Camping at Detroit Lake

We went camping at Detroit Lake this weekend. This is an older state park and has lots of mature trees and vegetation. The campground is on a lake created by damming the North Santiam River. Since the primary purpose of the dam is flood control they empty it in the fall and count on snow melt in the spring to fill it. Unfortunately there wasn't much snow this winter and the lake isn't going to fill up. 

The top photo shows cars and people on what is normally the lake bottom at this time of year. The second photo shows just how far down the water level is, roughly 30 feet. The third photo is the swimming area at the state park. 

We also took a drive up some logging roads. Logged over once, there are lots of big trees growing and some nice camping sites. 

Detroit Lake is a nice park. A little close to the road but there isn't much traffic at night. It's one of the full service parks with a store, ice and firewood. Some of the best sites are tent only sites with great views of the lake. Like all of the full service parks, the campsites are pretty close but the mature vegetation gives pretty good separation.