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Packard Creek is a popular campground on the western side of Hills Creek Reservoir. The family-friendly destination offers a picturesque setting among tall trees, with views of the lake beyond. Most of the campground is accessible.
Larison Creek Trail is excellent for mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking. It meanders along Larison Cove and Larison Creek, through lush vegetation of hemlock, Douglas fir and red cedar.
Visitors also enjoy boating, swimming and fishing. Anglers often catch catfish, blue gill, crappie and coho salmon. A fishing dock, swimming area and boat ramp can be found in the day use area.
There are 36 standard campsites, 14 are reservable. Each campsite is equipped with a picnic table and a campfire ring. There is also a reservable group campground, which accommodates up to 80 people, has a large picnic shelter and open space for tents. Some sites have individual boat docks as well.
The campground is situated on a large flat beside Hills Creek Reservoir. The lake, hugged by a diverse mix of vegetation, covers 2,735 acres with 44 miles of shoreline in Willamette National Forest.
The campground is near Oakridge, Oregon, once a railroad boomtown at the turn of the 20th century. Other noteworthy places include many hot springs found within the forest.
From Oakridge, Oregon: Beginning at the intersection of Crestview Street and Oregon State Highway 58 (the only traffic light along State Highway 58 in Oakridge), travel east on Highway 58 for 1.7 miles. At the intersection with Kitson Springs Road, turn right and travel for 0.5 miles. Turn right on Forest Road 21, and travel for approximately 5.2 miles. The destination will be on your left.
Horrible, Horrible experience.. We have been their before and loved it so we decided to go back with our son to make it his first camping trip.. Reserved site #32 in February as the site we wanted was full and looked to be filling up fast for the weekend of the 10th in July.. it’s about an hour and a half away from our home and with all the crazy going on now we were very excited to finally get out into the open.. We get there and the site is unusable.. Broken logs, no where to really even put a small tent down.. We have a family of 4 so we need a little bit bigger size tent.. the table was so close to the fire pit and there was no safe place to put down our 15 month old son to explore without getting hurt... We tried for over 2 hours to see who the host of the site was, walked around and asked other campers if they have seen them.. Finally left a note that we moved a site over.. filled out a yellow tag and asked them to come talk to us when they get back.. There was no reserve sign on the site we moved so for that night we knew it at least shouldn’t be an issue until we can resolve the matter of our original site location.. Got the tent up and everything and started to get settled when a car comes up and asks if we reserved the site. I said we reserved a site, they asked what the yellow tag was for then I said are you the host of the camp site?? They said yeah we are why.. I asked we have been looking for you guys for hours and left a note for you did you get it?? They stated no we didn’t and then from there it got crazy.. They started yelling and screaming we were trying to get everything sorted .. Her husband actually got out of the car and started to come towards me.. At this time I was leaning against my van letting my mom handle it who came up to help set up and spend the day.. We decided to just leave.. They were not helpful said they have nothing to do with the sites and how they look ETC. Ended having to go back as I accidentally took my moms keys to her truck.. had to drive by the hosts again and she saw us and stared to scream no at my van..
I have pictures with time stamps of the note and campsite to show the condition.. wish I recorded my conversation with the Hosts there .. I did call and complain and get my refund of the 4 days and ended up finding a better place the next day..
**Side note we found out there is 3 other site like that and we suggested they call the people to give them a heads up so this issue doesn’t happen again.**
We went for a family reunion and reserved a whole loop. The host was nice enough to block it off for us so nobody could drive through as we had a lot of kids running around. They were also super on point about taking the trash and keeping the grounds clean Bathrooms were spotless! And they're pit toilets so that's saying something.
It's right on the lake, has a nice cement boat dock and swimming area however when the lake is low the swimming area becomes obsolete and everyone just swims off the boat ramp. There is also a canoe/kayak area down the road (you'll want to drive) which is a smaller lake and great for swimming as well.
Campsites are typical. Picnic bench, metal firepit and a flat ground tent area or RV parking spot. There is decent foliage between some sites for privacy and also a group camp. Tent campers take note, this campground is RV heavy in the summer with lots of big rigs and boats parked around and there doesn't seem to be designated loops for each so you may have some big noisy machines parked next to your camp.
Also, it is so hard to find this place! Absolutely no signage on the main roads and no/spotty cell service depending on your carrier so make sure you know where you're going.
If you need ice or fishing gear, go to Dinks! They're right outside camp and the nicest people you'll meet. Plus, their ice is cheaper than in town.
Lovely lake for boating, skiing, and swimming!
Beautiful scenery!
Parking for cars or campers at the camp sites, which tend to be steep, is very cramped on the narrow ring road. Tent sites are not entirely level! Running water is placed at decent intervals, and tastes good. However, although campers are encouraged not to wash dishes or otherwise contaminate these sites, waste water disposal drains are not at all close to the running water. I cannot imagine that, therefore, campers don't routinely use them in conflict with the signage. Otherwise you have to tote both your waste water and your clean rinse water quite a distance.
Pit toilets are clean and inoffensive. However there aren't many, and you'd best have your own light source by dusk!
Absolutely amazing campground!!! The hostess is seriously the most amazing and awesome part about the campground. She was so friendly, courteous, helpful, HAPPY, informative and amazing! Seriously she made us all feel right at home like we are a part of her big extended family! We really appreciate her and we are going to be going back in a few weeks mostly because of her and the campground is the other part. It is a wonderful campground with lovely campsites and beautiful views of the reservoir. Theres so much to do there!
Super nice campground! Stayed in campsite 29 and it was pretty big for two tents to be put up and a third could have fit as well. The lake is very nice. It’s not too cold and not too warm so you can actually enjoy swimming in it! The bathrooms where very clean and didn’t smell bad which was also a plus in my books. The only downside for the campsites is there is poison oak everywhere so if you have any little ones don’t let them play in the bushes or plants, if you can, and you’ll be good. The campsite is a little spendy but I would say it’s pretty worth it if you’re staying for a few days.
