Ochoco Lake County Park

It was peaceful, but algae bloom warnings said to stay out of water. There were flies throughout the park and even near the parking lot. The entire place had a foul smell, and the flies swarmed near the locked outhouses (closed for maintenance). I smelled it as soon as I got out of the car in the parking lot. It's beautiful, but I recommend going when the bathrooms have been fixed. The flies and smell take away a lot of the enjoyment of fresh air.

So, having visited Steins Pillar approximately 10-12 minutes from the Ochoco Lake, we decided to stop by the campground to get some aerial footage along with getting an idea of what the park offered. I was told that at one time there were structures or cabins of some sort on the campsite pads, some with concrete in place still, but now was only for tents. There was restrooms available throughout the campground with potable water available, a million dollar view of the lake & the peaceful environment of the forested shore with mountains as the backdrop. This is a nicely laid out campground with Beautiful surroundings, recconemnd it to anyone visiting the area who enjoy camping.

Nicely kept camp ground. Very clean bathrooms, no runing water, and sites. It appears the lake has tried up 1/2 way. The noise from the hwy is clearly heard. Encountered birds, chipmunks, fish and a snake cooling itself in the water all while exploring the site.

Camping at this location was one of the worst camping experiences I've ever had. When we arrived, we found that the park hosts had set up a sprinkler in our site to water the grass, soaking the area where we would have placed our tent and the restroom code that they gave me in the email was changed due to the homeless coming in off the highway to use their facilities. When I say coming off the highway, I mean this campground is RIGHT off the highway, like 300 feet away. While we were setting up the tent, the Crook County Sheriff had three units respond to domestic violence happening in the park. There were motorcycles leaving the state park revving their engines unnecessarily loud at all hours, just to operate them normally once they were on their way. We were hoping to swim in the lake, but the stench coming off the lake was unreal and the muck in the lake made it unsuitable for anything but boating. I spent more on firewood bundles than I did for the two day stay, and the wood had too much moisture in it to make for an enjoyable campfire. Found a discarded drug baggie in our site as well. The only positives to mention were that the restrooms/showers were clean, the park hosts were friendly and it was in close proximity to a BLM Rockhounding site where you could find cool rocks.

Gorgeous views and plenty of places to fish. Cool little camping spots as well.