Shadow Bay

The bugs are terrible. It’s amazing to me it’s even open. Worst camping experience I’ve ever had. My group of 6 adults and 6 kids had to leave after 1 night. There was nothing good about this experience.

We love Waldo Lake. There is nothing better than being in a kayak floating on the pure clear water. We have camped here for 30 years. The only drawback of course is the mosquitoes which we avoid by now being able to camp in September. A little nitpicking: we stayed in site 87 last year and the picnic table was in poor shape and the fire pit was falling apart, should be replaced. A dump station would be great but we understand the old one had to be abandoned for the purity of the lake. The integrity of Waldo should always come first.

I have been not only camping but managing the Oakridge Ranger District..now Middle fork Ranger District since the early 1990,s. Since Retirement in 2004, I have continued to camp at or around Waldo Lake. My Friend and I have made a hard decision to return to Waldo for one more try. There are two critical issues.....1. Each year I have had to clean out and drain the dish water drain. No one.....yes no one has clean it yearly. 2. The toilet stunk soooooooo bad that we walked to another toilet the smelled a little better. When inquired about the issue,,,,it was the same old excuse that the FS did not have the parts (fan) to fix the issue. Oh, give me a brake......When the system was put in....extra parts were ordered and if they are out....then order new parts. If you can not get it.....then put in a new system! I was there when the toilets were put in and I know how they work so the excuses made by the volunteers was bogus! I have complained to the FS though people who still work there in hopes that things will change. As I stated earlier, my friend and I are going to try once more and if the issues continue to exist....then I will complain to people of higher authority as I love Waldo and find this issue unacceptable and also a health hazard. These issues are shared by many other campers who stated to me that they would not return. A shame this has to happen.

The composting toilets were terrible, smelled of Raid and had lots of flies. The pit toilets down by the beach loop were great, though. We ended up hiking over to those anytime we wanted to do our business. Wasn't great.

The hosts were really nice, and the lake of course is amazing!

MOSQUITOES are absolutely horrible in mid July. Left early.

The lake is breathtakingly beautiful. Perfect.
The camp hosts are super friendly.
Facilities are as advertised, but surprisingly clean and well kept.
The place was not crowded at all, even weekend in July! Must be the mosquitos keeping people away.

We LOVE central Oregon, but will probably look for a different camp site next time. Too many mosquitoes for me.

Campsite good, area has a lot of mosquitoes

Camp hosts were great! Friendly, brought wood by site, kept outhouses clean. Some outhouses were more frequented with stronger orders than some.

Early in season, so mosquitoes were BAD on shore and at campsite.

This is a difficult location to travel to. There are no pictures of campsites, very little information on the website. The campsite we reserved had a fallen tree in the middle of it which rendered the site nearly useless. The mosquitoes are insane. (That is not anyone’s fault). However there is not enough information online to prepare. The camp host was no where to be found for two days. We finally just left.

The mosquitoes were the worst I’ve ever seen we couldn’t stay. This was the first campground I didn’t stay at because of mosquitoes. The car was covered as soon as we pulled up and got bites all over my body within 2 minutes of standing outside with bug spray on. I was out $51 ish after having booked 2 nights at this campground.

Had the hardest time finding a reservation for three nights, midweek. When we arrived, only 2 out of the six loops had people in them. Loops A,B,C,D were empty. Lots of mosquitoes. The lake was beautiful and had easy access to it from little trails in the campgrounds. The toilets were clean, but burnt your eyes with the smell of ammonia. Incredibly clean campground and lake. Ended up relocating to North Waldo Campground were there were fewer mosquitoes. Half of the sites at North Waldo Campground are first come, first serve. Very quiet, beautiful view of the stars, and immaculately clean. It was a delight to go swimming in such clear water. Kayaked in the mornings. Swam in the afternoons when the winds picked up. Love this lake.