Best Campgrounds near Portland, OR

Herman Creek Campground is currently closed indefinitely. The roads to the campground are blocked by barrels and logs. The website states that the campground had to be closed due to laminated root rot after the Eagle Creek Fire. If you park at the trail head during day use hours, you can still walk around the old campground, but most of it is already overgrown, and the outhouse has been permanently locked. The website states that this campground is currently being redesigned by the Forest Service, so maybe it will open again someday, but it's closed indefinitely at this time. There are still a few picnic tables set up in the parking area overlooking the Gorge although they are largely blocked by trees. The PCT has an auxiliary trail from Herman Creek to Cascade Locks which takes you right by Dry Creek Falls. Day use parking costs $5 or is free with a qualifying pass.

We recently camped here and loved absolutely everything about this campground except for the rabid raccoons. We camped in the tent only section, which is a small section of six sites tucked behind the RV sites near the river. The sites were close together but neighbors were super considerate and we even ended up making friends with the woman camping next to us. The best thing about this campground is of course the access to biking trails. There are even some that run right through the campground. A short ride in one direction takes you down a lovely route by the river, while the other takes you to the store and ice cream shop. Sadly these were only open a few hours a week while we were there. We did need a code for the showers and had a little trouble finding a camp host, but once we found one we had a great shower. Prices were a little higher than similar campgrounds but justified by the beauty and the showers. Our only major issue was that the entire tent area was descended upon by rabid raccoons around 3am, and they would not leave the area until everyone had moved every bit of food from their tents to their cars. I realize there will be wildlife at any campground but this was actually one of the worst wildlife encounters I've had anywhere. But aside from that we absolutely loved it.

We recently camped here this past weekend, which was the last weekend of June. The sites here are very spacious compared to the campgrounds were used to in California. This is a very small campground with only 13 regular sites and a few group sites. Regular sites are only $20 and you can get half off with a pass. Unfortunately there is no shower, but the bathrooms were very clean and well stocked. The camp host was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. She answered all of our questions about the Columbia River Gorge and even recommended some great spots to eat nearby in Cascade Locks. Unfortunately we did notice that some teenagers from one of the group sites dumped an entire bucket of refuse from their RV all over the women's handicapped stall after the police came to their site to ask them to pick up their mess and quit making so much noise, which led to that stall being closed for the rest of the weekend. Other than that, the rest of our neighbors were great. We loved the hike to the little waterfall right behind the campground. The same trail leads to the Gorge Trail 400, which leads to the PCT. Overall we're so glad we stumbled upon this gem of a campground in the Gorge and would definitely camp here again.

This is a gorgeous state park, absolutely worth the visit even if you're just coming to the day use area. Amazing hikes, the main one being the one with 10 waterfalls - dogs aren't allowed on this one though and it takes about 3 hours to hike it, so heads up on that.

There's a nice off leash dog area, but it's not fenced in, so heads up on that too.

The camping area is a short walk across the highway from the beautiful day use area. Cabins are really nice and well-maintained, and there is ice and firewood for sale at the entrance shack. THere's also a dump station and water for free.

Nice RV park, close enough to Portland to work for us. We don’t have a tow car so we relied on public transportation to get to downtown, which was great (though it is a 1 mile walk to the bus stop). There are many long-termers here, but due to their 10 or 15 year RV rule, all the RVs here were really nice and fancy. There’s a little area with a free table, a book exchange, some workout equipment, a kitchen, laundry, and showers. The laundry room had a designated pet washer and dryer, which I always love, so we washed all of our dog bedding here. Showers were really really nice, super hot, good pressure, clean, free. Staff was nice as well. Free wifi that worked pretty well. There’s a small neighborhood dog park right across the street.

This is one of those interesting RV parks/ campgrounds that’s attached to a city park and to boat ramps/ fishing, so you have a lot of day use activity going on, which can be nice or not, depending on what you’re looking for. 

We just needed a place to stay on our way to Portland, so this was a good place for us for the night. At $50/night it felt too pricey but that’s the norm. The sites are mostly pull through, some back in sites along the back, and come with E/W hookups. There’s a dump station at the entrance that’s $10 (pay with credit card), but it’s supposed to be free if you’re camping here. It looks like they’re working on some waterfront sites that’re going to be $60/night. If you’re a resident of a certain portion of the city it’s $30/night. It looked like there were some down on their luck people staying here, as well as regular travelers just enjoying life. There is a host on site.