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

Wickiup Campground

1Heads up1 fire 27 mi away
Wildfire
Salmon fire · 27 mi away · 1,433 acres · 100% contained · updated Oct 4, 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
6All of them booked ahead
50 ftLongest rig
5,540 ftElevation
1,766 ftWater · Graham Creek
15.9 miSE of John Day, OR
57%Tree cover

The place

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

In the agency’s own words

Wickiup Campground sets off of Forest Road 15 tucked amongst trees, next to Canyon Creek, the perfect place to relax in the shade during the summer months and listen to the creek flow past. This is a beautiful campground that offers opportunities for picnicking and stream fishing. The campground is a good starting point for hiking, viewing wildlife and hunting during the summer and fall months. Keep reading

Recreation

Wickiup Campground offers a variety of recreation opportunities for visitors looking to enjoy the outdoors. The shaded setting along Canyon Creek provides an inviting spot for relaxing picnics and peaceful stream fishing. From the campground, hikers can easily set out to explore nearby forest trails, while wildlife enthusiasts will find plenty of chances to observe animals in their natural habitat. During the summer and fall months, the area also serves as a convenient base for hunters accessing the surrounding terrain. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (541) 575-3000.

Nearby Attractions

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Swick Old Growth Interpretive Site Dry Soda Lookout Starr Campground Parish Cabin Campground Blue Mountain Ranger District

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 Canyon City, 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
6
Hookups
None
Longest rig
50 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Source: recreation.gov facility record · Sep 9, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Creek
Night sky · 74th darkest of 770 in OR
Bortle 2
Source: Stated in the agency description · 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

6 sites

All 6 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. 6 of the 6 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Wickiup01standard nonelectric50 ft$6
Wickiup02standard nonelectric$6
Wickiup03standard nonelectric$6
Wickiup04standard nonelectric$6
Wickiup05standard nonelectric$6
Wickiup06standard nonelectric$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 John Day, OR. travel south on US Highway 395 approximately 10 miles to the junction with County Road 65.  Follow County Road 65 approximately 7 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

Today58°Mostly Sunny
Tonight37°Partly Cloudy
Sunday55°Mostly Sunny
Sunday Night41°Partly Cloudy1% rain

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

Wickiup 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.