Barton County Park Campground

I moved to Portland 3 years ago (following my partner now husband) and I didn’t really fall in love with the PNW until I realized camping is literally 20 minutes outside of the city! Barton is beautiful and the gateway to our annual Float With Friends

We are full-timers in a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We were in site 60 for 5 days in late May. The CG is very clean and well maintained, except for the encroaching and low hanging branches that could use some trimming near the check-in shack on the drive in. The East CG has very recently been repaved. The CG varied from nearly empty mid-week to completely full over the holiday weekend. There are a few short trails around the CG if you search for them. Although, fairly convenient to the Portland area, It is a little pricey for 50A/Water only hookups.

AT&T coverage was good, ranging from 1-3 bars of 5G, with speeds up to 31 MB/s. Site 60 had access all 3 western DISH satellites. Starlink had speeds between 2 and 14 MB/s. We didn’t try any OTA channels with our fixed omni antenna.

This camp ground has RV hook ups, showers, bathrooms and covered areas. It’s not beautiful on the park, the river is nice though. It’s great for groups since the spaces are so close together.

We come to Barton at least 3 times a summer. Some of the visits last a week. This place has gone to hell. The grass hasn’t been mowed, bushes not trimmed and it just looks like crap. I understand with Covid things have changed, but this is a serious fire hazard. When you head down to the river it even gets worse! You have to walk through knee high grass to enjoy the play structure or picnic tables. The staff seemed nice enough, just lazy.

The Ranger who oversees this place ruined my experience. She came after it got dark to tell me, despite there being no posted rules to the contrary, I couldn't use my hammock. So I had to redo my setup where I had to contend with a soaked mud pit.

There were other sites that had hammocks up and they remained up even in the next morning. I have no idea why I was singled out, but I got real "We dun want your kind here." vibes.

Avoid this place.

Seem full every time I go there

Nice campground but Can be very busy, and the park people harass you if you go in and out off the park alot.

Well, it was extremely hot and the park was short staffed so conditions were less than ideal. Only one garbage drop, only half the showers worked. The hosts allowed any amount on noise and bad language be bellowed around an otherwise great family atmosphere until 10pm Must say the park staff was trying very hard.

This is a super convenient campground not too far from Portland. Makes for a great group camp experience when you want everyone to post their own way and be in their own sites close enough to one another. Clean, relaxing and great river Access... Though the river is not within close walking distance. It's gotten the road two minutes by car...

Very clean campsites. Sites are very close together but they have tried to make some more secluded. Close to the river and a good area to launch from for a day of rafting.

Love this park! Great little spot. Great location. Usually quiet. Nice trails and well kept. They have some amazing activities for kids, etc.

One of my favorite things to do when the weather warms up is to float. I enjoy the Clackamas River. We sometimes start at Barton Park after lunch. It's lovely all around! Clean and lots of space.

We like to come here each year to camp and do a float down the Clackamas river. The campsites are nice, although it feels a bit more like camping in a park rather than in the woods - we've often had to deal with loud families or rowdy groups nearby.

We love to float the river! The play area/ park is one of my kids favorite. Lots of area to play. Volleyball, gagaball, playground. The showers don’t stay on very long so it’s hard to wash your hair. The store is only a few miles away. The park locks up at 10 so if you need to come in late you would have some trouble. The tent spaces are a little small if you need to set up multiple tents.

This is the campground we took our oldest daughter to on her first ever camping trip in summer 2015 - so my review is based on the campground as it was in 2015.

We live car-free but we still really enjoy camping, so we searched for a place we could go camping without a car. Barton Park was by far the winner! We were able to take a city bus there and walk the 3/4 mile into the campground - also the fact that they sell firewood and have a store 3/4 mile away was a big bonus for us.

The camping sites were perfectly fine - although I wish there were some walk-in ones that weren't right on the campground road. The playground was being replaced when we were there so I don't know how it is - but I'm sure it's fine. There was a large field for playing in right in the middle of the campground which was nice.

Barton Park is a county park basically at the entrance of the Mt. Hood National Forest. As it has easy access to the Clackamas River, it is insanely popular for tubers and kayakers as a spot to put-in. A short drive to Barton Mercantile and gasoline for supplies, so you’re not too isolated, unlike the national forest sports, where once you go in, you’re in. Numerous campsites available, the majority of which have water and electric hookups for RVs plus a handful of “primitive” tent-only sites. Nice river views.

Great place to put into the river to float or kayak. lots of parking. also a campground. perfect for a close weekend getaway.

lots of parking space, easy to access boat ramp, typically lots of people always there floating the river

Very busy in the summer months. Close to Portland so it gets a lot of day traffic. Access to river so it has summer activities. Sites for large get togethers.

We visited this campground on the offseason. Despite the campgrounds and picnic areas being closed, everything was pristine, even the bathrooms which were well-stocked with soap and paper products. 

The river is quick moving and quite lovely. There were a few fisherman there on the cloudy, cool day we visited. The campgrounds had fun amenities like outdoor movie screening areas. The kids enjoyed the amazing playgrounds that they claimed gave them “tons of playful ideas.” The campsites ranged from shaded with tall trees for tents and small RVs, to open and landscaped sites near a man-made pond for larger RVs with pull through needs.

The campground is clearly well-cared for and we imagine that it would be a pleasant place to stay.