Apparently this lake is named after a Native American from the Wasco tribe who "traveled" with European settlers and not after some random white bro with a barbed wire tattoo wearing an Ed Hardy shirt. I got this info from Wikipedia, so let's be honest and acknowledge that poor Billy was probably forced into this as a slave and did not "travel" with them excitedly or willingly. At first glance I was afraid I had taken a wrong turn and was in California, but there was no mistaking the Pacific Northwest pastiness of Nike and Intel employees, deprived of vitamin D for the duration of winter and basking in all of their translucent glory while throwing back some Pabst tallboys.
Billy's reservoir is massive, and there are several day use areas and 2 campgrounds. The color of the water is suspicious. Seriously, as you can see it is the same shade as that desert sage stuff. (Listen, I'm not a botanist or plant doctor or whatever and I am too lazy to look it up.) The interesting thing is that the plant smells exactly like a Port-O-Potty, or as they call them in PDX, a Honey Bucket. My entire life I've always wondered who captured that scent and decided to make it the universal smell of shitters across America. The aroma is so distinctive and, previously believed, not to be found in nature. Mystery solved here at Lake Billy Chinook. I present to you, the Port-O-Potty plant.
Billy's reservoir is massive, and there are several day use areas and 2 campgrounds. The color of the water is suspicious. Seriously, as you can see it is the same shade as that desert sage stuff. (Listen, I'm not a botanist or plant doctor or whatever and I am too lazy to look it up.) The interesting thing is that the plant smells exactly like a Port-O-Potty, or as they call them in PDX, a Honey Bucket. My entire life I've always wondered who captured that scent and decided to make it the universal smell of shitters across America. The aroma is so distinctive and, previously believed, not to be found in nature. Mystery solved here at Lake Billy Chinook. I present to you, the Port-O-Potty plant.
The campground was perfect for a single gal and her mutt, but I would never stay with a group because we would most definitely get kicked out. My friends are obnoxious and loud. This is a fact.
The sites were well taken care of, the grounds were freaking manicured, AND they have nightly lectures about animals and conservation efforts and stuff in the amphitheater. There was an awesome fella at the ranger booth when I came in that was nice enough to let me know that there are 2 emergency spots that they do not release until 7 pm. Heads up when camping in Oregon in summer, all of the campgrounds are reserved months in advance. MONTHS! Do yourself a favor and plan ahead, or be willing to look for dispersed camping. There are a ton of resources now to find these sweet free spots. Google it. I'm not doing all of the work for you.
I'm spontaneous and almost never make reservations, but things just kind of work out... like the ranger fairy offering me one of the emergency spots. I did however have the opportunity to scope out the situation, and if I needed to reserve a spot in the future, it would be lucky #13! There is a giant piece of a mountain that has tumbled down the canyon and blocks one side from the view of the other spots, providing extra privacy.
Back to the water. Did I mention that it is GREEEN, and I equate that with agricultural run-off, a-no-thank-you, so I did not even tip in a toe. This says a lot because I regularly swim in the Willamette River, and had no problem with the muddy Mississippi back in the day. Once again, I don't really know anything about water quality there or whatever, I am full of it. I just didn't like the way it looked, and it was after 7 and I needed to get situated. This consisted of me throwing all of my gear on the ground within the general domain of spot #12, once again giving a shout out to the super nice guy that suggested I choose this spot rather than the one by the playground, and headed off to the 6 mile trail that leads up to the ridge of the canyon.
The sites were well taken care of, the grounds were freaking manicured, AND they have nightly lectures about animals and conservation efforts and stuff in the amphitheater. There was an awesome fella at the ranger booth when I came in that was nice enough to let me know that there are 2 emergency spots that they do not release until 7 pm. Heads up when camping in Oregon in summer, all of the campgrounds are reserved months in advance. MONTHS! Do yourself a favor and plan ahead, or be willing to look for dispersed camping. There are a ton of resources now to find these sweet free spots. Google it. I'm not doing all of the work for you.
I'm spontaneous and almost never make reservations, but things just kind of work out... like the ranger fairy offering me one of the emergency spots. I did however have the opportunity to scope out the situation, and if I needed to reserve a spot in the future, it would be lucky #13! There is a giant piece of a mountain that has tumbled down the canyon and blocks one side from the view of the other spots, providing extra privacy.
Back to the water. Did I mention that it is GREEEN, and I equate that with agricultural run-off, a-no-thank-you, so I did not even tip in a toe. This says a lot because I regularly swim in the Willamette River, and had no problem with the muddy Mississippi back in the day. Once again, I don't really know anything about water quality there or whatever, I am full of it. I just didn't like the way it looked, and it was after 7 and I needed to get situated. This consisted of me throwing all of my gear on the ground within the general domain of spot #12, once again giving a shout out to the super nice guy that suggested I choose this spot rather than the one by the playground, and headed off to the 6 mile trail that leads up to the ridge of the canyon.
As you can see, the area is hideous. I biffed it about 1 mile in and busted my elbow like an idiot. There was an adorable little check-in book at the bottom which made me feel very Reese-Witherspoon-in-Wild. The Tam A Lau Trail is littered with scree so watch yo'self unless you want to end up on your ass ala Meghan. There was a ton of burned sage-ish plants, but I think that was just preventative burning to limit forest fires. Once again, total speculation. Since we are experiencing record droughts and basically in the desert, I was actually shocked and thankful that we were allowed to have small fires at our campsites. I suggest not purchasing cheap dollar store flickering LED lights to use in your tent as you will scare the crap out of the rangers because it looks like you have set yourself on fire. I would like to take this opportunity to once again apologize to the nice ranger lady.
To recap: sites are $20 and get you a flush toilet and showers, access to the lake, use of the hiking trail, a lecture in the amphitheater, really helpful rangers, and some amazing views. The lake itself would be more than doable as a short add-on if you are headed out to Smith Rock or Bend.