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

Starr Campground

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 27 mi
Wildfire
Salmon fire · 27 mi away · 1,433 acres · 100% contained · updated Oct 4, 2026
Wildfire
Case Ridge fire · 47 mi away · 1 acres · updated Oct 14, 2026
ReservableBooking 6 months out; today unlocks April 16. Season not published.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
A night
$6From, per site
Sites
11All of them booked ahead
5,540 ftElevation
1,766 ftWater · Graham Creek
15.9 miSE of John Day, OR
57%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 74th darkest of 770 in OR

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices

In the agency’s own words

Starr Campground is located just off of US Highway 395 making it very easy to get to. The campground has an upper level that is closer to the highway, yet still set back amongst beautiful ponderosa pines. The lower part of the campground is set further back in the pine trees allowing for a more secluded experience. This beautiful campground sets in a prime spot for hunters, hikers and wildlife enthusiast. Within a 7 mile drive of the campground are numerous trailheads leading into the beautiful Strawberry Mountain Wilderness. Just a few more miles down the road is beautiful Logan Valley, this area is amazing during the spring, summer and fall months affording wildflower, wildlife and scenery viewing. Keep reading

Recreation

Starr Campground is a convenient base camp during hunting season, offering easy access to surrounding public lands including the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness.

Facilities

Each campsite has a picnic table, fire ring, and parking for camp trailers. Accessible vault toilets are conveniently located in the campground. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (541) 575-3000.

Nearby Attractions

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Swick Old Growth Interpretive Site Fall Mountain Lookout Starr Snow play Area

What the agency tells you

Rule

Malheur National Forest Fire Public Use Restrictions

Rule

Malheur National Forest Alerts

Rule

14 Day Stay Limit

Everything else this campground posts · 3
Rule

No cell phone coverage. Verizon cell phone coverage in Seneca, Oregon

Rule

No trash service; Pack it in/Pack it out

Rule

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.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
11
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…parking for camp trailers. Accessible vault toilets are conveniently located in the campground. Contact…”
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Around the campground

Hiking
Hunting
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:40 UTC

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.

Booking window6 months outBooking opens 6 months ahead; today unlocks arrivals through April 16, 2027. The agency publishes no reservable season in the record we hold, so the window may close earlier than that.recreation.gov
Max stay14 nightsthe facility record
A night$6plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$20DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night$6
Standard$6
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 1, 2026 to Oct 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
One nightDerived$14
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$20

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $6 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.

If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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 15:40 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

11 sites

All 11 sites

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 11 of the 11 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Starr01standard nonelectric$6
Starr02standard nonelectric$6
Starr03standard nonelectric$6
Starr04standard nonelectric$6
Starr05standard nonelectric$6
Starr06standard nonelectric$6
Starr07standard nonelectric$6
Starr08standard nonelectric$6
Starr09standard nonelectric15 amp$6
Starr10standard nonelectric$6
Starr11standard nonelectric15 amp$6

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Coordinate44.33817, -118.61210
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From the town of John Day, OR., travel south on US Highway 395 approximately 16 miles.  The campground will be on the right.

The agency publishes this point for 18 campgrounds; it’s likely a district office, not the campground. Use the agency’s own page for directions.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon57°Mostly Sunny
Tonight42°Partly Cloudy
Saturday58°Mostly Sunny
Saturday Night37°Partly Cloudy

NWS forecast for Prairie City, OR

Typical weather

Typical October night 21°F, day 60°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 11°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°0°

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: SENECA, OR (USC00357675), 23 miles away and 880 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
Glacier Mountain20,661 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Baldy Mountain6,416 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

Cliff Bentz, official portrait

Starr 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate.
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: Prairie City, OR, 8.9 mi SSE. Straight line.