Willamette National Forest — Attraction in Sisters

If you do not wish to read the entire review, then know this: Its awesome and a must!

This location is pretty sweet. It is ~45 miles from Oakridge, and takes about 1 hour to drive to (do not listen to Google maps, which says its almost 2 hours!). Be sure to take the USFS directions by taking NF 21 to 2154, and then you will turn onto 398 (though not listed in directions). The last 6 miles are gravel and not very much is washboard. Easy 30mph drive - but watch out for the switchback!.

The cabin has PLENTY of parking for I would say 4-5 vehicles if organized. Id recommend closing the gate behind you to prevent 'curious folk' from driving in. This cabin sits away from the 10 site first come first serve campground. A trail does however walk pretty close (50 yards?) in front of the cabin site, but this is the trail that goes toward Indigo lake and other trails I believe. Me and 2 others mountain biked the Middle Fork trail that takes off out of the campground (35 miles, but only the first 8 miles were the best IMO - after that its hike-a-bike sections, water crossings ...read reviews online).

There is a nice (yes, 'nice') outhouse about 40 yards from the cabin. The cabin itself is dirt/gravel floor. Two large barn style sliding doors open up about 8-10 feet. A small picnic table in the middle, a wood stove in the corner. The family that slept inside said it was probably about 10-15 degrees warmer inside, which was good (for them at least) because it was 37* mid August at 6AM - although it really did not feel that cold. There is a small attached wood shed with cabin entry that was stocked with wood (collected by volunteers, but please bring your OWN wood as that wood is intended for the stove - bring a splitting maul). The wood sleeping platform runs the entire length inside along the wall. 4 adults could sleep comfortable, or 2 adults, and 3-4 shorter kids (its probably about 5 ' deep, but ~16' long). The picnic table really should have been put closer to the cabin and the fire ring as it sits on a lower ground level outside with an old tree trunk acting as a retaining wall. There are two good locations for large tents on the dirt around the cabin closer to the outhouse.

The lake water was surprisingly WARM! Swimming water even! Fishing was not great for our experience. You really need a raft or waders to get out out farther. There really is no beach access and only 1 trail that goes to the lake ~100 yards down the lake trail. Ok for our 2 kayaks. You can walk out quite a ways before it starts getting deeper than 3' - which is why shore fishing is not a good choice here. We saw fish eating at the surface, but no luck with powerbait.

Overall, this is a great multi family site (split the higher reservation cost!) that is secluded far away from any other campers. A great place where you can let the kids run around and play in the woods without worrying about them bother other campers! Not as much shade because it is a fairly open area, but when Oakridge was 79, at the lake was closer to 60. While water is provided at the campground, I almost recommend bringing your own water (unless you dont mind you water a little...

This is one of the places that gives you the Oregon experience, miles of beautiful green forest full of natural flowers, ferns and tall evergreen trees like Douglas fir, towards the top of Willamette pass highway 58 through the forest is the 286 foot salt creek falls view area and restrooms, A great view from the top of the second tallest falls in Oregon the state with the most year round water falls in the U.S., another great spot in the Willamette national forest is McCredie Hot springs about ten and a half miles east of the town of Oakridge, you will see McCredie day use area along salt creek, there is a rest area here and if the water level in salt creek is low you can hike a couple hundred yards upstream and find little hot pools along the north bank of the usually ice cold creek. This is not the actual hot springs though, to get to the hot springs you will want to drive east up the pass from the rest stop/day use area between a mile and a mile and a half and the east bound lane will become two lanes, make sure you stay in the far right lane and you will see a green road sign on the right side of the road that says Wickiup fields, turn down that road and within the first 100 feet it turns to gravel, there are a few free camp sites on either side of this road, go a few hundred yards keeping to the right and as soon as you start to round the corner you will see a sigh that says day use only and there will be places to park along the right, don't leave valuable items unsecured because after you park you will have a few hundred yards hike down a pretty good trail (definitely not handicap accessible) to the hot springs, very nice chill spot the pool is only a couple feet deep. Also don't be surprised to see people in the nude so If you have children you want to use your...

Beautiful drive even through the smoke from the fires. Lots of hiking, camping, swimming and learning experiences here. I will definitely be back to explore more.

Fish lake was an interesting find, stopped there for the restroom and ended taking a quick tour of the area. The guide was very friendly and knowledgeable of the history of the place. Would definitely love to go back and explore.

Big lake had ski areas that were closed, camping, hiking and ohv trails. The road in this area is kinda messed up so use caution. You can also access the santiam wagon road trail from this area.

Belknap hot springs is right on the McKenzie river, beautiful spot, nice little campground. Hotel looks like it could use an update. There is a large hot springs pool outside where swimsuits are a must. I did not see and river access here, but there is a parking area and hiking trails.

Sahalie falls was beautiful, but the parking area is tiny so get here early or be prepared to circle a couple times for a spot to park. There are vaulted toilets here and they are pretty stinky. There is also an information kiosk on the area. Falls viewpoint is handicap accessible although I'm not sure about farther down. There are also hiking trails from here.

Terwilliger hot springs, Hornets and biting flies are really bad this time of year. The water felt amazing but was a little stinky and not in the rotten egg way. This place gets super busy so get there early or expect crowds. $7/day or $66/year and the road is now open after being closed for months due to a land slide. There are vaulted pit toilets here, three trash dumpsters and a parking area. Pets are allowed on leash but not at the springs there is a tie up area for pets and be aware that this is cougar country. This is...