Residents of Bend so lucky to have this fantastic park minutes away. Nestled along the Deschutes river, this large park with lots of parking and trails is beautifully maintained. There is a parking fee ($5 i think). Came here with family on Christmas Eve and hiked the easy trail up the river for a couple miles - utterly beautiful and spectacular! Signs posted about fishing, as of this writing, 'keep as many brown trout' as you want. Holy Fishtails, batman! Coming back here in the spring! Saw a fisherman putting on his waders, asked him about tackle (he showed me, I'm not tellin!) and said he regularly catches 1-1.5lb trout here. Definitely worth the visit. read more

Tumalo State Park - Winter wonderland hike along the Deschutes - Hiking Near Me - Bend, Oregon

It's been awhile since my last stay here. We love the yurts here. Easy access, they have heat, a couple of tables and beds, and it's comfortable. The fire pits are nice to but they cemented the bottom of them. They need to have more holes for air flow. Still I'm grateful to have those. Love the river trail as well. So beautiful! It's been awhile since we've been here. No snow this time but that's ok. Still peaceful and beautiful and not far at all from Bend. read more

See all

Nice little state park. Well maintained. Crowded but quiet. Didn't have a lot of time to walk the trails but the ones that I did were nice.

Tumalo State Park is a exceptional outdoor venue situated in the city of Bend, Oregon. It's a great place to hike, and the one-day usage fee is a very reasonable $5. The park proved itself to be quite lovely, but I was pressed for time and only spent a day here initially. The hike I chose for myself was the Canyon Loop Trail. This trail offers both areas of green forest and rocky stretches as well. It's a very scenic and relaxing hike, with a difficulty level between advanced beginner and intermediate. The day I visited it wasn't crowded at all, and the weather was prefect for day hiking :-) There's enough good signage along the trail that you're very unlikely to get lost - I had no problem at all finding my way. During the hike I saw a fair amount of wildlife, including several small birds and a pair of otters. This park also offers overnight camping areas - next time I'll probably plan on two days of hiking with a night of camping in between. read more

See all

Nice place to camp! A mix of hookup and non-hookup sites mixed throughout so you might see tent campers next to RVs. There are group sites and all are near restrooms. A nice playground, hiking trails, and a beautiful river offer things to do right inside the park. All in close proximity to the city of Bend and all there is to do. Camp hosts are on top of the behavior of guests. They will enforce all rules. Great place to camp for those passing through like us or if you'd like to vacation longer. read more

See all

I stopped here with my family on a PNW RV trip. I'll preface this by saying that Tumalo park was my 10 year old sons favorite place we stayed. The park is bisected by a main road so you do hear a little traffic and sometimes you have to cross the highway. The day use isbon one dude and the camping is on the other. The day use has the superior beach acces. It's lovely. One side of the river is 40 foot rocky cliffs and the other is sandy beaches and grassy parks. This made for a great place for my son to explore while the rest of the family sat in the shade and kept on eye on him. The park is family friendly and my son made a bunch of friends on day one. The camping side is smaller and they have packed in the camp sites. While each site is pretty small and very close to each other, many are separated by shrubs and trees to add some privacy. Bathrooms and showers were the cleanest I've ever seen while camping!!! read more

We stopped here for a picnic lunch on the way from Boise, Idaho to the Oregon Coast. The park is very pretty and clean, and this was the perfect spot to take a break and enjoy the day. There were lots of families and groups there, and the atmosphere there was really friendly. Great park! Loved it! read more

Tumalo State Park - Hiking Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Winter stay (Feb) of 2 nights in a yurt, by 2 of us during an ale visit to Bend. We ate and played in town, using the yurt at night. Due to the season, only loop B of the 3 camping loops was open, and it seemed like about half of the spots were being used - either using yurts or camping trailers/RVs. As it was winter and people rarely ventured out, we rarely saw other campers Yurt 10Y loop B - perfect as it was close to the bathroom and showers. - sleeping for up to 5 people, and as it was just 2 of us we had plenty of room. - single small table with 2 chairs. - electric heater, which kept temperature at about 55-60 degrees when it was 25-35 outside (with no wind and some snow). TIP: in winter one might want to bring a portable electric heater. According to the guestbook in the yurt, several parties before us had done this. - we slept in sleeping bags directly on the provided vinyl-covered mattresses. Though some reviewers found them too firm, we had no problem. - electric lighting was sufficient, with a dimmable overhead lamp and 2 smaller lamps. - There are a total of 4 electrical outlets, of which 2 are used by the 2 smaller lamps - which we rarely turned on. - Overhead variable-speed fan. The transparent bubble above the fan can be raised fro venting. Showers: 5.0. Awesome even in winter as each shower has a heat lamp. Very clean. Bathroom: 4.5. Very clean and heated. read more

See all

Great park! Stayed their 3 nights and we loved it. I would give 5 stars but one night we had a bunch of knuckleheads playing music til 2am and nothing was done from the host to regulate the rules. read more

Great place ! Not many people walking around. Ole ty of room to spread apart and walk around and enjoy the park read more

Tumalo State Park - Walking inside the park - Hiking Near Me - Bend, Oregon

As a family, we love Tumalo. We try to get here at least a half a dozen times during the summer. It's a great spot for kids to go tubing. You can walk up the river as far as you like and that's what determines the length of your run. For the most part you can stand in the water meaning that it's pretty safe for kids. The rapids aren't really rapids, just a few areas where the pace picks up a little bit. It's a beautiful location. Lots of grass areas with picnic tables. Easy to find a spot in either the sun, or shade. Plenty of room for frisbee. Grills available if you want to barbecue. Hiking along the river is beautiful, but the majority of the people on the trail are those who are carrying tubes up river to ride. Plenty of parking. Day use fee of $5, or use your state park pass if you have one. They have camping here as well, but we have never partaken. I will say that we have friends who when they visit always stay at Tumalo, so that seems positive. They have full hook-ups, tent sites and several yurts. Dog friendly. Note: If Tumalo Falls is your destination, this is not the spot. Although I guess you could hike up there, it's about a half hour drive, not sure what that equates to in hiking time. read more

This campground is exceptionally well taken care of (we visited in Spring). There is heat in the showers and stations for dishes. There is also a nice playground down the path from the yurts for young children. We stayed in the yurt to keep dry from the rain and it was perfect for our 3 person family. There is heat, power outlets, a fan, lights, and plenty of furniture inside of the yurt. Can't wait to visit again! read more

See all

Great state campground. Clean showers & bathrooms, close to town & the Deschutes River. Fire rings & tables at each site though no fires were allowed while we were there due to current fires within the state. Found the on site camp hosts to be friendly & helpful. Looking forward to going back and checking out one of the cabins on a future visit. read more

See all

If you want nice, this is it; a camper's campground among the pine trees It was full during our stay - highly recommend advanced reservations; very popular for access to Sisters, Redmond, Bend in high desert of Central Oregon. We've camped here regularly over several years and never disappointed Most recent stay was 6/13/16 - I'm "late" in posting my review ~ We camp in a "Tear Drop" style RV only 15' long w/o toilet or shower ~ plus we like to eat outdoors using the picnic table and set up our dining canopy for sun and weather protection and thus rely on condition of campgrounds facilities and being nearby our site ~ so our critique is focused in that area. We did get close to restroom/hot shower building w/dishwashing station - this campground is well laid out with restrooms placed in middle of loops and sites circle all around for easy access. Showers are unisex private individual rooms + changing area with lockable door. Showers were clean full on tiled walls and floors w/hooks + shelves for your stuff and wall bench for seating. Not cramped at all and good water pressure and spray. Community restrooms and sinks are in another part of building. Just awesome park for smaller RV's up to 35'?, and tents with sturdy picnic table + fire pit + paved roadways + asphalt RV pads. Both full hook-ups and dry-camp. Some sites could be problem for the Big Rigs be sure to check site lengths. Only CON: No rv dump or potable water fill station. Find one at Creekside Municipal Campground in Sisters for a small fee $10.00 read more

See all

Took the hike out to Happy valley. Amazing water falls along the way. The best one about 3 miles in where you can stand right next to it! Go early in the morning to avoid the mountain bike traffic. I went around 10 am and it was pretty clear, but on my way back I hit a lot of bikers! read more

Campground Review: I stayed here in the campground rv area a couple years ago with wife and kids. Positives: -Close to a very mellow, some might say boring, river floating area. -Free hot showers with no time limit. -Full hookup site with good amount of shade. Negatives: - Heroin addicts used a shower to shoot up in and splattered blood on the wall. Yep, it's true and I have extensive work experience with drug addicts so I know what I'm talking about. Because the showers are hot, free, and unlimited duration, they apparently attract transients. I saw this drug addict couple stroll into the campground at dusk. Both white, 20s, skinny, wearing clothes a camper wouldn't be caught dead in, and physically beat to hell. They stuck out. They take the last available shower so I go back to my campsite for a long while. When I head back to the showers about 45 minutes later, they were just then exiting. No normal human spends that much time legitimately showering. They walked out of the campground and I walked into the shower. There was a very large fresh splatter of blood across the wet wall inside the shower stall, at around 5-1/2' high. They had clearly been shooting up in the shower. Suggestion: This park can keep showers free for guests but issue tokens to campers so street urchins can't wander in and use the showers. read more

#vanlife Van lifers, dispersed campers, or just plain dirty folks passing through and looking for a quick clean-up, this is the place for you. The $2 showers were a god send when we came up to Sisters for a friend's wedding. Planning to dispersed camp - I promise it makes sense - we kind of neglected to plan where we'd do a bit of cleaning up before hand. The missus wanted to curl her hair too and goodness knows the little inverter we have wasn't gonna handle that. Fortunately we found this state park on a list of campsites with showers. Hoping for the best we rolled in. Sure enough, LOTS of showers, and you can self-register for one the same place you register for a site. Any of the 3 loops' shower building can be used, but I'd suggest loop C as there's lots of extra parking right at the door. read more

July 2016: I had planned to stay seven days at Tumalo State Park. But when I checked in, the ranger told me I could only stay three days - this was a complete surprise to me as I had called ahead and mentioned that I was planning on staying a week, and asked how bikers can camp there, and checked the state park website for rules/restrictions. The state park's website had no mention of a three day camping limit for hikers/bikers. Neither was the unpublished rule posted on the park's signage. The state park website allows car campers to book reservations more than seven sequential days. There were many extra camping spots at the hiker/biker area of the camp. I explained all this to the park rangers and I requested special dispensation from the rangers. But the park rangers seemed to be more bureaucrat types, less customer service oriented types (a typical government operation), fond of stating the unpublished rule (a rule found nowhere on their website, not on the park's signage, and not mentioned on the phone when I called ahead to plan the trip), and apparently the park rangers seemed unmoved by reasonable logic. Having such an unpublished rule, and then repeatedly refusing to extend grace to a camper who asks for an exception to the unpublished rule is not a particularly helpful way to treat guests. I asked the rangers to update their website to inform hiker/biker campers of the unpublished three day limit. So I broke camp. I was the only person in the hiker biker camp and had to leave, according to the ranger bureaucracy, leaving zero hiker/biker campers at the campsite. I packed up, loaded all the gear on my back, and rode my bike the six miles into Bend, loaded down with gear. There are no other campsites around Bend, so I checked into a Motel 6. December 2017: In July 2016, I had asked asked the park rangers to update the Tumalo State Park website to inform hiker/biker campers of the unpublished three day limit. Upon writing this review 18 month after my trip, the park website had not been updated to inform hiker/biker campers of the three day limit. This lack of action and lack of customer service is indicative of government bureaucrats posing as park rangers. read more

5-stars. I can't resist. I've been visiting Tumalo Park since I was a wee boy. For many years, I had a birthday party here every year. It's a marvelous place to go for an afternoon barbeque, a float down the river, a bit of fishing, frisbee, a crawdad hunt, or (I hear) a good sunbathing session up the river on some of the sprawling rocks in the less populated areas. The park is usually fairly busy--especially if you want to hang out by one of the two major swimming holes. Bring a good inner-tube and hike up the river until you get at least past the little bridge near someone's home before you hop into the river and enjoy the float down. Also, keep in mind that the Deschutes River is freaking cold most of the year--so July/August is my favorite time to visit. Note: You have to pay per vehicle for the park, so bring cash/checks. It's worth the small fee....but I usually carpool anyway... read more

This is a great campground, though some of the sites are close together. Note:THE WATERFALL IS NOT AT THE CAMPGROUNDS! It's about 30 minutes away -- Google 'Tumalo Falls'. The facilities are clean, the site we had was big, it's RIGHT NEXT to the river, there are solar-heated showers, reservable yurts, and a pretty big, beautiful day-use area right across the street (free use for campers). It's also dog-friendly, which is hard to come by these days! The only downside: you can hear the highway at night, and there's some kind of business down the street that involves large trucks. This didn't have an impact on my stay at all though. read more

We had one of the worst campsites in the park. Right in front of the crapper! With kids running through the camp from time to time, and the sounds of toilets flushing and dishes being scrubbed one may wonder why I am giving Tumalo four stars. Firstly, it was my fault that we didn`t reserve a site (it was totally last minute) but, I am a little miffed that they allow the entire campground to be reservable at all times. Really? Not even a couple of first come first serves? Boo. Secondly, we cooked up an epic feast that evening, with loads of Bend Beer to wash it down. Gotta admit that it was nice to do the dishes in a sink for the first time on our camping trip. But the biggest reason why I liked Tumalo, is that we met an awesome couple from Beaverton who invited us over to play Apples to Apples at their site. Many beers, and laughs, and even a spilled Trader Joes Red wine later. We stumbled back to our tent at about 12:30am. Pure camping bliss! read more

I stayed here the weekend before Thanksgiving and the place was pretty empty. I was the only one in a tent so it was fortunate that I had a site with the most privacy. I think it might be really nice here in the spring with the river running by the campground. Bring an awning for shade. Since it was winter I can't comment on what it would be like if crowded or in full swing. I will say that the bathrooms are clean AND heated! There are also some Yurts here and I thought they were pretty nice but Fido is not allowed. This campground is open year round and is about a fifteen minute drive from Bend. Leave your firewood at home though as you need to buy from the camp host. One other note: Make sure you are solid on the dates as once you book there is no way to cancel. read more

My husband and I recently went tent camping at Tumalo State Park. In addition to being quiet and clean, it is centrally located--about 20 minutes from Bend, 30 minutes from Smith Rock, and 1.5 hours from the Painted Hills. There were more RVs than tents, but either are acceptable. The restrooms were very clean, and they were stocked with soap and paper towels. I was also amazed by the complimentary showers; I'm used to paying in quarters for showers, but these were clean, and the water was hot. The sites are pretty open, and it would have been nice to have a bit more privacy to separate ourselves from our neighbors. Also, apart from the restrooms, we could not locate trash cans or recycling bins. read more

We have stayed her twice so far this year. The reason for the 1 star is the grounds keepers. Everyday during the week so far I feel like I'm back in the suburbs with constant mowing, weed wacking, and leaf blowing. Yesterday it lasted till 730p. Other than this issue, it's a wonderful place with awesome facilities and location. I hope to update my review with a more tranquil description, rather than the noisy place I've found it to be the past three days. read more

Really great campground. Well maintained and well staffed with friendly and helpful hosts! Perfect location near Bend to explore the city (about a 15 min drive into town), go adventuring/biking, or just enjoy the lazy DeShutes River at the amazing park across the street. Some campsites were a little close to one another, but overall a very nice spot. Would definitely plan on staying here again if we're ever back in Bend. read more

So we went Yerting for the first time here. We have really enjoyed it. The Yert was a good size and was super clean. The park has been full the entire time and I was worried it would be really loud. With the exception of some kids getting a bit too excited a bit too early in the morning, it has been really peaceful. You do here some road noise due to the highway being on the other side of the camp. It's also really nicely located in between Sisters and Bend. We will be back for sure. read more

This place is fun to play in the water! Weekends in summer is hard to find parking but if you go early, you can prance around and splash when nobody's there! read more

$33 a night was way too much for this campground! The only good thing I can say is the showers are the best!

This is a nice little state park located just a few miles outside of Bend, which is awesome when you've discovered that you forgot something. It's pretty close to a lot of fun activities in the area, such as mountain and road biking, hiking, rock climbing, visiting the Newberry crater, shopping in Sisters, etc. There is also firewood for sale on site, but the sale hours are a bit limited - so if you arrived later in the evening or get up early and spend your whole day exploring the area, you'll want to stop at a grocery store in Bend to buy some wood. The main downside of this campground is that like most Oregon state parks, the campsites are small and crammed together. The sites aren't too bad if you have an RV, but there is very limited space for tents (although some a certainly bigger than others). I was worried embers from our little campfire might catch the tent on fire because the site was so small! You could also hear the conversations of everyone around you quite clearly and on our particular visit, there was a very drunk group of people across the road who kept us up until 2 am, despite numerous people asking them to quiet down. In summary, this campground is in a nice location and is great if you're planning to spend most of your time away from your site exploring the area. However, you will be close to everyone while actually at your site. read more

I really love this park, not so much for the camping, but the things that are close by to do outdoors. Close to shopping and eats also. It's a smaller RV/tent park so it's more intimate and not to citified! read more

We just needed a place to sleep overnight . The sites are close together , but the bathrooms/showers were clean . Very close to Bend.

Visitors ALERT!!! If you are visiting Bend, and looking to see the waterfall, please note that many of these reviews are deceptive and written by misinformed tourists: Tumalo State Park is NOT the same thing as Tumalo Falls!!! The State Park is located off of Highway 20 in Tumalo. There are campsites and picnic areas and a river runs through it. There is a trail to walk along the river, but it leads you to nowhere-when I first moved here, I made the assumption that anyone else would and tried to find the waterfall here, and was sorely disappointed. Lots of big families, lots of children, kind of crowded (in the summer anyway!) and not my favorite, honestly, but it is a nice place to dip in the river with your float when its hot to cool off, and I imagine a good place to camp if you want cheap accommodations near Bend. Tumalo Falls***-located all the way at the end of Skyliner Road in Bend. The falls are impressive and there is even a small path you can walk down to get close to it (actually underneath it if you are brave enough. I'm not.) The trail that leads to the top continues on and links up with other trails (can't give you specifics here, sorry!), there are some other smaller falls along the path that are worth checking out, it really is a beautiful place, winter or summer! Weekends, of course, are crowded, and for good reason-if you are just in Bend for a short time, this is definitely on your must-see list! *** I am updating my original review to mention that there is construction taking place by the falls and you will likely hit traffic delays, I have also heard that the gate is currently closed so be prepared to hike in a few miles (normally you are able to park quite close to the waterfall. Plan accordingly. Just happened to catch a review in my feed that was misinformation which led me to a whole throng of misleading reviews- hope this saves someone the trouble of going to the wrong place!! read more

Hiked here this past weekend. Loved it! There is a $5 park fee so bring cash! We thought the hike was 2 miles, the loop is closer to 6 miles, I think we make it about 3 miles in before we turned back. It was a lot of fun though and so pretty! Lots of waterfalls. It was breath taking. I would happily hike there again. We brought our dogs and we all had a good time. We arrived early so got a parking spot but afternoon on the weekends there may not be a parking spot there for you. It was a pretty busy place. read more

Great campground! Fairly clean bathrooms, hot (and free!) showers and plenty of water stations. We stayed two nights in circle A and could hear the deschutes river behind our site which was nice. Hubby was able to access the river just a short walk away and fly fish while the kids and I played downstream. The river was incredible! First time in the deshchutes and I've never seen such crystal clear water. Wasn't very deep (waist high in the center and I'm short) so it nice to let our small kids walk out in it and play. The couple two sites down got into a huge domestic fight at two in the morning (what?! Couples fight while camping?! Never!) but the police responded really fast and restored peace to the campground. The outdoor amphitheater was really cool and the park ranger had demos each night for the kids which they loved. The dish washing station was a nice surprise and made it so much easier than trying to do it at your camp site. I read some reviews that said the showers were cold. They are solar powered and at first our kids complained it was too warm. I thought they were perfect. Have used some in the past where I felt worse after getting out. Not the case here! We would definitely recommend this campground and know that we will come back again! read more

Tumalo State Park - River access across the street at the park. - Hiking Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Stayed two days here and loved it. We had camp spot #033 just before the season takes off so we don't know what it's like when the place is booked. The ground was flat and comfortable for two medium sized tents. The fired pit could have been a bit higher for space between the grill and wood but it did the trick. pleanty of parking available for two vehicles. Firewood was available for sale and $5 worth was plenty. Wash station and trash can was available to clean your dishes with plenty of hot water.The solar-powered showers were hot and provided enough room, but bring sandals. The yurts looked great and wouldn't mind reserving one next time. Only 15 mins away from downtown Bend. Would love to come back again read more

Not a bad little campground but for $20, I just wish I could've had warm water in my shower.

this place was awesome. Campgrounds were separated by tall shrubs and trees so you weren't forced to know your neighbors. You could easliy walk to the park right across the street and float down the river to your tent site. the only thing that sucked was that if you stayed a tent site you had to hike a ways to get to the showers. Overall, it was a great place to camp. read more

Still 5 stars! Last time we stayed in C loop; this time around we were in the B loop. It was just as clean. I was somewhat concerned about noise because we were a little closer to the road but it was not an issue. The camp hosts were helpful and kind. This is one of the best state parks in Oregon! read more

Me and my girlfriend loved this place. We drove from So. Cal and camped here three nights (the last was rainy, oh well) and wanted to stay. You've got neighbors, but the sites are reasonably separated and we had a great view behind us. We didn't do too much exploring, but I know there are a ton of places to hike nearby. We chilled down by the river (of which some families were rafting down - looked fun) in the sun one day, and the other days we hung out by our fireplace and hiked up to the hills close by. It's a great family spot at a reasonable price, and they've got all the amenities you need (including good size wood for $5 and ice till 7pm). Oh, and the hosts working the place are all really cool, and will check you in before the official check-in time as long as nobody's in your site. read more

This is a really cool spot. Unfortunately that means it gets busy in the summer time. We had my sons first birthday party there and it was really cool. The problem though was that we paid $25 to have a section reserved and there's no staff on site and the reserve sign that was put up wasn't exactly "roping it off" so to speak. I ended up having to tell a family that was in the spot that it was reserved and had to apologize for asking them to move. Had they been confrontational it would have been bad news and I would have no staff to help me get into my spot. $5 parking pass required or just an Oregon state park yearly pass. The river moves quick there and is always a bit chilly even in the middle of summer, but still nice to stick your feet in. They have BBQ grills in spots that can be reserved, or you can take your chances and try to snag it for free, but then you'd have to worry about someone coming and asking you to leave if they reserved it. read more