McKenzie River Campgrounds Reopen This Spring After Nine-Year EWEB Rehabilitation Project

Reservations for Trail Bridge Campground on the upper McKenzie River went live Tuesday on Recreation.gov, the first bookings available for the site since Eugene Water & Electric Board closed it to the public in 2017. The campground itself opens May 1 as first-come, first-serve; the first reservable window begins May 14.

The bookings mark the conclusion of a nine-year, $10.8 million overhaul of EWEB's Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project, a network of three dams and two power plants set roughly 70 miles east of Eugene along Highway 126 that generates between 6 and 9 percent of the city's electricity depending on the water year. EWEB refurbished the Carmen Powerhouse and rebuilt its substation, work that required fencing off surrounding recreation areas since 2017 to keep construction crews safe.

"That was a reinvestment in the hydroelectric system in order to be able to provide really clean and renewable energy over the next 40 years as we operate this project," said Patty Boyle, EWEB's Carmen-Smith license supervisor.

Trail Bridge Campground is not the only site coming back May 1. The Trail Bridge Reservoir boat launch reopens the same day with an improved ramp, as does the Smith Reservoir Day-Use Area, which also received an upgraded boat ramp and a new shoreline viewing platform along its rebuilt trail. The Carmen Diversion Day-Use Area opens with a new visitor pavilion and universally accessible vault restrooms. Lakes End Campground, a 14-site area reachable only by water, will take first-come, first-serve arrivals starting May 1 with new kayak racks, fire rings and composting toilets replacing what was there before. Ice Cap Campground, the one site in the cluster that finished reconstruction ahead of schedule, has been open since 2019.

Boyle said nine years of rebuilding produced infrastructure designed to outlast the previous generation of facilities. "The facilities are really well laid out. The infrastructure is new and the roads are all in place ready for recreators to come back and enjoy for many years to come," she said. She noted new signage throughout the area and upgraded accessible features at multiple sites for visitors with mobility limitations.

The sites sit within the Willamette National Forest and are managed by the USDA Forest Service in coordination with EWEB, while Linn County Parks handles campground operations under a concessionaire permit. Site managers are still finishing cleanup from a December windstorm and completing facility checks before May 1. Commercial outfitters running guided rafting and fishing trips along the McKenzie corridor, including operators based near McKenzie Bridge, have had a shortened upper-river staging area during the closure and stand to benefit from the restored access to boat launches and campsites.

Visitors planning trips after May 1 should verify current site status with the McKenzie River Ranger Station at (541) 822-3381 or at the Willamette National Forest recreation page before heading out. The Carmen-Smith project now operates under a 40-year Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license, authorized through at least May 2059.