Lava Lake Campground

Quiet and nice shaded campsite. Smokey from the forest fires the first night but then air cleared.

Quiet and nice shaded campsite. Smokey from the forest fires the first night but then air cleared.

The bathrooms at Lava Lake were very poor. In fact, the hosts had to close two of the bathrooms which made us walk quite a distance to be able to use the bathroom. All of the bathrooms should have been serviced last year. The host kept the bathrooms cleaned and stocked with toilet paper, but the flies were overwhelming, again because the pits needed to be cleaned out.

The bathrooms at Lava Lake were very poor. In fact, the hosts had to close two of the bathrooms which made us walk quite a distance to be able to use the bathroom. All of the bathrooms should have been serviced last year. The host kept the bathrooms cleaned and stocked with toilet paper, but the flies were overwhelming, again because the pits needed to be cleaned out.

We really wanted to like this campground as there were definitely good things about it, but there were a couple of disappointments that weighed down our experience.

The Good:
1. Pot water was surprisingly good. We did a couple of big bike rides and we blew through the gallons we brought with us, so we had to use the pot water. Very surprised, it was fresh.

2. For vault toilets they were well tended to.

3. The sites as they are are great. Nice space and not too close to others.

The Bad:
1. While very pretty to look at, algae bloom made the lake inaccessible from the campground. I know this isn't something they can control, I get it, but I feel like they should advertise it at least (they had general signs up near the lake if what to look for in a bloom, but nothing that stated that a bloom was in effect). The lack of communication was the core issue.

2. Based on how we structured our trip, one of the reasons we chose this campground were the advertised showers. Little did we know that despite the signage, they were hidden away for the RV resort visitors. Again, clearer communication would've solved that.

3. Dusty AF. I get a little dust happens in a well-loved campsite, but at least our site had this dust that was thick and cakey. It got absolutely everywhere and was hard to clean up from.

All in all, I think this campground would be much better earlier in the season, like mid-July latest. Most our issues would probably be resolved due to fresher lake water and cooler temps that didn't lend to so much dust.

We really wanted to like this campground as there were definitely good things about it, but there were a couple of disappointments that weighed down our experience.

The Good:
1. Pot water was surprisingly good. We did a couple of big bike rides and we blew through the gallons we brought with us, so we had to use the pot water. Very surprised, it was fresh.

2. For vault toilets they were well tended to.

3. The sites as they are are great. Nice space and not too close to others.

The Bad:
1. While very pretty to look at, algae bloom made the lake inaccessible from the campground. I know this isn't something they can control, I get it, but I feel like they should advertise it at least (they had general signs up near the lake if what to look for in a bloom, but nothing that stated that a bloom was in effect). The lack of communication was the core issue.

2. Based on how we structured our trip, one of the reasons we chose this campground were the advertised showers. Little did we know that despite the signage, they were hidden away for the RV resort visitors. Again, clearer communication would've solved that.

3. Dusty AF. I get a little dust happens in a well-loved campsite, but at least our site had this dust that was thick and cakey. It got absolutely everywhere and was hard to clean up from.

All in all, I think this campground would be much better earlier in the season, like mid-July latest. Most our issues would probably be resolved due to fresher lake water and cooler temps that didn't lend to so much dust.

Loved the campground. Was very peaceful and quiet.

Loved the campground. Was very peaceful and quiet.

The campsites were on on the lake, as it looks like online. Some have trees for shade, some do not.
The toilets were super clean and we’ll maintained, thanks to the camp host! Very dusty, even with paved roads, every car that went by kicked up dust clouds.
The water quality was disappointing. Murky brown, some dead fish floating. I contacted Odfw and was told it was algae and there were too many chub. Also told me that odfw isn’t responsible for water quality, just the fish. Sad.
Nice hiking trails to little lava lake and around lava lake.

The campsites were on on the lake, as it looks like online. Some have trees for shade, some do not.
The toilets were super clean and we’ll maintained, thanks to the camp host! Very dusty, even with paved roads, every car that went by kicked up dust clouds.
The water quality was disappointing. Murky brown, some dead fish floating. I contacted Odfw and was told it was algae and there were too many chub. Also told me that odfw isn’t responsible for water quality, just the fish. Sad.
Nice hiking trails to little lava lake and around lava lake.