Farewell Bend State Recreation Area

Seasonal disclaimer we are heading south and it's late October. Two loops open one with power and water on, also showers that are free and quite clean. Some sites seem to have sewer. We snagged a pull through but they are rather tight for my Class A plus full sized Ram toad. I left the toad hooked up but I don't think I am getting out of the site with it attached. Regardless the park is spotless and the usual Oregon quality. The non power side looks very popular maybe it's cheaper I dunno but I think the non resident fee is $32. I am very fortunate to enjoy this place for free, thanks Oregon for taking care of the Vets. It's so nice here, I might spend an extra day. I am sure in summer this place is very busy with a boat launch. There is a train across the river, I can't hear it but it I see other people did.

I first stayed here in 2007 and it was truly beautiful. Majestic elms shaded loop B, the (dammed) river was at full pool and the place was packed (in May). I stayed again in November of 2020 and again just a few days ago. I love this place. So much history. But as others have reported the park really has gone downhill. Many of the old elms have been cut down. The ones still there have been “pruned” by Freddie (aka butchered) and look terrible. The drought has definitely affected the trees and shrubs. It was 98 degrees and nothing had been watered for a long, long time. I say stay a night and soak up the history then move on. :(

Brown, Dusty and Dessicated... Worst managed Oregon State Park I have been to with NO irrigation, VERY poor maintenance, many obvious construction projects sitting for years, bathrooms cleaned MAYBE every 3 days and absolutely no nice place to recreate by the water and dead catfish all along the gravel river/reservoir banks. The grass is completely dormant in the whole park and sticker weeds have overtaken it all (we spent a huge amount of time picking/cutting stickers off our poor dogs coat. Sumer heat makes asphalt to hot to walk on so we drove 36 miles round trip everyday to Weiser ID so our dog could have green grass and we could enjoy a nicer area. We LOVE our park system and have been to SO MANY amazing ones, this is not one of them.

We stayed in the A loop, which stated full shade when reserving the site. There were some trees, but they provided very little shade. The temperatures were pretty mild, so we were fine. Check in was fast, easy and friendly. Overall, the site and hookups met our needs. The best feature of this state park was the huge enclosed dog park. We walked around each of the 3 loops, and passed by the RV dump station and were overwhelmed by the stench. Fortunately we couldn’t smell it from our site. That, along with the lack of cleanliness of the bathrooms and showers, makes this state park a 4.

Great access from I-84, no ranger at the check-in station, just drove to site. Rangers come and check on you later. Bathrooms and shower facilities are adequate. C loop overlooks the Snake River.

Sites are well spaced in the C loop, B loop is tighter but there are hedges separating the sites.

There is s TA about 4 miles away on the I-84 turn-off. For grocery and restaurants, you have to go to Weiser or Ontario, 15 and 25 miles away. Not much hiking in the area, most people are boating or fishing. There is a boat ramp in the park. There is a little train noise from across the river, but it is not annoying.

AT&T Cell service was spotty, 1-2 bars of 4G and spotty. We were able to boost it to be usable for streaming. Signal on band 12 was -105 RSRP un-boosted and -90 boosted.

Stayed Oct 22-24 as they close after the last weekend in Oct. Fall rate $26/night for electric & water. Easy in/out dump station near checkin.
Loop A-tent loop called Antelope already closed. Loop B-Brownlee Loop has mature trees and bushes to screen sites arranged in a circle around the bathhouse. Loop C-Catfish Loop is closer to the river, but is very open between sites.

Less than a dozen sites in use, due to rainy, windy weather. We were snug. There is some road noise from I-84 just across the river & from trains east of campground. But with the rain…noise is noise.

Firewood available for a fee on a hand truck for easy transport to your site. No hosts at this late date.

Campsite Self-registration and they take Amex, MC or Visa in addition to cash.

This is one of several Oregon State Parks I’ve visited in the last year and again I’m, well, underwhelmed.

The location itself is not impressive and was merely a one night stopover. My site was level and adequately spaced from the neighboring sites to provide decent privacy. There’s little in the way of trees, but that’s simply the landscape. As my visit was during the summer, the biting flies, bees and mosquitoes were an annoyance.

My disappointment is with the lack of maintenance. To begin, someone had previously backed into both the electric pole and water faucet at my campsite, leaving both bent at an angle. Filling a water jug from the spigot was impossible, as the water was aimed at a 45 degree upward. I used a neighboring unoccupied site's spigot.

The bathroom and showers are nice buildings, but had obviously not been properly cleaned in a while. Black mildew, hair in the drains, etc. So much for Covid safety measures, huh? This was the same for other Oregon parks I’ve visited this year. I don't think the camp hosts are responsible for this task.

The doors to the bathrooms were propped open all night, allowing bugs to swarm the interior lights. The number of dead and live bugs in the bathroom sinks easily numbered in the hundreds. Dead/dying bugs covered the toilet seats and had to be wiped away before use.

The following morning I packed up and departed without even eating breakfast. I wouldn't choose this campground again.