South Shore Group Campground
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 14 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 3All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
South Shore Group Campground reservations are no longer accepted through Recreation.gov as of March 2019. Please contact the new managing agency, Crook County Parks and Recreation District, at 541-447-2599 to make your reservations for Willow, Juniper, and Cottonwood campsites at South Shore Campground. Thank you for visiting Haystack Reservoir. South Shore Group Campground is the only designated group campground at Haystack Reservoir in Central Oregon near Madras, Oregon. There are three group campsites to reserve which can hold 50 people per group site. Keep reading
Each site is primitive so they do not have water, electricity or sewer available. Two vault toilets are located in the campground, and each site has picnic tables and a firering. All campfires are required to be in the firerings at all times. Water is available about .5 miles away at West Shore Campground up the road. Each campsite is private from the other group sites. All roads and campsites are gravel. These campsites are located near the lake with beautiful views of the reservoir and Cascade Mountains. Sites are surrounded by juniper trees, sagebrush and bitterbrush and are an ideal quiet setting for small or large groups wanting a private natural setting on Haystack Lake. Upon arrival, visit the Campground Host at West Shore Campground .5 miles up the road so they can give you check-in instructions, since there is a locked gate at South Shore Campground. The campground is open March through November.
Recreation
Haystack Reservoir is a small and intimate lake very popular for fishing and camping with local visitors along with many traveling and recreating through the sunny Central Oregon area. Haystack Reservoir offers boating, fishing, camping and sightseeing and is easy access only a few miles off of Highway 97. Small motorized boating is allowed. Non-motorized boating is popular for those with canoes and kayaks. Two boat ramps are located nearby at West and East Shore Campgrounds across the lake from South Shore Group Campground. The surrounding Central Oregon area is a destination for a variety of favorite recreation opportunities such as boating, hiking, fishing, camping, mountain biking, rock climbing, horseback riding, hunting and designated Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) trails. Several premier Oregon State Parks are nearby for recreation use such as Smith Rock State Park offering world known rock climbing, and Lake Billy Chinook offering popular camping, boating, fishing, hiking, picnicking, swimming, and water and jet skiing. The Lower Deschutes Wild and Scenic River is located about 30 minutes away, and provides world known fishing and whitewater boating.
Facilities
South Shore Group Campground has three primitive group campsites with picnic tables, campfire rings, and gravel roads and parking lots. Two vault toilets are available in the campground. The group campsites are named Willow, Juniper and Cottonwood with lots of vegetation for privacy screening and close to the lake with great views of the mountains on a sunny day. There are no water, sewer or electric hookups. Water is available .5 miles up the road at West Shore Recreation Area. Once you arrive, check in at West Shore Campground with the Campground Host, and they will give you information for entering South Shore since there is a locked gate at the group campground entrance.
Natural Features
South Shore Campground is located in a High Desert landscape with gorgeous views of the lake, Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood as a scenic backdrop. High desert weather is mostly sunny and warm a majority of the time with juniper trees, sage brush and bitter brush throughout the campground. Lakeside views and access to this small, intimate reservoir make it a beautiful spot in Central Oregon to relax and view waterfowl, deer, eagles, osprey and Great Blue Herons. The combination of a low forest canopy and 3,000' elevation make this a perfect location for stargazing at the wide open sky on clear nights.
Nearby Attractions
There are several state parks within 30 minutes away to include Smith Rock and Cove Palisades State Parks. Smith Rock State Park features world class rock climbing and hiking along the Crooked River. The Cove Palisades State Park offers many lake opportunities such as boating, swimming, hiking, water and jet skiing. The Lower Deschutes Wild and Scenic River is a popular destination for both whitewater boating and fishing only 30 minutes away. The nearby U.S. National Forest Service Grasslands feature designated Off Highway Vehicles (OHV) trails, horseback riding, hiking and primitive camping.
Charges & Cancellations
Please contact the new managing agency, Crook County Parks and Recreation District, at 541-447-2599 for cancellation policy.
What the agency tells you
South Shore Group Campground has a locked gate to the facility. You need to check in with the Campground Host at West Shore Recreation Area, .5 miles away, to receive your access instructions. You will need a copy of your reservations for the Camp Host to confirm.
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.
4th weekend in August every year are the Drag Boat Races at Haystack Reservoir. Reservations are allowed at South Shore Group Campground; however, temporary loud noise and no use in the water is allowed on Saturday and Sunday, 9 am - 6 pm.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
NO REFUNDS will be issued for situations that are out of management's control, such as weather, water levels, natural acts, etc.
While recreating at Haystack Reservoir: CLEAN, DRAIN, DRY boats and any other recreational equipment that comes in contact with water. Never dump unwanted bait, worms, fish parts or other organisms into the water. For more information visit https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/ STOP THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES. REMOVE plants, seeds, animals and mud from boots, gear, pets, and vehicle. CLEAN your gear before entering and leaving the recreation site. STAY on designated roads and trails and use local firewood. For more information visit https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 3 · 3 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 3 of 3 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Picnicking
- Sailboarding
- Stargazing
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
“Please contact the new managing agency, Crook County Parks and Recreation District, at 541-447-2599 for cancellation policy.” · 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
3 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 3 mapped sitesAll 3 sites
| South Shore Group Campground | Cottonwood Group Site | group standard nonelectric | 433 ft | 238 ft |
| South Shore Group Campground | Juniper Group Campsite | group standard nonelectric | 433 ft | 217 ft |
| South Shore Group Campground | Willow Group Site | group standard nonelectric | 660 ft | 146 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
South Shore Group Sites0.0 mi
Haystack Campground (East Shore)Crooked River National Grassland · 0.4 miHaystack West Shore Campground and Day Use Area0.6 miSkull Hollow CampgroundCrooked River National Grassland · 7.8 mi
Steelhead Falls CampgroundPrineville Deschutes Field Office · 9.2 miBLM Beach CampgroundPrineville Deschutes Field Office · 13 miFrom Highway 97: Exit on to SW Jericho Lane and head East for approximately 1.25 miles. Turn right on SW Haystack Drive and proceed approximately 1mile to South Shore Group Campground on the left.
From Highway 26: Exit on to Laurel Lane (FS 96) and head west for approximately four miles. Turn right on to SW Haystack Drive and continue approximately 2 miles to South Shore Group Campground on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Culver, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 62°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 22°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
South Shore Group 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 →