Best Cabin Camping near Umatilla, OR

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.

This location is pretty nice with full hookups and a fair amount of space per site. I’m not sure what the policy’s are but during booking I was told there was only one side available and it was a full hook up RV site that was the most expensive rate. I didn’t need that being fully contained in my truck camper, but I though having electrical and water would be nice. When I arrived o found 95% of the campground empty and saw only 3 other campers over the course of the weekend all in spots right next to mine even thought nearly all spots were vacant.

My husband and I love this campground. It's close to the mountains without being too far away - about an hour and a half from us living in Tri-cities. There are showers and water spickets, room for horses, and great hiking trails. There is room for both tent and RV camping. We have only ever gone tent camping, and the size of the campgrounds for us has been great. There is room to set up hammocks and chairs.

The only unfortunate aspect about this campground is that it is somewhat close to the highway. After the first weekend we spent there, we got somewhat used to the sound - it can sometimes be soothing. It's also a good idea to bring something to provide added shade to either the tenting area or sitting area as it gets quite sunny in the morning.