Best Campgrounds near Gearhart, OR

I had a reservation for Friday, March 21 to Sunday, March 23. I arrived after hours and just drove right in to my campsite. The campground is set up in sections A, B, C, and D. Section D is near the entrance along a lake. The other sections are down a long drive close to the beach. Section C was closed. Each section is divided into smaller circles of 10 campsites each. Although there is not much privacy between sites, the sites are still spacious and mine backed up to woods. My trailer has a large stargazer window on the back and I was able to leave my shades open most of the time. Section A also has full hook-ups. While my loop was farthest from the beach, you could still hear the ocean which is lovely and relaxing. It's not a far walk to the beach and my toddler did it easily. Once on the beach, there is a big sign with a giant A so you can find your way back should you go for a walk. There are two lighthouses in the park, trails, jetty, and an interperative center. Once out of the park, Long Beach is a short drive. I enjoyed our time and would love to go back for a longer trip.

I got zero reception in the campground. I use Verizon.

Cape Lookout is a gem of the Oregon State Park system. 

Camp near the beach or in the forest. Camp with full hook ups or dry camp. 

Walk on the beach or hike a trail. 

Watch a sunset. Look for sand dollars. Have a campfire. 

I've had so many great camping trips here--alone and with friends. I'll keep coming back every year, every season.

Elk Creek Campground in Oregon is a real paradise for those looking for peace and unity with nature. I stumbled upon this place quite by accident when I was vacationing on the LuckyTrunk website. I saw a photo of this campsite in the ad block, and something inside me made me immediately add it to the list of places worth visiting. And I was right- this place left an unforgettable impression. Elk Creek is located near Highway 6, which makes it easily accessible even for those who are not used to long-distance travel. The campsite is located in the heart of the Tillamook State Forest, surrounded by majestic Douglas firs that create an atmosphere of comfort and harmony. There is no city noise or bustle here- only nature, fresh air and tranquility. The peculiarity of this campsite is its simplicity and convenience. All tent sites are pedestrianized, which adds to the sense of privacy. Each campsite is well screened by trees, has its own parking, a fire pit with a grill for cooking, and a special platform for a tent. Although there are no RV hookups, many sites are suitable for small trailers or campers.

This is what the title says. It's a large pull out on a quiet road in the woods.

There were other campers when we arrived. Very nice for a late night pull in. Not somewhere I would settle in for a few days, just a stop over.

The hike to the falls is to the far left of the pullout. Do NOT go down the super steep trails to the right. Beautiful waterfall after a short hike.

Great little spot. Watch your GPS and use some dead reckoning with the topographic map. There is a little side road that gets a bit narrow and then opens into a beautiful spot.

Picked up a small bag of someone else’s trash. Don’t leave trash in the woods — pick up after yourself

Road is fine and easy. AWD is nice but isn’t necessary if the road is fairly dry.

Oregon is well known for it's magnificent state parks, and this is no exception. The campground is huge, probably some 400+ spaces; well cared for & clean, with an abundance of hiking trails & historical sites to explore. Unfortunately in May, the mosquitos were out in full force in the campground. This campground serves as an excellent base camp to explore the northern Oregon coast and southern 

Washington coast

A bit crowded and the sites are a bit close together but its a nice campground.

I had researched this park quite awhile beforehand and was interested based on the reviews posted here. It looked pretty nice. Unfortunately when we were able to preview it by driving through I was surprised to find out it was not at all what I had seen in reviews. This place is on the edge of a small town and it looks like it is occupied by long term tenants with a lot of paraphernalia and personal belongings strewn about. For us, traveling for vacation and sightseeing it would not be a place we'd wanna stay. We did have dinner and really enjoyed it in the little town of Vernonia where it is located and that was great. The park is also adjacent to a fantastic walking biking trail and it's next to a city park.

The owner, the place, and all of its contents are absolutely dreadful; Before i left i learned that she (Sue Hart) has several lawsuits out against her from previous tenants for various shady unlawful behavior, among them being conning people with bs electric bills and refusing to keep her shit boxes up to standard for human beings to be in, one man died from a fire that occured there which went under investigation and I remain unsure of the outcome of that but the trailer that i was temporarily in caught fire from the outside and the maintenence man just happened to pass by noticing it and alerted us thank god and when it got back to Sue she had the nerve to try to blame myself and my elderly mother for it saying we had too much plugged in and running at once when we did not! .. Place absolutely reeks of cat piss and wood rot, please don't waste your money on this overpriced meth market with a total creepo as her right hand man for a "security guard" of the park whose "office" is located right and i mean RIGHT by the ladies showers… uhh, how that is even a thing is beyond me but watch yourselves and your young kids- the pedo vibes are real so enter at your own risk.. but honestly, just please don't.. much love 🙏

This is a good place and being right by the water was fun.

Unless you manage to get one of the nice spots, you’re essentially paying a premium to park on grass with no privacy. It’s a beautiful area: but pick your site wisely.

Couldn’t get any cellular signal

There is so much to do here and every time I've been to Ft. Stevens, we just scratch the surface.  We were down here in August as the last stop on our family vacation and we discovered a whole section of the park we didn't know was there!  This time, it was just me and my kiddo.  We came down for a rally put on by a PNW based group of the brand trailer I own.  The majority of the group was in loops O and N, though there were some of us (myself included) in other parts of the campground.  I ended up in loop M, which has full hook-ups so that was nice.  This was my first rally and it was my first big solo trip with just me and my kiddo.  The sites in loop M do seem sort of close together depending on where you are in the loop.  There are also a lot of trees, which could contribute to that feeling.  My back-in site, M04, was partially secluded with a row of shrubs between M04 and M05 and some shrubs and trees behind me.  I could see the road and the yurt village from my back window.  There is also a paved trail that goes along side the road.  If you go down into loop O, there is little trail that takes you over to the south parking area of Coffenbury Lake where you can pick up the 2 mile dirt trail around the lake.  FYI...no matter how fancy your fancy all terrain running stroller might be, it won't work on this trail.  Never fear though, there are plenty of paved bike trails that will get you throughout the park!  The only reason I am giving 4 starts instead of 5 is because I have a toddler that likes playgrounds.  The only playground is in the north campground.  It wasn't a long walk, but there were no paved trails which put us in the bike lane of the main road going into and out of the campground.  When it is busy, there are a lot of big vehicles going in and out.  It would have been nice to have a playground in the south campground or have a continuation of the paved path next to the road.  Verizon phone service is meh.  I had no issues calling or texting my husband, anything else was spotty as I had one or two bars.  While I don't go camping to scroll about on the internet, I do have a toddler that has a much earlier bedtime than me so it's nice to be able to catch up on social media or put in some earbuds and watch a movie on my phone or watch youtube.  Couldn't do any of that.

Definitely missing Angie but we have so many fond memories she still brings joy to our lives. we were without a dog for several years and we were afforded the opportunity to adopt a standard poodle last year and he has been the joy of our lives, so keep in mind you can bring another wonderful friend into your life, @block blast

I just came across this spot off a fire road going up the mountain from cook creek campgrounds

We stayed in loop D, site 189, which I chose because I thought it would be nice to have a spot right on the lake. I wish I’d chosen one of the sites in the little off shoot roads though, because the lake was not visible and not very accessible, and the entire row of sites are just sites side by side with zero privacy. It was fine though. 

Cell service was very iffy for both Verizon and ATT, but the weBoost helped a lot. Lots of nice hikes here in this park, and the beach is a short walk away. The bathhouse for this loop has flush toilets and one shower for the whole loop. The shower was free and the water was nice and hot. The shower was so dirty and gross but what are you gonna do. 

Water spigots throughout campgrounds and there’s a free dump and water fill station in the park.

Diamond Milld rd is a tight logging rd with a kinda steep danger zone cliff on this edge. If you get to spot (the coordinates on dyrt arent exact but close) you will see basically the only part of the rd with a pull aside areai prob for two vans or cars. Its a nice view but kinda creepy if alone IMO. The dispersed camping for this St Forest applies to tenters mainly being 1 mile away from a paid campground. But for just car and van camp youd have to chance it at day area or drive way in to the forest down a rd.

This is a fee area. Have to look really hard this far north in Siuslaw to find a Frst Rd. Just go to Mt Hebo or back to Tili St Forest. Other that most of this north shore OR coast is tough. If anyone has coordinates for their spot Im sure its a valuable share but maybe a keepee.