel.
What the agency tells you
- Entry to the cabin is by combination lock. Your cabin code is located at the bottom of this email. - FS Road 52 is not maintained in the winter, so from October through May access is only available from Baker City. Do not attempt to cross Forest Road 52 during those months without calling the District to confirm it is passable. Many people have gotten stuck in snow drifts they thought they could push through and this area is remote and there is no cell phone coverage. - Please bring garbage bags; this is a 'pack in-pack out' facility - No smoking allowed - No drinking water or plumbing from October to May - For current fire restrictions click here or call ranger district at 541-427-3231 - Pets are welcome, but horses and other stock are not allowed - If bringing small children, be cautious around the small pond near the cabin - There is additional space for tent camping - The maximum stay is 14 consecutive nights - 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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS (SEASONAL) on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Showers
- Seasonal Showers
- SHOWERS (SEASONAL) on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Berry Picking
- Birding
- Cross Country Skiing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Mountain biking
- Mushroom Picking
- Picnicking
- Scenic drives
- Snowmobile
- Snowshoeing
- Stargazing
- Wilderness access
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 116th darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 2
Full this Saturdayread 16:42 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:31 UTC. See them
OpenBookedClosed
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday. 1 is free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:42 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
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 · 12
What you actually pay
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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 1
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:31 UTC
- Magone LakeMalheur National Forest · 27 mi · 1 of 4 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:42 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites
All 1 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. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Hilltop Hideaway | Hilltop Hideaway | cabin electric | 30 ft | $55 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Congo GulchUmatilla National Forest · 0.0 mi
Miners RetreatUmatilla National Forest · 0.0 mi
Caretakers CabinUmatilla National Forest · 0.1 mi
Olive Lake Campground (OR)Umatilla National Forest · 4.9 mi
North Fork John Day Campground (OR)Umatilla National Forest · 9.4 miHead O' Boulder Forest CampMalheur National Forest · 10 miFrom Pendleton, Oregon: Travel south on Highway 395 for 50 miles to the Ukiah exit. Turn left on Highway 244 to Ukiah. Turn right (south) just before the city park; this road becomes Forest Service Road (FSR) 52 at the Forest boundary. Travel 50 miles to the small town of Granite. From Granite go west on County Road 24 for approximately 6 miles. The main road veers left along the creek bed. At this junction turn right (uphill) on FSR 10 and follow the signs to the Fremont Powerhouse, towards Fremont Congo Gulch Cabin. Do not use between October and June without confirming this route is open with the Ranger District. From Baker City, Oregon: Travel west on Highway 7 and continue 20 miles to the junction with FSR 73. Proceed north through Sumpter and another 17 miles to the small town of Granite. From Granite go west on County Road 24 for approximately 6 miles. The main road veers left along the creek bed. At this junction turn right (uphill) on FSR 10 and follow the signs to the Fremont Powerhouse, towards Fremont Congo Gulch Cabin. This route is plowed in the winter and provides the only winter access.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Granite, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 28°F, day 59°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 15°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 · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) 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 Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR), Umatilla National Forest, Oregon
Dear Cliff Bentz, I’m a constituent in Oregon’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR), Umatilla National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR). 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 Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) (Umatilla 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 Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR), Umatilla National Forest, Oregon
Dear Jeff Merkley, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR), Umatilla National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR). 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 Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) (Umatilla 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 Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR), Umatilla National Forest, Oregon
Dear Ron Wyden, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR), Umatilla National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR). 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 Hilltop Hideaway - Umatilla NF (OR) (Umatilla National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com