Lake Owyhee & Succor Creek
- griffithk4
- Jan 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 12
If you like rock formations, these parks are for you!
Lake Owyhee
This might be one of the most beautiful places we've ever been. The drive out to the lake follows the Owyhee Wild & Scenic river. There were tons of dispersed campsites, and it is clearly a prime fishing spot, as each site had at least one RV or trailer and every hole seemed to have a fisherman in it.
The road itself is sketch. Really torn up along the river, and basically one lane from the bottom of the dam to the campgrounds. There are some turnouts, but those drop right off a cliff into the river, so it was a bit of a treacherous drive. Lots of people pulling trailers and boats, which we fortunately did not have to pass many of, but I was definitely white-knuckling it through parts alone on the road in sunny daylight. Pulling a trailer, boat or in an RV? Definitely don't do it unless you are confident in your driving skills.
The campgrounds both have amazing view of the lake and the rock formations that create it. The lake is HUGE, and the campgrounds are the end of the paved access from the North. You can come in from the West side toward the dam, and there are two access points from the South, but that appears to be it. There's no cell service, and no pay phone, but we did hear someone on a satellite phone in a nearby site.
Aside from the two State Park campgrounds, there's one on the South end of the lake near Leslie Gulch, but that's pretty much it for lake access. If you're bringing your boat, there's a nice launch at the Indian Creek Campground, and in the day-use area. Check the water levels, summer may make the launches unusable. This campground has electrical sites and cabins as well.
We stayed at McCormack Campground which also has electrical and water, flush restrooms and scored a nice FCFS tent site with an amazing view of the lake. We encountered a ton of gross flies that swarmed the inside of my car. We used a little canned dog food and set a trap right outside the car that helped get those pesky flies out, but man they were everywhere.
Overall, highly recommend at least a night here, and if you have a boat it would be worth a longer stay to explore this amazing lake!
Succor Creek State Natural Area
Succor Creek is the only State Park where it is legal to collect rocks to take home, other than at the beach. Thundereggs are found here, along with a number of other really cool rocks like agates, jasper, fossils and petrified wood. I don't know much about rocks, but I do know I had to put some back because I kept picking up one awesome rock after another and felt like I was taking too many home. I didn't want to go into any of the caves alone, and did not have a pickaxe, so I didn't end up with any Thundereggs, but I like what I found regardless.
This primitive campground is right on succor creek, and there are some additional dispersed sites as you're coming in from the North. We didn't venture too far South, but the road takes you all the way back out to HWY 95 that direction as well. No running water at this campground, and it's warm here, so be prepared to pack in a bunch of water.
While we visited in October, the ground was pretty warm from the sun. Summer might be rough on doggie paws, and very warm out here, so plan accordingly.
留言