Shadow Bay
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 12 of the next 15 nights read 16:31 UTC
- A night
- $28–$56Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 5721 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Shadow Bay Campground rests on the shores of Waldo Lake in a forest of towering conifers. This large recreation area provides plenty of things to see and do like sailing, canoeing, fishing and swimming. Keep reading
Recreation
Waldo Lake is circled by the Jim Weaver Loop, a 22-mile hiking and biking trail. The Shoreline Trail lines the lakeside of the campground and takes hikers and bikers to a network of other trails. From there, hikers can continue into the Waldo Lake Wilderness, but mountain bikers are not allowed in Wilderness. The lake offers boating and swimming. A boat ramp is located on-site.
Facilities
This 92 site campground is less busy than its neighboring campground, North Waldo, resulting in a quieter atmosphere. Nineteen sites are reservable. Garbage containers and gray water disposal areas are available at the campground.
Natural Features
Shadow Bay Campground is located on a large bay at the south end of Waldo Lake. It is considerably wetter than either North Waldo or Islet Campground, supporting a more diverse and prolific ground cover, and also more mosquitos. Situated high on the western slopes of the Oregon Cascades at 5,400 feet in elevation, Waldo Lake is one of the purest lakes in Oregon (9.8 square miles with a maximum depth of 427 feet). It has no permanent inlet to bring nutrients into the lake for plant growth. The lack of plant life contributes to its purity, allowing you to see to depths of 120 feet on a calm day.
Nearby Attractions
Explore Waldo Lake and surrounding hiking trails for views of the snow-capped North, Middle and South Sisters, three of the seven major peaks in Willamette National Forest.
What the agency tells you
THIS SITE CURRENTLY HAS NO DRINKING WATER. You will need to bring all your own water. There are severe maintenance issues with the current water system, that are taking a prolonged period of time to repair. Sorry for any inconvenience.
No electric hookups at this facility
Limit one vehicle per campsite; a fee will be charged for additional vehicles
Everything else this campground posts · 4
This facility has first-come, first-served sites
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.
Any accepted senior passes must be entered for the discount at the time of booking for single sites only.
Customer Service Contact 801-226-3564 or Help.Willamette.MiddleFork@AmericanLL.com
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 57 · 3 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach, Coast
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Night sky · 247th darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 2
Fully booked this Friday and Saturday, all 11 site-nights takenread 16:31 UTC
recreation.gov lists 21 of the 57 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBookedClosed
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $28–$56 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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:31 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
57 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 19 mapped sitesAll 57 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 19 of the 57 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. 57 of the 57 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| LOOA | 001 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 001-24 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | $28–$56 | |||
| LOOA | 002 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 003 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 004 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 005 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 006 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 007 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 008 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 009 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 010 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 011 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 012 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 013 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 014 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 015 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 016 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 017 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 018 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 019 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 020 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 021 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 022 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 023 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOA | 024 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOB | GP_B | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 451 ft | 371 ft | 166 ft | $130 |
| LOOC | GP_C | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 451 ft | 286 ft | 194 ft | $130 |
| LOOD | 061 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 061-70 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $28–$56 | |||
| LOOD | 062 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 063 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 064 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 065 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 066 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 067 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 068 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 069 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOD | 070 | standard nonelectric | $28–$56 | ||||
| LOOE | GP_E | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 165 ft | 460 ft | 311 ft | $130 |
| LOOF | 076 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 104 ft | 214 ft | 338 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 077 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 104 ft | 309 ft | 359 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 078 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 50 ft | 231 ft | 219 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 079 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 104 ft | 304 ft | 165 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 080 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 50 ft | 203 ft | 172 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 081 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 61 ft | 253 ft | 61 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 082 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 61 ft | 196 ft | 53 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 083 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 105 ft | 205 ft | 85 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 084 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 67 ft | 208 ft | 211 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 085 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 272 ft | 202 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 086 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 76 ft | 230 ft | 285 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 087 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 46 ft | 194 ft | 304 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 088 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 49 ft | 181 ft | 352 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 089 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 46 ft | 154 ft | 350 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 090 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 57 ft | 84 ft | 400 ft | $28–$56 |
| LOOF | 091 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 57 ft | 118 ft | 381 ft | $28–$56 |
| S&P | Double S&P | type not stated | 24 ft | $27–$50 | |||
| S&P | Single S&P | type not stated | 20 ft | $27–$50 |
25 of 57 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Islet CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 4.1 miGold Lake CampgroundWillamette National Forest · 4.4 miGold Lake Campground (OR)Willamette National Forest · 4.5 mi
North WaldoWillamette National Forest · 4.9 mi
Princess Creek CampgroundDeschutes National Forest · 7.6 miFrom Oakridge, Oregon: At the intersection of Crestview Street and Oregon State Highway 58 (the only traffic light on State Highway 58 in Oakridge), travel east on Highway 58 for 23.3 miles. Turn left on the Waldo Lake Road/Forest Road 5897 and travel 6.7 miles to Forest Road 5896. Turn left onto Forest Road 5896, travel 1.7 miles and the destination will be on your right.
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
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
Shadow Bay is in Oregon’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Val Hoyle (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →