Detroit Lake State Recreation Area

Detroit Lake's campground offers nearly 300 sites on the shore of a forest-ringed canyon reservoir in the Cascade Mountains.

A Visitor Center has information on the park and local attractions, along with gifts, ice, soft drinks, firewood, souvenirs and educational toys for sale.

Year-round Camping Reserve campsites up to six months in advance at o regonstateparks. reserveamerica. com .

Note: the area around the park sustained significant damage in the Sept. 2020 Santiam Canyon wildfires.

If you're staying in the campground between May and September, you can rent a paddlecraft for same-day use at the Visitor Center on a first-come, first-served basis.

Rentals are available for one to four hours and come with a lifejacket and safety whistle.

Water Recreation Drawdown at Detroit Reservoir to take place in fall of 2026. The Detroit deep drawdown will start after Nov. 1, 2026.

the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will use forecast data to identify ideal conditions to start the drawdown any time after Nov. 1, but before Dec. 31.

Detroit Reservoir is one of 13 dams USACE maintains and op

The nine-mile-long lake is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and other water sports. Sightseers enjoy views of snow-capped Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

The campground has horseshoe pits, a basketball court, a volleyball area, and a playground. There are two courtesy boat ramps, two reservable boat moorages, and a fishing dock.

The area originally was obtained in 1955 under special use permit from the U. S. Forest Service with the cooperation of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. This location had been a developed Forest Service campground prior to its lease to State Parks. The park is forested with second growth Douglas fir and was extensively logged in the period before the World War II. The 400-foot-deep reservoir was created in 1953 when the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers completed the Detroit Dam project. The lake and the dam were named after the community of Detroit, populated originally by people from Michigan.