About this place
Head of the River is a rustic forest camp 50 minutes northeast of Chiloquin. It sits at the headwaters of the Williamson River, at the foot of a hillside.
The river here is spring-fed and clear, and it runs right past the camp.
There are five campsites and one vault toilet, with picnic tables and camp fire rings.
There are no official trails, though you can walk down to the bank.
The fly-fishing nearby is very good. Check the State of Oregon fishing regulations for exactly where you may fish, because the rules change from stretch to stretch.
June and July are heavy mosquito months. Bring repellent.
In the fall the hunters arrive.
There is no drinking water. Bring a lot of it.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- The turning circles are small, so RVs will struggle
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- Yes
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Fremont-Winema National Forest
The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the US Forest Service, who grade every road by the kind of vehicle it is looked after for. Those records cover the roads nearby. They do not cover the last stretch in to the campsite, and nobody has checked that part. Treat this as a warning. We are not promising what you will find when you get there. If you have driven it, tell us what it was like and we will say so here.
Getting there
From Chiloquin, take Sprague River Road east for about five miles. Turn left onto Williamson River Road, then left onto Forest Service Road 4648, then left again onto FS Road 4648030. The campground is where that road ends.
Coordinates 42.732438, -121.418448
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What is near here
Nothing is close to this one. Everything below is a long drive away, and each line says how far.
- Mount Thielsen Directions
- Mount Mazama Directions
- Upper Klamath Lake Directions
- Crater Lake Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Sprague River, OR Directions
- Klamath Falls, OR Directions
Klamath Falls is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. This is Forest Service land, and each forest sets its own rule for how far you have to go, so check before you travel.
The nearest other free campsite in this guide is Scott Creek Campground, Oregon — 28 miles in a straight line, but a 42 mile drive. Three more sit closer than 25 miles, if the rule here allows them.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026.