Loon Lake Recreation Site

The Bureau of Land Management's Loon Lake Recreation Site is located in the heart of Oregon's Coast Range at an elevation of 392 feet, just 20 miles east-southeast of Reedsport, Oregon. It is one of the Coast Range's few recreation areas with a warm, sandy beach, and the lake is perfect for swimming, fishing, boating, and other water activities. The operating season runs from Memorial Day weekend to September 30th. Visitors should note that there is no cell phone coverage in the area. Loon Lake is a family-oriented recreation site, treasured by locals for generations, offering camping, boating, kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing, swimming and waterplay, along with picnicking, hiking, birding, horseshoe tossing, and barbecuing. Campsites have paved parking pads and ample shade from old growth trees. The day use area boasts picnic tables, barbecue grills, swim area, fishing dock, and boat launch. A short, 1/4 mile trail to a waterfall on Elliott State Forest land begins at the south end of the day use area and takes hikers through a quiet and serene segment of old growth forest. Loon Lake offers 53 campsites that accommodate tents, trucks, trailers, and/or RVs. All campsites contain a fire ring and picnic table; most have a barbecue grill and/or tent pad, and double sites have two picnic tables and larger, or multiple, tent pads. The site also contains flush toilet facilities, vault toilets, a children's play area, day use picnic tables and barbecue grills, an amphitheater, boat launch, and fishing dock. Douglas-fir, western hemlock, red alder, and bigleaf maple trees forest this beautiful site and offer an abundance of shade. The forest understory features a host of native plants including rhododendron, salal, salmon berry, thimble berry, vine maple, trailing blackberry, and several fern species. A diverse variety of bird life, from the seldom seen Marbled Murrelet and Spotted Owl to the ever-present Steller's Jay and Osprey, frequents this area, and signs of larger animals such as raccoon, bear, elk, deer, and bobcat are evident. Formed by a landslide of large sandstone blocks and boulders, Loon Lake is a naturally dammed lake that covers 260 acres, is 2 miles long, and 190' deep. BLM's Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area is a short drive from Loon Lake and offers the chance to see Roosevelt Elk up close. Loon Lake is less than an hour from charming Winchester Bay on the Pacific Ocean, and the town of Reedsport, just 20 miles away near the confluence of three rivers, is the gateway town to the vast Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.