About Juniper Flats
A family campground since 1987
How a 20-acre hay field on the Deschutes became 64 sites under the ponderosas — and why it still feels like someone’s backyard.
Our story
It started with a hay field and a river
In 1987 the Marek family bought a 20-acre hay field on a bend of the Deschutes River outside Tumalo. The ponderosas along the bank were the only shade for miles, so that’s where they planted the first campsites — a handful of gravel pads, a hand-painted sign and a cash box on the porch.
Loop by loop the Flats grew: River Loop and Pine Row for the big rigs, Sage Loop for back-ins, Meadow Walk for tents, and finally two riverside cabins, Larkspur and Indian Paintbrush. Today there are 64 sites — and a Marek still answers the office phone from 8 am to 8 pm, every day of the May-through-October season.
What hasn’t changed is the point of the place: quiet nights, dark skies and a riverbank left wild enough that the osprey keep coming back.
What we care about
Three things we’ll never compromise on
Quiet nights
Quiet hours from 10 pm to 7 am are the backbone of the place — generators off, music off, conversations down to campfire volume. It’s why guests sleep well here.
Dark skies
There’s no overhead lighting on Meadow Walk or the River Loop. On a clear August night you can watch the Perseids from your own camp chair.
A wild riverbank
No glass at the river, no drones over the riverfront sites, and the osprey pair on the bluff always has seniority. The Deschutes stays the way we found it.
Meet the people
The faces behind the Flats
Small campground, small crew. If you call the office at (541) 555-0187 or walk up to the store counter, this is who you’ll get.
The Marek family
Owners since 1987
Three generations now share the mowing, the firewood runs and the office phone. They still clean the shower house themselves, twice a day — and it shows.
Rosa
Camp store · since 2004
Rosa has run the camp store counter since 2004. Coffee and fresh pastries every morning, firewood bundles by dusk, and an answer for nearly any question about Tumalo.
Juniper Flats by the numbers
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64
sites on the Deschutes
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1987
family-owned since
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45 ft
max rig on the River Loop
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May–Oct
open every year
Why guests come back
The river does most of the work
A gravel path from every loop drops you at the basalt swim hole, the camp store porch smells like coffee from 8 am, and firewood ordered by 4 pm shows up at your fire ring by dusk. We mostly try to stay out of the way.
Questions before you book? Email stay@juniperflats.com or stop by — 20450 Juniper Flats Lane, Tumalo, OR 97703.
Find your site
Every pin on the map is a real site with its hookups, max rig length and nightly rate — pick the exact spot you want and send it straight to the reservation form.
Find your site