 |
|
|
Newberry Crater Area
|
|
THE NEWBERRY
CRATER AREA
may be the best known
area in the Deschutes National Forest by campers from outside of
Oregon. It's close proximity to Crater Lake, plus the ability to
camp right on the couple lakes inside the crater draws in many
campers and keeps people talking about the area for many years after
their visit. Newberry Monument is located just to the south of Bend
and to the east of Highway 97, the main north - south highway in the
area. The crater area includes a couple resorts, a water fall
viewing area, a hike through a lava flow, and camping in eight great
campgrounds. Although Crater Lake is better known because it is a
National Park, in many ways Newberry Crater is a better camping
spot. Here you can camp, boat and fish right on the lakes. The
crater area was long ago separated into two lakes, Paulina and East
Lakes. Fish are not natural to these higher altitude isolated lakes,
but the lakes have been planted with some of the best fishing in
Oregon including with East Lake's Atlantic Salmon. There is an RV
dump station near the entry of the crater area. There are two group
areas, Ogden located before the crater area can accommodate around
200 campers and Newberry Group has three smaller sites that are
perfect for family reunions or the like and are on the lake. Cinder
Hill, mostly a single site style campground also has a group
site. There are four cabins that will be rentable when their
renovation is finished at Newberry Group Campground. There is a nice
horse campground that provides access to the area from its many
horse trails and of course there are several hundred individual
sites, many of them right on the lake, spread throughout the other
campgrounds. This is a very popular area and as of 2009, campers
will be able to make reservations in many of the campgrounds.