William M. Tugman State Park Eel Lake

"My wife and I are currently volunteer hosting cleaning yurts, camp sites and day use area. The park is exquisitely quiet right now."

Ron Stacy

"Stunning scenery at William S. Tugman State Park at Eel Lake. Great kayak ramp with pick nick tables near the launch, and lots of beautiful spots to paddle to on the lake.The bathroom has always been clean when I visit, and folks are always friendly."

Angie C

"Small sites that are very well maintained, even if worn down (ie grass is more dirt/sand than grass, forest floor is walked so many times it isn't just a simple trail anymore). Quite a few hosts, so rotational shifts are used. They enforce quiet time. However even when we were quiet the rangers would walk site to site and remind people to be quiet. They are a bit over the top on that, not allowing late nights or casual conversations past 10pm.

My biggest complaint is the EXTREMELY limited hours to get firewood. There is a self pay station for it even, but you pay then hand the ticket to the ranger (why not use a self service kiosk with doors that open, after all you already put the machine in place...at least put the rest in to automate the process. You could be 24/7 without additional effort. However they don't have this, only the self pay station that takes cash or card, and you are required to use it. This machine is exact amount only, no change. Perfect! Except you can only get wood between 2pm and 8pm, so no spending the day out on the water if you want a fire when you get back. You cannot buy before you leave since they open at 2, so you MUST cut your day short or have a stockpile. You are required to give up half a day of your vacation for simple firewood. You can however buy locally elsewhere, which is generally cheaper anyway. But they entirely removed the convenience of buying on site, and removed the human interface that makes camping fun...you know, talking to people to make a trade and learn about the local area from the ranger.

Considering how many hosts are here this is insane! Especially when the park is ON THE LAKE and 10 minutes from the ocean. You know, the entire reason most people book it here. A simple shift rotation would work, and they DO run shifts, but nobody is allowed to hand out firewood outside of that 6-hour block?

To add insult to injury the wood is $7 per bundle. Same at every other Oregon park this year. But a bundle here is 3 to 4 good sized pieces, 1/3rd of what I paid $7 for at Emmigrant Springs state park. And it is wrapped in plastic, likely store bought and resold. SO I budgeted for wood, but had to triple the budget just to have the same amount, AND I now have plastic waste on top of it.

All of this makes this a park that we choose for location only now, and likely this year will be our last. The overall feeling of being controlled, from when you are allowed to buy firewood to being told to stop a simple quiet conversation bc it is past 10pm because they told you too and not bc it is actually loud, makes this more of a place to setup base camp that you will ONLY sleep at.

TLDR
I love the privacy afforded, considering how small the sites are. I love the location being so close to an ocean beach and lake all while being in a forest. Sand dunes are nearby too. But this isn't the classic American campsite, you won't be allowed late night horror stories, or have a fire if you had day plans. This is some politicians "see, we provided this service for those who love camping" without understanding what camping actually is for the average family."

Wing987