U.S. Forest Service · Willamette National Forest · OR

Lakes End Campground

1Heads up1 fire 12 mi away
Wildfire
Summit fire · 12 mi away · 20 acres · updated Oct 17, 2026
First come, first servedNo reservation, and none to be had: the sites go to whoever pulls in first.

This is how it should work.

Right now
OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
A night
FreeNo camping fee
Season
Year-roundOpen year-round
Drawn from the record · 2,630 ft · 76% tree cover · Smith Reservoir within reach · Bortle 2 sky
2,630 ftElevation
232 ftWater · Smith Reservoir
23.1 miW of Sisters, OR
76%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 375th darkest of 770 in OR
Open year-roundToday

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

This primitive campground is located on the north shore of Smith Reservoir and is accessed by boat only. This site is popular with people looking for a remote, off the beaten path camping experience. Basic facilities such as tables, vault toilets and fire pits are provided. There is no potable water (drinking water). Garbage service is not provided so please keep a pack-in pack-out camp and follow Leave No Trace guidelines.

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…Basic facilities such as tables, vault toilets and fire pits are provided. There is no potable…”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…toilets and fire pits are provided. There is no potable water (drinking water). Garbage service is not provided…”
Source: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Reservoir
Fall color · reported 4 days ago, 38 km away
Patchy color
Source: Stated in the agency description
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (38 km) · Oct 13, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and it costs nothing at all. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.

recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.

BookingNo reservationsNothing to book, and no release date to wait forthe record
A nightFreeNo camping feethe agency’s fee record
A weekendNothingDerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 4

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Camping feeFree
No Fee
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
A night, and a whole weekendDerivedNothing

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s own record says there’s no camping fee, and no booking fee, because this campground takes no reservations. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

How we know this receipt · 5
Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight45°Mostly Cloudy1% rain
Saturday59°Mostly Cloudy12% rain
Saturday Night39°Partly Cloudy1% rain
Sunday65°Mostly Sunny

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.

90°32°20°

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.

Measured at: BELKNAP SPRINGS 8 N, OR (USC00350652), 3 miles away and 478 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Mt. Washington, West6,641 acres · 4 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Echo Mountain8,098 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Mt. Washington, North997 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Janelle Bynum, official portrait

Lakes End 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: The agency lists it open right now. Its own recreation database, though, flags it not open with no reason or date; the flag is named under How we know all this.
Season: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (38 km) · Oct 13, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Black Butte Ranch, OR, 17.4 mi W (a census designated place). Straight line.