Best RV Parks & Resorts near Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, OR

I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting much from this RV Park. It's not in the most exciting area of Portland (the closet thing is a Walmart down the road). But it's actually quite lovely. Nice and clean. Plenty of green space, trees. Most spots were pull-though with decently wide streets to drive in. Even though it's just off a semi-major street, it's set back enough and surrounded by trees to be more quiet.

The park is set up in two areas, with the one closer to the entrance a bit higher up than the spots toward the back. Pool, clubhouse, etc. are toward the front. The front office was clean and the manager nice.

While there's definitely some long-term and month-to-month spots, most RVs aren't spilling over with "extras" (extensive decorations/sheds etc.) like some places.

To me, the price is a bit much: $57.67 for full hook-ups, and that's after a AAA discount. Otherwise, a decent place to stay with your RV on the edge of Portland.

We visited Mt. Hood Village RV Resort this past weekend for a two day snow outing adventure and it was the perfect stay for our family in our RV.  We started with night skiing at Mt. Hood Skibowl, and after finishing up about 10:30pm we headed a bit back down the mountain to Mt Hood Village.  Despite the snowpack on the mountain, Mt Hood Village is just 20 min away, but several thousand feet lower in elevation, so there was no snow to fight with when we arrived.  

It was late at 11pm, so what a great surprise to find a very helpful welcome with a gate attendant who had our information from our reservation printed and ready to go with a smile and good directions find our RV site.  We pulled in and plugged in within 10 minutes and got the crew ready for sleeping.  The site was level, had all the amenities for a full service hook up (although we had a full fresh water tank and relatively empty waste tanks so we didn't hook them up as I was too tired!).  

In the morning I walked through the Resort to see all of the many amenities.  We had stayed here once before in the summer when we visited the summer activities at Mt Hood Skibowl.  The kids rode their bikes then and we enjoyed an active RV resort with many overnight visitors and a lot of regular long stay neighbors.  Sites can be close together but the abundance of large trees and multiple sections of the park spreads out the large number of sites it offers for RV sites, and tiny home rentals.

Amenities are many (not all are open due to COVID) and we didn't have time to enjoy all of them, but they are here for your use.  I would call ahead to see what is open if particular amenities are important to you (fitness gym, pool, etc. to see if they are currently available or not).  There is a senior center for gathering, there is a mountain ski shuttle pick up for a ride to the slopes, also a fitness center, pool, playground, onsite convenience store, restaurant, clubhouse, etc.  

We particularly appreciated how close it was located Mt Hood.  After a solid night's rest we headed 30 min back up to the backside of the mountain to Bennett Pass.  We worked on a snow fort a friend had started and had a great experience finishing out our 24 hour mountain adventure.

Mt Hood Village resort has hundreds of RV sites, tons of amenities, and is part of the Encore RV Resort/Thousand Trails network of properties.  If you are headed to winter or summer activities at Mt Hood it is a great option for a stay that is close to the mountain, has access to all the amenities you could want, with personal service, all at a fair price.  I highly recommend this property.

Large, well maintained RV park. Very friendly, efficient staff. Bathrooms with showers--modern and well maintained. Good security. This looks like a full time location with good long-term rates.

There are several RV parks in this general area, just off the Columbia River parkway. The other two we visited were the kind where the sheriff/police cars slowly drive through to make sure things aren't getting too crazy. This is not that kind of place.

Smaller (25 spots?) and about half the spots are long-term residents. Lots of grass and trees. Laundromat and showers. Nothing too fancy but also nothing too sketchy.

Good location as far as a jumping off point for the Columbia River Gorge while being not too far from Portland proper.

The campground at Ainsworth State park feels more like an RV parking lot than an exotic Columbia Gorge camping experience. The majority of the camground it rv hookups with just a few walk in tent sites. Yet, while the campground isn't impressive in itself, it is in an amazing location for exploring neighboring Eagle Creek and the rest of the gorge just steps away!

The parking for the tent sites is close to the walk in trail. There are only 6 tent sites and they can be reserved online so it is not easy to roll up to a free spot in hiking season.

The sites themselves are basic and offer much more privacy than your neighbors in the RV section of the park are getting. There is water near the tent site entrance. Toilets are a bit of a walk from the tent sites.

This site does take credit cards for campground registration.

We usually cross the Columbia River into Washington state at Biggs Junction, Oregon. We don’t want to stay at Maryhill State Park in Washington as we had stayed there before. We found this campground on our Benchmark Oregon Atlas.

There are separate areas for RVs who want full hookups and those who don’t plus tenters. We fall in the latter category. Actually, our area was quieter than the full hook up loop which was closer tomI84 and the train tracks.

We had clean vault toilets, potable water, picnic table and fire ring. There were camp hosts for each loop. They sold firewood and were very helpful. There was a garbage dumpster and several recycling bins. The sites were in a grassy area with heavenly scented locust trees. There were geese with their goslings. There were trails along the Deschutes River but our neighbor camper said she saw several large gopher snakes.

The only drawback was the goose poop. And, snakes on the trail.

We would stay here again. B49/$10

We decided to make this RV park our maiden voyage in our new Travel Trailer. It was pretty pricey for an RV park at the time we booked (+80/night) but then again there isn't much competition that is actually up on the mountain. It's actually a pretty large park, but doesn't feel like it until you get out and explore a bit as the loops are pretty well disconnected. The sites are typically close together, but some have more separation than others. Most sites are pull through. Full hookups worked well for us. There was a group of tent campers across from us, so it seems they do allow tents in RV spots as well. The Lodge has wifi, the rest of the park does not. The Lodge area has a small store with plenty of RV parts and snacks if you happened to forget something. If you need actual supplies, head up the road a bit to the local Thriftway, a local grocery store.

The main attraction of this place is the nearby recreation. There is a path that leads to the Wildwood recreation area and within the RV park itself there is access to the Salmon River for fishing/swimming. There is easy bike riding in the RV park, and right across Hwy 26 is some of the best Mountain Biking in the country at the Sandy Ridge Trail System. Using this RV park as a jumping off point, there are endless hiking trails and lakes to paddle and explore in the Mt Hood wilderness. You will never get bored in the Mt Hood area.

Some great places to eat in the area are Koya Kitchen, that serves sushi and ramen with plenty of outdoor seating and a full bar. Also nearby and not to miss is the Skyway Bar and Grill with amazing BBQ, full bar and live music on the weekends. Of course there's always Timberline Lodge if you're looking for a bit fancier, you definitely can't go wrong there with the food or the views, or year round skiing/snowboarding.

All in all the Mt Hood RV park is in a good location, which is what you're really paying for, but not somewhere we'd stay longer term due to the cost, noise and size of the place.

Nice quiet campground, some long term campers. Close to the Columbia River. Beautiful view nice established old timber. It is close to the train track. Enjoyed our stay here

Update: As of June 2018, the RV park is under new management. I was recently quoted $85 for one night for a mid-sized RV. For that price, I'd expect an ocean view and a hot tub, certainly not a parking lot in the middle of Vancouver, Washington. For about half the price I'd suggest any number of nearby parks instead, including Tri-Mountain, Jantzen Beach, or Columbia River RV Parks.

Original Review: This is basically a cement parking lot for RVs off an ugly busy road in Vancouver. Large roads and several large pull-through spots make parking for RVs easy. Spots closer to the entrance are larger (and more expensive), while spots toward the back are often smaller and sometimes have grass and/or large bushes between sites. Bathrooms were clean, though the trash dumpsters were completely overflowing and there were signs threatening a $25 fine for each bag left outside the dumpster. A tiny spot for dogs is in a corner, while a somewhat larger grassy area is marked as "no pets."

Tips: Only Cash and Checks taken. No credit cards.

Close proximity to many hiking trails, and town grocery store and gas station. Full rv hookups. We chose this campground because we had been traveling up the coast all week and our kids could use a break from”roughing it” this place was full of amenities...laundry, pool, hot tub, playgrounds, store and wi-fi (which we hadn’t had all week) it was definitely a resort type environment, good for families with kids. Some sites are private(because we asked for one) but many are like a parking lot...I would let them know your preference before you book:)

Really clean park, host are on sites and very friendly, this is a quiet park and mostly locals living here long term , expect a good amount of traffic thru all hours.. no riff raff tho kept good grounds and clean showers here..

CLICK HERE for FULL Video Review

A visit to Beacon Rock State Park is one for the memory book. Not only is the campground itself a woodland wonderland with winding paths through tall old growth forest areas, but the surrounding area of the park itself is impressive with exciting things to do around every corner. 

Located along the Columbia River, the park has the asset of water activities while also the beauty of waterfall paths, public spaces ideal for family gatherings and of course the iconic Beacon Rock itself which towers above the surrounding area as one of the more unique look outs you will find. 

I visited this park on a warm and blustery day. I started out hiking the Beacon Rock itself where I was impressed by the views and challenged by the ongoing ascent of the switchbacks. Following my challenge of the morning, I moved over the campground itself. Mid afternoon on a busy day, I expected to be turned away as the park was pretty crowded but instead I was impressed to find that the campground still had a few sites available and was able to settle into one for a few hours of R&R. 

The sites were large enough to comfortably park my small car and have plenty of room to spread out. While I don’t see this camp being great for excessively large rigs, I did see a few smaller and mid sized units on the loop. 

Sites were basically fitted with tables and fire rings while common spigots were located in several locations around camp for those needing water. Both trash and recycling receptacles were placed near the kiosk of camp, something which you will not find unless you travel all the way around the loop. 

I enjoyed this site because of the access it had to the trail system beyond the Beacon Rock trail(which is located across the street from the camp). Several trails spur off the back side of the camp near an overflow parking area for those who need more than one car for their adventures. 

Even as the camp filled up there was enough spacing that it didn’t seem to be loud and short of a few dogs barking here and there it was pretty quiet into the evening. 

A centralized restroom and bath house was such a perk and justified the higher pricing of the site which I did feel was pretty high overall but somewhat fitting for the area. The showers were coin operated with every 3 minutes costing$0.50 a great investment after being on the road and staying at another campground previously which was having water issues which prevented me from being able to take a shower the night before. The showers were hot, the pressure was good and the overall impact of this was game changing!!! 

**Tips: **

• Bear Warning- This area is a bear zone however you will not find bear boxes like you will at other campsites in the area. For this reason you need to come prepared and make sure you are able to secure your items in a safe way. 
• Other Campsites- There are several campsites beyond the mainly advertised loop. You can find these a bit further down the road and they offer RV hook ups and also equestrian camping. No Supplies No Problem- At this campsite you are only a short distance from town so if you do happen to forget something and need it the drive to a store or station is very short. 
• Cell Service- This is one of the few locations in the area I did have cell signal with AT&T!!

We stayed here for two nights and snagged some nice waterfront spots, it was a nice area and relaxing. They have a toilet, no shower. The vault toilet is not super gross thankfully, but there are a couple potential long term campers here beware of that. If you stick close to the entrance side then you will have some good spots and not too many neighbors.