Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Government Camp, OR

Dog-Friendly Camping Reviews near Government Camp, OR

1809 Reviews of 226 Government Camp Campgrounds

• 

  Chris H.

  Traveler

  Sep. 13, 2016

  Kinzel Lake Campground

  Great low-traffic dispersed camping near Kinzel Lake

  This is one of my favorite places to camp near Mount Hood. The road leading into the campgrounds (NF-2613/Kinzel Lake Road) is primitive and just challenging enough to keep most folks away. You will want a motorcycle or 4WD vehicle to get here. It takes me about 25 minutes by motorcycle from Government Camp.

  Once at the lake, you'll see lots of places to setup camp, even a few picnic tables and fire pits (although they are quite old). I usually camp in the grass near the lake. There are no fees and I've never seen another person down here.

• 

  Steve H.

  Guide

  Jul. 8, 2019

  Mt Hood Village Resort

  Large TT/Encore Campground

  Up at the base of Mt Hood, this large resort style campground (operates by Thousand Trails/Encore) offers various areas for camping. There are full RV hookup sites, tent sites, group tent sites, E/W RV hookups and cabins/yurts throughout. It seems most, of not all, RV sites have room for at least a small tent or more and they do allow that. There also is a few group tent sites that I saw.

  As for amenities, the campground has a small store that sells the basics and some RV parts, a deli/restaurant, playground and pool.

  There are trails to get to the Salmon River, not difficult by any means.

  Being just a dozen miles or so from Government Camp, there are so many things to do when you want to get out of the campground.

  It’s open year round, and many folks use Mt Hood Village RV Resort as a basecamp for activities for all seasons.

  Overall, I enjoyed my stay, though the limited restroom and showers are oddly placed, with access only by walking the loop. There are no trails to get to them, so if you are at the other end, it’s a small hike. The plus is that the restrooms are clean and well stocked.

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• 

  Kevin L.

  Legend

  May. 1, 2017

  Bear Springs Campground

  Ranger Review: Marmot Limelight Tent at Bear Springs Campground

  Campground Review:

  About 20 miles from Government Camp, this is a pretty cool campground as you are hopping over Mt Hood. With its location south east of the mountain and about 3000 foot elevation, good place to camp in the early spring if you want to then drive up Hood to get to snow.

  The government website shows it as "4 groups sites" but it has about 15 individual campsites from what I saw.

  You can hear cars drive by on Highway 216 but loved the open sites, big pine and fir trees and huge group-sized firepits. It also sits on the edge of Mt Hood National Forest so the background to most sites give you a good feel of the national forest.

  ............................

  **Product Review:**

  As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I tested the Three Person Limelight Tent from Marmot. I actually upgraded from my 10 year old tent and - wow - could not be happier.

  Top reasons I loved the Limelight Marmot tent:

  1. Easy of use: What used to be 4 separate poles with my old tent is now one pre-connected pole for the Limelight that hooks into the four corners making it super easy to use. Got to the campground late Friday night and with no directions I easily set this up in a couple minutes.
  2. Footprint included! Don't you hate it when you invest in a tent AND THEN have to buy the ground water blocking footprint? Not with the Limelight cause it comes included.
  3. Size and view: The poles at the corners are rounded to give you bonus space and the entire inner top ceiling is a net so on clear (warm) night this tent is going to be great for viewing the stars.

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• 

  Kevin W.

  Guide

  Aug. 13, 2024

  Mecca Flat Campground

  Mecca Flats Campground

  While staying here in August 2024: -Dog friendly -No hookups -2 bars on Verizon -No shade -Madras, OR only 10 minutes away. -1 acres fenced in dog park in Madras OR (15 min. drive) -Used my credit card at the automated self pay station (super convenient). -fairly clean bathroom (toilet only). -From travel trailers to Teslas, they all have made down the road and plenty of room.

  Situated on the banks of the Deschutes Wild and Scenic River, Mecca Flat Campground is located just a mile and a half from Oregon State HIghway 26 near Warm Springs. The site features 13 individual campsites and one group use area. The southern terminus of the 7-mile long Trout Creek Trail can be accessed directly from the campground.

  Know Before You Go:

  All campsites, including the group use area are open year-round on a first-come, first-served basis; no potable water is available. The 1.6 mile Mecca Flat Road is narrow with few pullouts; use caution particularly when pulling a trailer. Access the nearby non-motorized Trout Creek Trail which fronts the Deschutes Wild and Scenic River for 7 miles where it terminates at Trout Creek Campground. Cell phone service is not available in the campground. Goathead, also known as puncturevine, is present in the area; protect your pets and bicycle tires Point of Interest:

  The Deschutes Railroad ran on portions of the nearby Trout Creek trail and Mecca Flat Road for several decades, competing with the Oregon Trunk Railroad before abandonment in the early 20th century. Look for the historic, now-abandoned tunnel near Highway 26 - but stay clear of this degrading and unstable structure.

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• 

  Laura M.

  Legend

  Jul. 1, 2025

  Columbia River RV Park

  Nice place

  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.

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• 

  Jeff K.

  Legend

  Aug. 12, 2020

  Still Creek

  Great location on Mt. Hood

  Still Creek is a very nice campground centrally located near Government Camp.  It is in close proximity to Trillium Lake and Timberline Lodge.  The sites are large and great for kids to spread out and run around.  Really only 2 negatives to this campground to be aware of: 

  1)You can hear the highway, its not bad but definitely noticeable.

  2. There are no speed limit signs on the road or in the campground.  Many people drive through the campground as a back way to Trillium Lake and they drive FAST unfortunately.  If you have kids this is a pretty big concern.
• 

  Dani F.

  Guide

  Sep. 8, 2019

  Kiwanis Road Free Camping

  awesome location, super basic though

  On the way to Kiwanis Camp by the road there are spots and as far as we understood, those are for camping, though there was no sign for them. It's at a really great location as it's 3 minutes to Little Zig Zag Falls path also fairly close to Government Camp

• 

  Shannon W.

  Scout

  Jul. 28, 2019

  Trillium Lake

  Nice quick getaway

  Nice for a quick weekend away. Just learned you can rent a canoe in Government Camp and they’ll drop it at the lake for you. It is kind of expensive- you have to really want that canoe ride. Live that nice easy walk around the lake!

• E

  Emma P.

  Scout

  Jul. 18, 2025

  Pioneer Bridle Trail Camp off Hwy 26

  Cute little spot close to the road

  This was a super cute and super easy to find spot right off the highway near Government Camp. We had a larger group, so we took the very first spot which had a large flat area and a fire circle, but there were more secluded spots further down the road. Lots of road noise in this specific spot with trucks air breaking, but otherwise very cute!