Camping and Fishing at Rock Creek Reservoir, Oregon

We towed our travel trailer on Saturday morning to Rock Creek Reservoir near Wamic, Oregon for an overnight camping and fishing trip. It just so happened to be the same campground we took our first trip in our trailer exactly one year ago. Rock Creek Reservoir is about 100 acres when full (in the spring) and is stocked several times in the Spring with rainbow trout. It shrinks down to two ponds by the end of summer. Rock Creek Reservoir is located in Tygh Valley within the Mount Hood National Forest. It's about 6 miles WSW of the town of Wamic. Rock Creek Campground is located on the Southeast shore of the lake and has 33 sites with water and outhouses nearby.

Our friend John carpooled with us as we pulled out of town around 7AM on Saturday morning. Just under two hours later, we arrived at the mostly empty Rock Creek Campground. We had reserved a spot, but didn't need to. In the past the campground was not reserveable after Labor Day, but this year is different.

After leveling our trailer and enjoying a beverage we set off to Rock Creek Reservoir to try our hand at some trout fishing. The reservoir was very low with the smaller upper pond even smaller than we have seen it in the past. The upper pond was cool and clear while the larger lower pond was more murky. We decided to fish the upper pond and I was rewarded with a nice rainbow trout on my first cast. Chartreuse PowerBait® with glitter was the ticket.

We ended up getting tons of bites and landing another half dozen trout in just a short while. We figured we had caught plenty and headed back to camp for lunch. Katie made us delicious turkey sandwiches with garden tomatoes and onions while I fried up some fresh trout which ended up tasting great.

   

After lunch, John and I went on a walk up the small creek that feeds Rock Creek Reservoir. Katie opted to stay behind and take a short nap. The area has changed significantly in the last couple years since they closed it to overnight camping and off-road vehicle use.

Back at camp we lounged around and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. I was even ambitious enough to get the hammock out and lay on it for a few minutes. The weather was great with the temperature in the upper 70's to low 80's and a slight breeze. September is one of the best months to camp in Oregon.

   

We recently purchased a new 10" dutch oven which I was eager to try out. I have never cooked bread in one before, but decided to try cornbread this trip. Katie mixed up her secret recipe (it has yellow cake in it!) while the coals were getting ready. As the cornbread was cooking, I barbequed chicken and we tossed some potatoes in foil on the fire.

   

Dinner turned out excellent. The cornbread was nearly perfect, although slightly overdone and a little burnt on the bottom. I had too much heat underneath and cooked it for too long. I'll get it prefect next time. We ate the entire pan of cornbread (I overindulged) and spent the remainder of the evening sitting around our campfire. The sky was clear and the stars were shining bright.

   

We slept in Sunday morning, enjoying the comfort of our trailer. This was only our second time using it this season as we have been mostly backpacking and tent camping all summer. Luckily there are still a couple more good months left this year for trailer camping. And then it will be time for snow camping! The year sure has gone by fast.