Lava Lake Campground

One of top favorites for our whole family! Swimming, boating, paddleboarding, hiking, biking... all from this excellent forest service campground. We arrived without reservations, would definitely recommend them for future visits, we were able to find an available site that could fit us, but not a guarantee in this very popular campground!
Not many large sites, plus some low hanging branches, so not well suited for large trailers or RVs. No dump station, but one is available at the RV resort just outside the camp entrance for $12.

Friendly, peaceful campground with beautiful views of Mt. Bachelor, South Sister, and Broken Top in the distance. The CG is spread out in lodgepole pine trees and a few small bushes, like other OR Cascade Lakes CGs. There is paved road from main highway into the entrance to CG, the CG loop is well-maintained, sites are dirt, also well-maintained, clean. There was a mix of medium to small RV trailers/vans and tents. The high elevation was appreciated, we had very warm June weather, and enjoyed cooler nights. Sites are not super private from each other, but they were spaced out so we were not on top of our neighbors.
At our Site 39, we backed in our small trailer, with plenty of room, drivers side has complete privacy/trees, the other side has picnic table, firepit, and room for more tents. There were some skinny lodgepole pines between us and site 40 but we were spaced out well. There is a trail from Lava Lake CG to Little Lave Lake, this trail is tucked into trees behind our site. Weekend bike traffic was steady, weekday trail traffic was almost zero. If you have a bike, I recommend bringing it along to bike between Lava Lake and Little Lava Lake CGs. I would not recommend biking along cascade highway, unless you are a seasoned/experienced bicyclist who is used to fast trucks/cars/RVs with only a small shoulder (no bike route on this pavement, maybe OR will change that eventually).
Lava Lake CG water spigots are seen throughout, and the water tasted great! There are several CG pit toilets, kept clean. The CG host was seen frequently during the day, on their golf cart, seemed friendly. Firewood is for sale as almost anything else at the small resort store next to the CG. No electrical hook-ups, although the Lava Lake Resort has private sites behind their store and they have hook-ups (not run by Forest Service, and more expensive). That resort is a small, private resort with a dock, right next door to the Lava Lake CG, handy for food, ice, drinks, candy, chips, and renting boats/paddleboards
The CG has a boat ramp, too. The water looked a bit greenish but clean. There is a marsh area between the CG boat ramp and the Lava Lake Resort boat ramp. The beach near the CG boat ramp is composed of small rocks, no sand, and 30-40 feet past the CG boat ramp is plenty of small and large lava. Not a sandy beach, Not a lake you would want to swim in. I read that Elk Lake has a beach Day area on the south end of that lake and is only 5 miles or so from Lava Lake. It was very warm for June, and we did not swim at Lava Lake, but would have if not for the murky green water. The lake is mostly used for boating, fishing, kayaking, enjoying the views, and the amazing sunsets.

We stayed here in early September, 2108. Found a nice back in site & didn't have to un-hook. The area in front of our trailer was huge! Really open area, but with trees surrounding the site. Great walk over to Little Lava Lake Campground where we found some really cool sites along the creek. Lava Lake had a lot of grass in it, so for swimming or dog getting in the water, we found Little Lava Lake to be better. Great views, great walking, deer and a cool trail along the South shore of Lava Lake. Also, there is a small store at the Lava Lake private campground area. There were a lot of nice sites - I think our site was great!

Several of the campsites will handle 36' rigs, but spacing is tight. We had to trim some branches to get our slidouts and patio awning out. Good tasting water in the CG, threadless spigots only. Water $2 and Dump, $10 including water, available at Lava Lake Lodge next to the CG. There is a warning about swimming in the lake because of green algae. The algae seems like an summertime thing. Verizon speed pretty good during week, but slow on weekend. Probably too many people with their smart phones using the internet. Campsites 19-22 are on the road used to access the boat ramp, so we had some dust and more road traffic than we would have liked.

Most of the sites were very close together with little screening between them. (It is the high desert, after all.) We were approximately 20’ away from the people next to us. We could hear every word they said when in camp. I don’t think any site has a view of the lake so just look for the farthest away sites (higher numbers) if u want some privacy. LOTS of mosquitoes since there are many marshy areas. It’s a quick walk to Little Lava Lake which has calmer water. Tons of nice trails for walking or biking.

Site length sizes are mixed for rv's and tents. We were able to fit our 25' trailer and tv in our store with a little room to spare. Road through cg is narrow in spots which does slow down traffic. Short walk to boat launch, quiet lake, folks were catching rainbow trout, nice for kayaks and canoes. Good base for exploring the area - waterfalls, volcanoes, lava fields, hiking.

We spent two weeks at this no-frills forest service campground while we enjoyed the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. It was a great location for visiting the numerous lakes and trails in the area. The campground is pretty packed during prime season but we easily got one of the six first come, first serve sites by arriving around mid-day on a Sunday. Site 39 was arguably the best site in the whole campground with a large backyard located at the back corner of the campground. Many of the other sites were not as nice and lacked the privacy that we enjoyed during our two-week stay.

There are no utility hook-ups here, but they do have water spigots and pit toilets. The next door Lava Lake Resort offers showers($5) and a dump station ($10).

A few trails crisscross around the lake with many more only a short drive away. If you come with a kayak and want to avoid the massive amount of motorboat traffic in Lava Lake be sure to check out nearby Hosmer Lake. Too shallow for motors but perfect for human-powered boats and the mountain views were spectacular!

Oh yeah, and while it seems like you are in the middle of nowhere, the cell service here was great! Both Verizon and AT&T were rocking with no booster needed.

The campground is located beside Lava Lake, but none of the sites have a direct view of the lake. Most sites are partially shaded by Pine trees. There are no RV hookups. A trail circles the lake with connections to other hiking trails. One of the trails leads to Little Lava Lake which is a short walk from Lava Lake. Most of the sites are fairly level. Sites are gravel pads with generous spacing between sites. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. It's best to camp in this area after July 1 when the mosquito population is lower. There was a good Verizon cell phone signal.

Beside Lava Lake Campground is the Lava Lake RV Resort which has full hookups, a store and boat rentals. Also in the immediate area is Little Lava Lake Campground which is a smaller Forest Service campground that can accommodate small and medium size RV's.