Natural Bridge Campground, Oregon

(Writes Ralph) My favourite campground so far in the US has been Natural Bridge Campground, a Forest Service site on the Rogue River in central south Oregon. It is pretty undeveloped, with no water, pit toilets, a few new vault toilets and little else. However for me this added to its charms. The sites are huge, beneath tall but airy trees, the ground soft and sandy (though a little dirty around the fire pits). The sun can reach through the branches when you want it to, and next to almost every site the Rogue River rushes noisily past on its way down to plunge through the Natural Bridge like an excited child. (The bridge is a lava tube burrowing through a lava flow just a mile or so downstream from the campground.)

The campground was quiet when we were there in May, the only disturbance being from a squirrel or two and a group of ramblers plodding seriously down the riverside trail to the bridge. We were asked to leave a $3 per night donation, which we were happy to do. See also Kudos (Forest Service).

Fresno Reservoir, Montana

Another really good campsite, though even more primitive, was at Fresno Reservoir, in northern Montana, east of Cutbank. The attraction here is the surrounding area, which is beautiful and strange at the same time. The reservoir has cut small cliffs from the gentry rolling prairie. There is a scatter of spindly trees, and sandy beaches line the reservoir shores. Our site had a single pad and a disgusting pit toilet, obviously mostly used by incontinent fishermen with poor aim. We collected enough driftwood to keep a goodly fire going all evening (it was pretty chilly in September). As the sun set its rays painted the cliffs gold and made the whole scene almost surreal, like the surface of some dry planet. The site was free.

CAMPING