Why Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver in Oregon is a Great RV Destination (With a Few Caveats)

After a busy July in California, we were ready to head into Oregon and slow down–to rest both our souls and our budget! Leaving the Redwoods was not easy, we absolutely loved the area and could have filled many more weeks with trails through the towering trees.

We have never visited Oregon and were excited to spend some time there. With several Thousand Trails parks to choose from, we started looking, but could only snag a night or two along the coast. This broke up our travel days and allowed us to get a couple of days to visit with some friends also in the area. But heading a few hours inland meant we could get a two week stay, so we booked the time.

Coastal Oregon was what we had envisioned Oregon to be with it’s towering trees. But when we turned east, the drive through the Cascades were beautiful, and opened up into an arid volcanic climate, much like what we experienced in southern Idaho, near Craters of the Moon and surrounding Arco area, but also touched with pine trees as well as volcanos, buttes, and mountains in all directions. It truly was a beautiful sight.

Our destination for our last two weeks before wrapping up our summer and getting back into school routine was the Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver, tucked along highway 97, a couple of hours north of Crater Lake National Park, and about 20 minutes south of downtown Bend, Oregon.

The campground is spacious and the spots are not packed in, like so many of the Thousand Trails parks we’ve stayed at across the country. This one definitely ended in our top 10 with the easy access with a big rig, convenient location, and large campsites with trees separating the spots. We also liked that there were more than 3 miles of road and trail for running, walking and hiking.

It wasn’t a perfect campground, and may pose challenges for some. The roads aren’t named and, in old campground style, aren’t grid-like, so go in various directions. You could get lost, if you weren’t careful, so many of us used the “red rock” as a navigation point! It doesn’t have full hookups at all the sites, only water and electric, so we were glad to have our rolling tote for emptying tanks. With two dump stations, it wasn’t too busy, except the day everyone was checking out on Labor Day weekend. Sadly, the bathhouses weren’t well maintained with we walked in on our first couple of days. The laundry room, while clean, was pricey at $3.50 each to wash and dry, so we toted quite a bit from showers and laundry during our two week stay.

But we loved having the hot tub to visit, the river to walk (it was too smoky during the nearby wildfire to get out on the paddleboards for us) and pickleball courts were well kept! They also had horseshoes and mini-golf, as well as their clubhouse and guest areas set up in an old town area with boardwalks. The variety of cabins and yurts available, as well as tent camping areas, meant that all types of campers were there. Plus, this campground is available to non-Thousand Trails members, so you don’t need a membership to stay.

There was plenty of wildlife to enjoy while sitting outside on the nicer days, as well. We saw deer, squirrels, chipmunks, frogs, and plenty of birds. It was peaceful, with everyone we encountered, both workers and campers, being friendly, sporting smiles and waves, and would stop for a chat.

We also took the time to do our monthly community service and did a campground clean up in our loop after the holiday weekend!

Mail and package delivery is tricky in this area, since the post office doesn’t run mail to places. You’ll have to get general delivery packages to the post office for a fee. Amazon pick up lockers aren’t too far away, in front of a grocery store in La Pine. The campground can get UPS and FedEx packages for medications and parts for no charge, but anything else is a $5 fee per box (like our license plate we had to get!).

If this area is on your list, it does make a great spot to explore from, or to just stay and relax. We got a lot of things done in nearby Sunriver, picked up resupply packages in La Pine, and explored nearby area waterfalls, buttes, lava tubes, and Crater Lake National Park, as well as visiting the last Blockbuster store in Bend!

Our weather while here was pretty good, but we were dealing with wildfires to both our north and south, so had smoky conditions for most of our two weeks. Luckily, neither were close enough to be more than an inconvenience, and didn’t affect the asthma too badly.

If you’ve been here, what were some of your favorite places to visit? Be sure to subscribe for future blogs with more on where we visited, and other travels and reviews.

If you’re not a Thousand Trails member, but are interested, use our referral sign up, linked here, and we will get your information to Sharon and Warren Lewis, our specialists, to help you find a membership that works for your budget and camping style!

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