Best RV Parks & Resorts near John Day Lock and Dam, Lake Umatilla

Good weekend getaway from Portland. I had a decent-sized back-in site with fire ring and picnic table and room enough for my hammock. The pull-through sites run along the water’s edge, offering water views but smaller pads and tragically, blocking my view. There’s no shade but the breeze kept things cool enough. Site hookups include 50 amp and water. Dump station was in good shape. The park is well-maintained. My dog had a large area to run off-leash (not sure if this is technically permitted but no one complained), splash around and chase birds. We did the nearby Deschutes River Canyon trail. You can easily put in a kayak or SUP for paddling at the campground.

For what it is, it’s the best it can be. Nice large sites, lots of communal areas like grass areas and river access. Went during COVID so restrooms were closed, but toilet/shower rooms were there. Trees at every site for shade and picnic tables as well. No fire pits, but all of eastern Washington is doing that these days. Nice little lagoon on the river for kids to swim. Boat launch, lots of wind surfers. Of course that means a fair amount of wind, but it’s the Columbia and that’s kind of its thing. Waving Tree winery within walking distance, Maryhill and a few others is you’re up for a drive. Kids loved Stonehenge replica on the way out. Fruit stand walkable, too. Hosts were awesome super cordial. If you want full hookups, space is limited, but there’s a dump station with two spots.

For a large busy park it has everything you need: showers, garbage, water, electricity...however, this geared more towards travelers with RVs and travel trailers that are passing through the area. It is quite noisy (interstate meets highway meets railroad at Biggs Junction). Not somewhere I’d recommend for extended stay unless you enjoy hanging out at camp or like wine (Maryhill and Waving Tree are a stones throw away). The river access is a bit awkward as you had to basically walk through other camper’s campsites to access the beach. The swim beach was very small with shallow pools of seaweed/algae. The campsites were decently sized though giving enough room to be somewhat private from your neighbors even though everyone can see each other clearly. There were lots of dumpsters available and bathrooms are conveniently located in the center of the camping loops so walking from all camp sites are about the same distance to the restrooms.

We had no issues finding this campground(CG). We followed the instructions on our confirmation email where we got off I-84 east of the CG where there was signage to the Recreation Area and CG. We entered the park and there was no check-in gate, so we proceeded to back-in site A-27 with water and electric(50/30/20 AMP). Our nightly rate was$0 due to the Oregon Disable Veterans Pass. You do not have to be a state resident to get this pass. The back-in was fairly easy with plenty of room to maneuver. We had enough room for our 40’ fifth wheel and parking our F450 truck at an angle. The electric worked fine and the water pressure was on the low side, but fine for our overnighter. The A loop has water and electric where the other loops are dry camping with B loop able to support RVs or tents. Our site was about 50 yards from the Deschutes River and there are tie downs along the river for boats. There are a lot of mature trees in the A loop so satellite could be iffy. We did not put out Starlink for this overnighter. We got 1 to 2 bars on Verizon. There was a shower house not too far from our site. There isn’t dump station in the CG, but there’s a COE and other options near the CG. We had a nice view of the Deschutes River. There was loud train noise as they blow the horn and the trains run all night. There's an Oregon Trail and other historical memorials within the CG area that are worth checking out. The nearest gas/diesel and minor amenities are about 15 minutes away in Rufus. All in all we enjoyed our overnighter and would not hesitate coming back.

Nice Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife campground with a dirt boat ramp, seems to serve mostly fishermen. Some sites are right next to the Klickitat River. Some have easy access for larger rigs and space for boat trailers. The campground is right next to SR 142, but it's not really a very busy highway. The Klickitat Trail for mountain biking and hiking is nearby.

We stayed for two nights mid-week in September. The river sites are in sight of each other but not too tightly packed. It did seem that some of those sites were occupied by some long-term residents, although you're not supposed to occupy spots for more than 14 days out of 30. One site ran their generator constantly, so we set up on the other side of the old Icehouse structure right next to the river, where the river noise covered up the generator noise. We had a quiet pleasant stay.