Sharps Creek Recreation Site
RV Guide
Introduction
Sharps Creek Recreation Site is a beautiful gem nestled within the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, offering so many opportunities for day visitors and overnight campers to enjoy lots of outdoor recreational activities. This Bureau of Land Management property, located southeast of Cottage Grove, Oregon, is a delightful destination for all kinds of fun activities, making it a Mecca for guests that wish to relax, refresh, and recharge. Your next vacation has to be at this recreation area.
Within this park, there’s a campground that features well-spaced campsites that are equipped with amenities such as picnic tables, fire rings, restrooms, potable water, and parking spurs. You can visit with your tents or recreational vehicles and trailers, because there’s room for them here.
As soon as you arrive, you can set out on your adventure through the park’s areas by hiking or backpacking, climbing, or biking. Opportunities to swim, boat, and paddle are also available to those who wish to explore the waters in the area. Moreover, nature lovers and enthusiasts can enjoy the view of birds and animals, as well as the picturesque plant communities that decorate the park’s corridors.
The adventure doesn’t end here as you can visit nearby attractions such as Umpqua and Deschutes National Forests.
RV Rentals in Sharps Creek Recreation Site
Transportation
Driving
Sharps Creek Recreation Site lies southeast of Cottage Grove, Oregon. If you wish to drive to this Bureau of Land Management area from Cottage Grove, take exit 174 from Interstate Highway 5 and turn onto Row River Road. Follow this road and look out for signs to Dorena Lake. Upon arriving here, drive straight along Shoreview Drive for about 6.5 miles to rejoin Row River Road on a covered bridge to the right. Continue east on Row River Road for about four miles till you arrive at Sharps Creek Road, then make a right turn and drive about three miles. You will arrive at the recreation site with the day-use area on the left, and the campground on the right.
Don’t expect to have any driving challenges en route to this BLM recreation site as all the access routes are paved and maintained. You could always find out the road and weather conditions from the BLM Springfield Interagency Office anyway, just to be well prepared.
Parking
Parking spaces are available for vehicles in this recreation area.
Public Transportation
There are no direct public transportation services to this BLM park, but you will easily find travel and camping equipment at Cottage Grove and Umpqua National Forest.
Campgrounds and parking in Sharps Creek Recreation Site
Campsites in Sharps Creek Recreation Site
Reservations camping
Schwarz Park
Schwarz Park is a developed US Army COE campground located below Dorena Lake, about five miles southeast of Cottage Grove. This campground is open between April and September (peak season) and offers campsites that can be reserved within this period. Tent, group, and recreational vehicle camping opportunities are offered here.
If you’re looking for single and double-family campsites, you’ll find what you want here. A total of 65 campsites, including six group sites, are available here. Amenities provided include flush toilets, showers, potable water, a dump station, and a big playground.
Things to do here include fishing, swimming, boating, hiking, and outdoor learning in historic sites.
If you’ll be coming in an RV/trailer, ensure it’s no longer than 114 feet. Camping is limited to 14 days in any 30-day window.
First-come first-served
Sharps Creek Campground
Sharps Creek Campground sits within this BLM recreation site, perfectly nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in an evergreen forest setting. This campground is open between May and September and welcomes guests of all ages to enjoy tent and recreational vehicle camping.
There are 10 well-separated campsites in this BLM campground, all of which are equipped with picnic tables and fire rings. Three accessible portable toilets are provided in the campground, as well as potable water that can be gotten from a hand pump. Even though the campsites do not have any hookup options (electric, sewer, and water), they can accommodate vehicles as long as 25 feet.
Recreational activities that you get to enjoy here include fishing, picnicking, swimming, wildlife viewing, and hiking.
These campsites cannot be reserved, so they are only available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Seasonal activities in Sharps Creek Recreation Site
In-Season
Hunting
Hunting is allowed in and around Sharps Creek Recreation Site. So, if this is your favorite sport, you can rest assured that you’ll be able to pursue your interests to the fullest. Deer and elk hunting are particularly popular among guests who spend time here. This site is home to other wildlife such as birds, bear, mountain lions, raccoons, and squirrels.
Additional hunting opportunities are provided at the nearby Umpqua National Forest and Deschutes National Forest. You will even be able to hunt more game within the larger hunting areas that are available.
Note that you will require a hunting license.
Recreational Mining
Ever thought about mining? You’re in luck because you can strike it rich at Sharps Creek Recreation Site. So many ways to engage in recreational mining in this park are offered to interested guests; you get to choose if what you want to do is recreational gold panning, sluicing, or suction dredging in Sharps Creek.
It may interest you to know that the richest gold find in the entire Cascade Mountains was made in Sharps Creek in 1858.
For suction dredging, you will require a permit from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Flora
This BLM park is rich in resplendent flora that decorate its corridors and make it a popular sightseeing destination for nature lovers. Visitors that love to observe plant communities and study them will find western red cedar trees and Douglas-fir towering above the recreation site. These trees therefore provide a canopy of shade for guests. Just beneath these trees are shrubs and other vegetation such as bigleaf, Oregon hazel, wild rose, red huckleberry, and many other flora species.
Off-Season
Covered Bridges State Scenic Bikeway
Start your engines and enjoy the scenic bikeway that runs for 36 miles around this Bureau of Land Management property in Oregon. The Covered Bridges State Scenic Bikeway offers riders the chance for an all-day cycling excursion that leaves no one out. Regardless of your skill level, or how long you wish to spend on the bikeway, rest assured you will experience deep satisfaction along its path.
You will find seasoned cyclists, recreational riders, and families on vacation riding here.
Wilderness Recreation
If you wish to, at any point in time while you’re enjoying the various recreational opportunities provided at Sharps Creek Recreation Site, connect with nature in a primitive setting, look no further than any of the five wilderness areas within Deschutes National Forest.
Whichever of Diamond Peak Wilderness, Mt. Thielsen Wilderness, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Three Sisters Wilderness, or Mt. Washington Wilderness you visit, you’re guaranteed a unique experience of the remote setting.
Sweeping summit views, day hiking, and backpacking fun, as well as photography opportunities, abound.
Dorena Lake
Sited within a rolling, partly-wooded hill country is Dorena Lake, a US Corps of Engineer park that offers lots of amazing recreational opportunities for visitors and campers. You are your own boss here as you get to choose how you’d like to stay active in this park.
Be it swimming in the lake, boating or sailing on the water, angling for various fish species, or skiing on the water, you can be sure that you will have a swell time here. Picnickers, wildlife viewing enthusiasts, and nature observers are also welcome.
