Fishermen's Bend Recreation Site

We love Fishermen's Bend. We found this gem a few years back, and have not stopped bringing new people to experience the magic that is fisherman's Bend ever since. We do lots of camping, and this is one of our favorite places for family camping. The staff in our experience has always been so welcoming.
*Campground details*
Fisherman's Bend group site G01 Fits up to 60 people, and 20 cars and is pet friendly! Check-in is at 2:00pm. Check-out is at 1:00pm. For group sites you do not have to check-in at the office, so you can have all your guests head straight to the campsite. G01( Steelhead) has running water, including a drinking fountain, a undercover area with tables & seating, and if memory serves me correctly a wood burning stove. 2 fire pits, running water, and electrical for both RV & regular plugs, and a large barbecue grill. It is the farthest from the river I believe, however the walk to both the river, and the restrooms is just a hop,skip, and a jump away. Fisherman's Bend offers Paved walking/ bike trails with amazing views of the river, is pet friendly, has boat a ramp, playground(s), basketball hoops, volleyball nets, large park barbecue grills, education center, flushing toilets, and warm showers( free to those camping). The undercover day use shelter has ample space with seating and tables. Along with a wood burning stove, electric stoves, large barbecue grills, Running water, and a sink. The non- shelter day use picnic areas have nice river views. There are Cabins rentals available, and the store's are just 5 minute drive from the campground, just in case a emergency snack run is needed. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but this place is perfect for creating memories!

Visited here 4/29/19 to soak our feet in the river after hiking all day. This is a really nice campground. The bathrooms at the entrance are flushing toilets and were clean when we went. A big campground.

It’s a bit of a ghost park Right now but a day use area and the boat ramp is open and the North Santiam river still flows with this park on its north shore. The 2020 fires will show gr some years to come

Fisherman’s Bend is awesome. Nice area near the river, nice camp sites, I have quite a few bathrooms and showers. Showers are free. Gates close at 10 pm open @7am. Lots of shade, very green. Friendly staff. restrooms are pretty clean. That’s great.

We had a fantastic stay in one of the cabins, which can be booked through Recreation.gov. I think there are only 2 on the whole site. I had trouble finding info on them, so I will describe them here. The cabins have two rooms. The first room has a table with benches and a futon that can be pulled out into a full bed. The back room has a bunk bed and a full bed. The mattresses are acceptably clean, but I would still bring fitted sheets to cover the mattresses. Also inside is an electric heater, fluorescent overhead lights, and a fan. The inside is tiny, but perfect for summer when you will be out exploring all day. On the cabin campsite, there is a covered porch, a picnic table, fire pit, water spigot, and space for one or two tents. The cabins are about 70 feet apart, but with brush grown up between them, so that you could have a group experience or still feel private from unrelated campers. Very close by, there are separate men’s and women’s bathrooms with flush toilets and 2 showers. The only downside of the cabins is their proximity to the camp hosts and a sewage drain field. The hosts were lovely and greeted us with a friendly wave when they saw us, but their campers are directly across the street from the cabins. They were minding their own business, but it was tough not to feel observed as they came and went on their golf carts through the day. The drain field gave off a bad smell during the warm part of the day, but it went away in the evening. The best part about the location of the cabins is that they are just down a short path from the playground! It was great to send my kids over there while I cleaned up meals. Overall, this was a 5 star “camping” experience. The staff, facilities, location, and activities were all great. My 4 year old declared that the cabin is his favorite house in the whole world and that we ought to stay forever. We are going back to the cabin for one more night later this summer and maybe again for tent camping.

We stayed in camp R07. It was a great spot, felt private , not a ton of shade though. We were close to the bathrooms, but not too close if you know what I mean. The water station was really close to this spot too. We were really close to a walking/hiking trail by the river, you can hear the river in this camping spot. The fire wood was $10, cash only and you need the exact amount. The bathrooms and showers were always clean. The showers have hot water! There is a basketball court, volleyball court, horseshoes, and a large grassy area to run around and play. The hike along the river takes you to a nice beachy area to sit next to the water. I recommend staying here, such a great campground.

Was there for the solar eclipse. The staff were really helpful, friendly, and plentiful, the campsites and facilities were very clean, the place was beautiful. Only unfortunate thing was that fires were not permitted due to not having rain for a VERY long time, but that would have been the same at every campground.

Our favorite campground. Full hookups, clean sites, bathrooms & showers, river trail, etc. Make sure you reserve online plenty of time ahead. The park hosts and helpers make this place amazing!

Been camping here for over 40 years! I really hope they decide to replant some fast growing trees and re-open the camping!! This was a beautiful park park right on the Santiam River. Day use has been re-opened since the fires and you can fish along the river. If you work for the state and are reading this PLEASE tell your bosses they need to re-open this park some day :)

This campground is one of the best in the area. Love the private sites and the people who run it are great.

Great place, wonderful scenery but reserve early

This place was a breath of fresh air. We had been traveling the great state of Oregon and came across this place when we couldn't find anywhere to stay in Detroit Lake Oregon. To be honest, I am so happy we didn't end up in Detroit Lake. The minute we pulled into this campground, everyone was so very kind and more helpful than they really had to be, it was a beautiful thing. I wish I knew the names of the man and gal that helped us but they were truly amazing. We always seen them driving around on their carts, monitoring and keeping things clean. This was one of the cleanest campgrounds we have ever been to and the price for full hookups was unbeatable. Also, they have handicap accessible spots, we are not handicapped however it was great to see that! We will definitely send people to this gem and will return! The Santiam River is just a small walk through the campground and is a breathtaking view. We were able to get our feet wet as there are little pools of water made by rock walls under water to keep visitors safe from the current. Great place and fabulous expirience!

Great park! Friendly Rangers and lots of trails!

If you are retrieving your raft from the river it's a good option. We stopped there before camping was available for the season and everything but the ramp and ramp parking was fenced off.

Our favorite place to camp. Everyone is friendly and helpful. I noticed someone said spots are small—the pull throughs have been great for us but our RVs have been 20 up to 27 feet. And with that you have room for at least 6 tents. Nice very large picnic table, fire pit and your spot is groomed before you get there. You can purchase firewood. A special touch was finding wildflowers on our table. We family camp one or more times a year. Wonderful family memories. Some spots are roomier than others so maybe call and ask the office people which spots you would fit in. Maris, Howard’s wife.

Our favorite campground. Large private spots. Plenty of vegetation between each site. Great River trails. Showers are the one drawback. They operate via push button times water release. If there are no others showering at that time you are likely to need to push the button up to 20 times to avoid freezing water.
The site we had this time even had a shelter built over the picnic table by an Eagle Scout. It was perfect. We will go back again, I am sure.
update: We stayed in the River Loop over Memorial Day weekend and the showers there were not push button. :)

I camp a lot and this is hands down, one of my favorite places to go. The staff is exceptional, accommodating and personable. The campsites are well maintained and far enough apart for privacy. The trails along the river are beautiful and well maintained and there are activities offered for families and group camping. Wonderful place to relax and unwind!

We chose this park as an evening stop coming from the Redwood Forest, home to the Seattle area. We didn't really care about the park as long as it had clean bathrooms and water and electric hook-ups. Well we got that and more: free showers which were very clean and nice, a gorgeous view of the river and a place for the kids to safely wade in, very nice trails to explore, large camp sites, excellent fire pit, playground, volleyball pit, basketball area, and friendly hosts. We were in site C21 which is a pull through site with plenty of room for our little travel trailer, a tent, and all our bikes plus room for the picnic table. We did not take advantage of the activities they had, but it was nice that they offered star gazing, water balloon fights, and campfire story time.

We were sorry we had planned to only stay one night and it is definitely on our list to camp at again.

Always clean. It's a beautiful place to visit for get togethers, camping and fishing. They have adorable cabins, RV spots and good sized camp sites. The showers are very nice. Fishing is great. It's a wonderful place to enjoy nature at it's finest. The camp hosts are very friendly. I love this place. I would highly recommend visiting and staying for a spell.

SO close to the city...but feels a million miles away. Make the stop, you will not be disappointed. Great camping, great trails (many have been upgraded to handicapped accessible).

I was told that this is a "showcase park" for the BLM and it shows. Be aware that if you leave late, that you won't be able to get back in. Really cuts down on the traffic in and out of the park late at night.

As a disabled adult, I give this park the coveted 5 crutch award for allowing the disabled to be experience the wonders of nature.

UPDATE - The fires that ravaged the canyon east of Salem **OBLITERATED** Fisherman's Bend. There is not a tree nor bush, or blade of grass left. The word is that they "Will reopen, someday." For the foreseeable future the park is closed.