Copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
All images copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
Page Springs Campground lies at the southern end of the Blitzen Valley, just south of the Refuge boundary. It's a favorite haunt of birders and fishermen, and fills rapidly on most weekends in spring and early summer.
The Donner und Blitzen River runs right by the campground, and there's a nice trail which follows the river upstream along the floor of a rimrock canyon.
The campground is also conveniently close to the small town of Frenchglen, the southern terminus of the Center Patrol Road, and the P Ranch.
The campground itself is full of large junipers, and about half of the campsites are shaded. Due to the proximity of the river and the shade of these junipers, the campground is often pleasantly cool even when the marshes and sage flats of the refuge are uncomfortably hot.
Many birds nest right in the campground. In 1994, a pair of long-eared owls nested alongside a nature trail near the campground, and in 1995 I had northern flicker, house wren, and black-billed magpie nesting in my campsite.
In addition, this campground is perhaps the best place in the Pacific Northwest to see yellow-breasted chat. There are normally two or three males singing twenty-four hours a day at the entrance to the campground, and more pairs up the river canyon. The river canyon is an excellent place to see spotted sandpiper, lazuli bunting, long-tailed weasel, golden-mantled ground squirrel, and many more species of birds and species. It's also an excellent place to fish.
