Exploring/Reviewing Timothy Lake (a crown jewel of Mount Hood National Forest)

[retired jerry]

Another good campground in the winter is Monty along the Metolius. Drive through Cove Palisades and keep going.

[TrailPerspective]

I camped at Trout Creek once - yeah, nice campground. Few people in the off season.

North of Maupin, and further north past Sherar's Falls there are a lot of similar BLM campgrounds. I like Beavertail because there is good bighorn sheep habitat on the other side of the river.

You can see the dots:

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zoom in:

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Very nice, love it! That's awesome, I'm just starting to explore that area now, I haven't been up that section at all yet as far as the string of BLM Campgrounds. That is a GREAT tip, I will definitely be going to Beavertail!

[TrailPerspective]

I lead a backpack trip for Boy Scouts around the lake and we camped for free at the north end somewhat close to Little Crater Lake. There was also a really nice free site on the east shore.

Sounds amazing, that's awesome! I think the 7 Developed Campgrounds of Timothy Lake get most the fanfare, but the 41 Designated Dispersed Backcountry Campsites + 7 Meditation Point Backcountry Campsites are world class and are one of the most special parts of it.

[teachpdx]

Developed campgrounds aren't really my thing, but I do enjoy getting up to Timothy Lake usually once every other year, parking somewhere along 4280 and bushwhacking down to the PCT to one of the many backcountry sites on the east side of the lake. It's easy, and it's usually where I take friends for their first foray into backpacking. I usually go early, as soon as I know that the road is melted out, before the PCT masses come along.

[romann]

Thanks for the PDF map on dispersed campsites! I did the loop around Timothy LONG time ago (10 years ago?) and while the lake was awesome (and very quiet, before the big campsites reopened), it was sad to see most of backcountry campsites posted closed at that time. The only ones weren't posted, were a few sites near the dam on the NW side (and the backcountry "campground" on the peninsula).
Good to know they re-opened shoreline camping, I might take a kayak and re-visit this spring

[TrailPerspective]

Thanks for the PDF map on dispersed campsites! I did the loop around Timothy LONG time ago (10 years ago?) and while the lake was awesome (and very quiet, before the big campsites reopened), it was sad to see most of backcountry campsites posted closed at that time. The only ones weren't posted, were a few sites near the dam on the NW side (and the backcountry "campground" on the peninsula).
Good to know they re-opened shoreline camping, I might take a kayak and re-visit this spring

Indeed I agree, the off-season play at Timothy Lake, either spring or autumn, seems to be the best alignment to go.

I just posted a video that starts at the Southshore Day Use Area (Timothy Lake Day Use by the Dam on Google Maps) in the SW Quadrant of Timothy Lake and Hikes North to just the first 4 Designated Dispersed Backcountry Campsites T1 - T4 along that Shoreline, its pretty short only around 5 minutes long, but shows each of the setups for T1 - T4:

https://youtu.be/Vvd6bUzaCdw

[Ron Goodwin]

Cannot even get a CG reservation in the summer. Glad we went there years ago. Used to camp at Claackamas RS in the ‘40-50’s before the lake.

[TrailPerspective]

Cannot even get a CG reservation in the summer. Glad we went there years ago. Used to camp at Claackamas RS in the ‘40-50’s before the lake.

Yeah I agree it is hyper competitive to grab a spot, particularly a premium spot! I also think some people use a bot service to book a site faster than a human being can click sort of deal, makes it literally impossible to snag the site.

Just uploaded a video of actually hiking on the 13-Mile Circumnavigation Shoreline Loop of Timothy Lake.....I do Campground Reviews as part of my YouTube Channel, but my main focus is actually on the hiking, hence "Wilderness Trail Perspective", so this video is more in line with most my content:

https://youtu.be/scKLVUSWn2M

[TrailPerspective]

Pine Point Day Use is one of the most scenic Day Use Areas around Timothy Lake:

https://youtu.be/zi0FV4UWz9U

[TrailPerspective]

Top 8 Countdown of Best Campsites Across All 7 Developed Campgrounds at Timothy Lake:

https://youtu.be/DVGpwVBEgM4