Shadow Bay

The water was beautiful on the lake. Not too crowded or anything either and nice little spots with beach access from our campsite. But the mosquitoes at the beginning of July were so bad that I couldn’t really stand to sit by the fire or to eat outside. Stayed in my camper except for when I went onto the lake. Bathrooms were also really unclean and smelled terrible.

When we arrived with our reserved reservations at Shadow Bay campground, we found someone setup with tents in our campsite. This was well after the checkout time. We contacted the camp manager, and he was very nice by giving us a better campsite near to the lake. He said he would charge the people in our reserved site for the extra day. We didn't see the people at our site, as we were told by their neighbors they were out with their boat on the lake. Too bad this seems to be happening more often at the national forest campgrounds. Reviews claim this is a real problem at Oregon central coastal campgrounds near where we live. More camping gear being taken too, such as a new kayak at Coldwater Creek campground we were at a few weeks before.

If your sensitive to bug bites wait til the 'off season' for mosquitos 🤣 We actually had to leave early due to my 12 year old getting bit so bad the first night they couldn't move with out wanting to cry the next day. The water is amazing. Again if you can get 50 yards away from the shore. And that's really using every spray and thing that was DEET free. And having a double layer shelter setup for bug protection. Sorry as you can tell a little traumatized 🤣 sites are big. At the moment NO WATER which was okay because we weren't there long. It was pipe damage so they were waiting on repairs. The shadow bay area is just a dry swamp so some sites are next to mosquito beds and never get sunrays. The land is amazing. I will have to come up when the bugs aren't as bad and get the 2 extra stars. The small islands that you can paddle to are GREAT safe zone aways from the bugs and to spend the day at.

The setting was beautiful and the water at Waldo Lake was clean.
There was no drinking water available throughout the entire campground, not good for people who had not brought enough water with them for their stay. No signs were posted about this problem.
The camp hosts cleaned the outhouse regularly, but the toilets badly needed to be pumped out. The ammonia smell inside the outhouse was so strong that it burned your eyes and nose.

Campground was great. We were in 83. Large site. Great access to the lake. Very nice hosts! However, we were there in July, mosquitoes were horrible! Go prepared! I would recommend a pop up screen room!

Waldo Lake is a truly special lake and worth a visit; extract more beauty with a canoe or kayak. The blooming beargrass was spectacular! Do be ready for mosquitoes, however.
Take your own water - the water system was vandalized over the winter and is non-functional. I didn’t see mention of that on the Recreation.gov website, nor was it mentioned at my stop at the Oakridge Ranger Station, even when I verified there were no shower facilities at Shadow Bay. Why not??
I had a great visit, however, and the hosts were quite accommodating. Thank you.

There is no potable water and that’s a big deal. Sure there’s mosquitoes. Lots of them but you gamble in nature. And ours was a blood donation. But the fact that none of the water is working and available was very disappointing. I’ve camped here before and checked the site before I left. No mention of lack of water. It says potable water available. I spent a lot of time checking all the water areas before meeting a host who told me the water is t working. It’s a long drive to Crescent or Oakridge to get water. I brought two gallons and boiled water for meals from the lake and still needed to get drinking water. Be aware and take lots of water.

The campground was great, the host/manager was kind and helpful. The only issue was no water...Thank goodness we had a purifier!

Be prepared for mosquitoes. LOVE that there is no cell reception!

A fantastic campground. Nice, spacious sites. Very quiet. Plenty of beach spots to relax and swim from. Nice hiking trails around the lake. We love this spot so much and come back every year!