Best Tent Camping near Umatilla, OR

We stayed here in a tent site (no hookups) on our way back to Portland from Nevada. As an overnight cut-off campground, it’s lovely: Nice-sized sites set in beautiful Oregon forest (we’d been out of state for a couple weeks and REALLY appreciated the trees); clean bathrooms and showers; long “tent” sites that allowed us to back in our 18ft trailer without uncoupling for the night.

However, it’s right on the interstate. While you kind of tune it out after a while, the road noise is constant and definitely interferes with any sense of “wilderness”.

Easy to pull into tent camping spots. Recommend if traveling and need an easy sleep spot.

We spend a night there in July on our way to Boulder Colorado. The campground is quite nice and bathrooms were clean and providing all needed functionality. Large and tall trees provided a very welcome shade during the heatwave we were going through. The only issue was that, we were tent camping and being close to the highway it was quite noisy.

This is a nice little park, it’s a little misleading when you pull in as there is an Indian reservation next to it that looks like a bunch of homeless camps, so be careful where you park your rig. Also if you’re tent camping, I found out from the camp host that you may want to check with him before you set up a tent as there are automatic sprinklers that come on certain days

Terrible tent camping experience. This campground is TOO close to the highway and too noisy even with ear plugs or music. We could barely sleep nor have a conversation while sitting across each other for breakfast. I would advice to only stay here if you have an RV camper. The bathrooms were very clean, great trails and the interpretive center was very educational. No complaints there.

This is NOT a secluded wilderness campround where you will have a epic back to nature experience.   Having said that, if you want a place to park your rv (they do have tent sites also), with full hook ups while you explore the local wineries,  with a pool and a shuttle van, then this place is amazing.

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.

Let's start with the positive folks. This site as an amazing parking area that is large enough for rvs and horse trailers to be able to turn around without any issues. There's a wooden pin to be able to keep horses safe and secure over night. Almost all campsites are shaded. There is a trail for either a long hike or a short one. With two littles, we did the short on which around trip was under 3 miles. It looks like if we would have kept going there is definitely an uphill climb to continue the treck, but I'm sure the few is gorgeous on top! Now is time for the negatives that really just makes this place not that great. The campsites are very close together. The ground isn't very level, so tent camping would be bumpy and on an incline. There's also little tree trunk scattered out through out the whole place so it is kinda dangerous for kids to ran around a play. Mosquitos can be murdereres so lots of bug spray! Last thing, it is rather close to the main highway so lots of noise from the traffic.

General: 41 RV sites with water and electric plus 11 tent sites in a grassy common area.

Site Quality: Reasonable separation between the sites. The back-in sites are wide enough to comfortably fit a TT, 5th wheel or RV and your toad or other vehicle side-by-side. The pull-through sites are very large. All sites have gravel camper pads and most appeared very level or had a level area. Our site, along with several others, had a nice view of Lake Sacajawea. 

Bath/Shower house: Clean even if a little dated. Didn’t use the shower so cannot comment on that except that the hooks are located outside of the shower stalls so even though there is a swinging door to the shower area, privacy is compromised a bit by this design. 

Activities: Unless you have a boat (there is a boat launch and dock), not too much to do here except relax. There is a small swimming area but no beach to speak of (grassy and pebbly area). There is a playground and horseshoe pits but no hiking trails that I could see. 

To get to this campground, you drive past many miles of apple orchards and then suddenly, you see the lake and campground. There are quite a few trees for shade. Surprisingly good cell (Verizon) given the remoteness of the campground. Be aware there are train tracks nearby and you will hear an occasional loud train. It was very quiet on the Wednesday before Labor Day, but we were told it would be completely full on the weekend.

Excellent 1/2 point between home in Idaho and the Oregon Coast. Tent and full hook ups with helpful campground hosts.

Yes, you can hear the freeway from the campground - so it may not be recommended for tent campers.

Good experience camping here. Really loved watching the sunset over the water while taking a stroll by the shore. Metal fire pit made perfect for dinner, and the ground was mostly even for our tent.

Not sure of the price for an Rv slot. Beautiful river view. Some tent pads, level area for my van to park and sleep. Great breezes today.

We do an annual trip here every Father’s Day weekend. Close to the river, plenty of fishing and swimming. The trees are nice. This is an Army Corp of Engineers campground so some federal rules apply: no firearms, no alcohol(at least not openly)

The only issue we have is the sprinklers come on Friday nights and wash the tents for us. it’s good and bad.

I have been going here for 20 years it's very nice clean and friendly people that run it. Great for tents or RVs. Full facilities with showers. You can watch the river traffic has a small marina by it that you can get gas at for your boat if you have those. Very busy Campground hard to get into at times.

So much history in this area. A nice little camp with full hookups, cabins and tent spots. LITERALLY right next to the freeway. Camp host was not friendly and the noise never stopped. Keep on going down the road and look for something else if you’re looking for a true outdoors experience.

This campground is great. We’ve stayed twice - once in a tent and once in a cabin and had a wonderful experience both times. We must have lucked out, because the nights we stayed traffic noise didn’t seem bad at all. Bathrooms are nice and clean. The surroundings are so pretty and walking through the campground is so peaceful!

We stayed in the Wildhorse Resort Casino RV Park & Tipi Village the day we purchased our trailer. The surroundings are sparse but what it lacks in scenery they make up for in amenities. There is a pool and a shuttle service to the casino. While we didn't go to the casino, we did spend a lot if time in the pool and envied those staying in the tipis. This is a great stop if you are traveling from Western Oregon to Eastern Oregon. The grounds and restrooms where clean and we enjoyed our stay!

Love this campground and will come back. My husband and I usually pull our ‘68 Aristocrat Lo-Liner but on this trip we were “roughing it” with a tent and a small SUV. I was happy that not only did we get a spot on the river, but there were free, clean hot showers centrally located. The back in spots were not too close together. Some spots offer shade, others are full on sun. And the catfish were biting!

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.