Whittaker Creek Recreation Site
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 3113 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Overnight camping is closed until further notice. Day-use recreation areas remain open for public use. Reserve a site at Whittaker Creek on recreation.gov or pay when you arrive for non-reserved campsites using the Recreation.gov Mobile App . You must download before you reach the site since there is no cell reception in the drainage. Whittaker Creek Recreation Site is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campground and day use area. The campground has 30 sites. Campground amenities include vault toilets, potable water, picnic areas, a children's play area, an Old Growth Ridge National Recreation Trail (2.5 miles), and a swimming area. In the fall, winter, and spring, busloads of middle school students visit the Whittaker Creek Watchable Wildlife Site to learn about spawning salmon and trout and to assist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's breeding program. Keep reading
Recreation
Camping, hiking, swimming, fishing in Siuslaw River, photography, hunting, Salmon Watch, and nature study.
Facilities
Facilities include: 30 tent only campsites (not recommended for trailers), an accessible campsite, 2 picnic sites, accessible vault toilets, potable water available from hand pumps, picnic tables, fire rings, swimming beach area (June-September), horseshoe pit, Old Growth Ridge National Recreation Trail (2.5 mile loop trail), and a camp host (June-September). Electricity and firewood are unavailable.
Natural Features
Besides the trail to the wildlife viewing area, you can hike the Old Growth Ridge National Recreation Trail, which climbs 1,000 feet above the river into the Coast Range. The 2.5-mile trail was designated in 1994 as a National Recreation Trail due to the exceptional wildlife, geologic features, and old growth trees that are typical of coast range ecosystems. This moderately difficult trail winds through a stand of old growth Douglas fir and offers a look at geologic and botanical features unique to the area. Chinook and coho salmon, as well as steelhead trout can be observed in the fall and winter months in the creek next to the campground. The site also features a paved boat ramp that provides drift boat and canoe access to the Siuslaw River. No permit required to paddle the 6.5-mile river, with Class II - III rapids. Contact Info For local information, please call (541) 683-6600 or call (503) 375-5646 for general information.
Nearby Attractions
Clay Creek Campground , is approximately 16 miles past Whittaker Creek. The Oregon Coast is less than 30 miles from this recreation site. (Florence) Alder Dune Campground (Florence) Archie Knowles Campground (Florence) B & E Wayside Mobile and RV Park (Cottage Grove) Baker Bay Campground (Dorena) Baker Bay County Park (Westfir) Bedrock Camp You can observe Chinook, and Coho salmon, as well as steelhead trout in the fall and winter months in the creek next to the campground during Salmon Watch.
Charges & Cancellations
Standard fees apply and are non-refundable. Visit https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies for more information.
What the agency tells you
There is a large invasive plant species mitigation occurring at the campground this season. Many sites are closed or adjacent to affected areas. Please respect warning signs and closed areas. The day use and hiking trails are open for visitor use.
Campfires? Please see here for current campfire restrictions: Fire Closures and Restrictions Typically, campfires are limited to the steel fire rings or BBQ grills provided within the recreation site. No building rock campfire rings.
The Day Use Area is open all year. The Campground is tentatively closed for the 2026 season, subject to change.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Pets are ALLOWED but must be LEASHED (max. 6 feet) in the parking lot. Please dispose all pet waste in trash receptacles.
Camping stay limit is 14 days in a 28 day period.
Quiet hours are from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am.
The maximum RV or truck/trailer length is 35 feet from front bumper of tow vehicle to back bumper of trailer.
No ATVs or ORVs allowed within the recreation site.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 31 · 13 tent-only, 1 group
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Paved pads
- 1 of 31
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…30 sites. Campground amenities include vault toilets, potable water, picnic areas, a children's play…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…amenities include vault toilets, potable water, picnic areas, a children's play area, an Old…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Hiking
- Picnicking
- Swimming
- Wildlife viewing
- Cell signal · Cell signal · BLM says
- None
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 13 of the 31 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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.
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 · 17
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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.
“Standard fees apply and are non-refundable. Visit https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies for more information.” · 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 · 6
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
31 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 13 mapped sitesAll 31 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. 12 of the 31 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| Back Loop | Site 15 | tent only nonelectric | 86 ft | 66 ft | $20 | |
| Back Loop | Site 16 | type not stated | 70 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 17 | type not stated | 86 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 18 | type not stated | 145 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 19 | type not stated | 206 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 20 | type not stated | 236 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 21 | type not stated | 121 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 22 | type not stated | 121 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 23 | type not stated | 92 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 24 | type not stated | 62 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 25 | type not stated | 64 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 26 | type not stated | 59 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 27 | type not stated | 80 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 28 | type not stated | 277 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 29 | type not stated | 263 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 30 | type not stated | 195 ft | |||
| Back Loop | Site 31 | type not stated | 81 ft | |||
| Front Loop | Site 1 | tent only nonelectric | 116 ft | 70 ft | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 10 | tent only nonelectric | 73 ft | 195 ft | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 11 | group tent only area nonelectric | 73 ft | 200 ft | $40 | |
| Front Loop | Site 12 | tent only nonelectric | 100 ft | 73 ft | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 13 | tent only electric | 100 ft | 54 ft | ||
| Front Loop | Site 14 | type not stated | 70 ft | |||
| Front Loop | Site 2 | tent only nonelectric | 86 ft | 125 ft | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 3 | tent only nonelectric | yes | 105 ft | 177 ft | $20 |
| Front Loop | Site 4 | tent only nonelectric | 101 ft | 154 ft | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 5 | tent only nonelectric | 112 ft | 263 ft | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 6 | type not stated | 239 ft | |||
| Front Loop | Site 7 | tent only nonelectric | 105 ft | 148 ftSiuslaw River | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 8 | tent only nonelectric | 87 ft | 95 ftSiuslaw River | $20 | |
| Front Loop | Site 9 | tent only nonelectric | 87 ft | 153 ft | $20 |
25 of 31 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Clay Creek Recreation SiteNw Oregon Siuslaw Field Office · 7.3 miArchie Knowles CampgroundSiuslaw National Forest · 7.4 mi
Vincent Creek CampgroundCoos Bay Umpqua Field Office · 14 miSmith River Falls CampgroundCoos Bay Umpqua Field Office · 15 miNorth Fork Siuslaw CampgroundSiuslaw National Forest · 16 miFawn Creek CampgroundCoos Bay Umpqua Field Office · 16 miFrom Eugene (valley)
From Interstate 5 go west on Beltline Road to West 11th Avenue. Turn right onto West 11th Avenue (Highway OR-126). Follow Highway 126 about 29 miles to Siuslaw River Road just west of Walton. Turn left on Siuslaw River Road and follow about 1.6 miles to the intersection of Whittaker Creek Road. Turn right on Whittaker Creek Road crossing the bridge over the Siuslaw River. The main entrance to the recreation site is located on the right.
From Florence (coast)
Take Highway OR-126 east about 14 miles to Mapleton. Turn right and follow Highway 126 for about 12 miles to Siuslaw River Road. Turn right on Siuslaw River Road and follow about 1.6 miles to the intersection of Whittaker Creek Road. Turn right on Whittaker Creek Road crossing the bridge over the Siuslaw River. The main entrance to the recreation site is located 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 Mapleton, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 63°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Whittaker Creek Recreation Site 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 →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…download before you reach the site since there is no cell reception in the drainage. Whittaker Creek Recreation Site is a Bureau…”