Best Cabin Camping near Umatilla National Forest

We stopped for a night in a rustic camping cabin at Emigrant Springs in July of 2015. It was a welcome dose of green after a long day of brown along the interstate through Idaho and western Oregon. The cabin was rustic, the shower house was in good repair with nice hot showers. There seemed to be good space and shade around the sites offering some privacy. Great spot! Take the time to stop in Meacham on the West side of I-84 tomstop at The Oregon Trail Cafe - literally the ONLY store in this teeny town. Wonderful hospitality, the local ‘scoop’ and great breakfast.

When we arrived after dark the 200 ft path to our cabin was cleared and we could easily drag our items stacked on a tarp to our cabin. The cabin does share a wall with another party but it was funny to hear the children laugh and play. It was below zero but the electric heater kept us toasty warm. The bathroom and shower is about 300 ft away if you walk through two feet of snow. We brought a collapsible toilet to have on the covered porch. Drove up to the bathroom when needed. The park ranger spent all day moving snow and keeping the roads through the campground excellent. The bathrooms and showers are always clean. The day we left the park ranger came and moved another foot of snow so we could easily pack out. We brought our instant pot and warmed are already prepared foods. If you don't want things to freeze you got to keep them in your cooler. We brought lots of cozy blankets and could hotspot the computer to watch movies. Make sure you follow trip check for closures of i-84 if camping during snow.

I have been here several times as a child, but my most recent venture was as an adult with my own children. It was really nice to see that not much has changed in the last ten years since I was here last, and my kids can enjoy the same campground Ive been going to since I was their age. The restroom facilities are great. The restrooms have multiple stalls of flushing toilets, running sinks with soap and paper towel dispensers. There are also showers. You can buy firewood for 5$ a bundle and bring it back to your campsite in a rolling cart. There's a nice playground for the kids. The wildlife here is pretty desensitized to humans, deer will just wanted through. We spent a whole day feeding two chipmunks (who we named Jeff and Veronica) peanuts. The downside is that the campsites are extremely close together with very little in between so there is very little privacy. A positive if that though is that my kids were able to instantly make friends with our neighbors and they played the whole time and had a blast. The lake is nice, there are often Canadian geese down there. There is a swimming area sectioned off, and boat rentals available. Right down the road is the wallowa lake tramway. It's 38$ per adult, and 28$ per child over 4, but it is definitely a great experience. It's a 15 minute ride to the top of the mountain on a gondola. At the top is a restaurant, restrooms, lots of trails. My personal favorite is the royal purple lookout solely because if the friendly chipmunks that come and harass you for food. Nearby the town if Joseph has a ton of cool shops to visit. Mad marys is a must if you have kids, there is an old fashioned ice cream parlor in half of it. I can't wait to come back here again, because we had a blast!