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”.

Lots of options in this campground from drive through big trailer spots to back in spots to tent only areas. 

Tons of wide green lawns with lots of space, camp sites end up pretty well spaced apart so you might only have 2 or 3 neighbors then a ton of lawn before another neighbor.

It's right on the snake river, so you can practically fish from your camp site if you want. There is a connected wildlife preserve that you can walk around in and also fish in that is a sperate area. Lots of birds to watch. 

There is also a connected park that is only open during the day with a beach. 

Fully facilities including water and power hookups, a central dumping station. Flush toilets and showers included. A playground for the kids. 

River barges keep things along the river interesting. Maybe road noise from the nearby highway was a bit louder than we'd like.

I typically rate campgrounds as they fit into 1 of 5 categories. This campground will be rated as an “along the way” stay — grounds that you seek out for a night or two as a place to simply stay the night along your journey to regroup and get some sleep. Ratings for this category are based on: Cost: 4 Overall grounds: 4 Utility of sites (hookups, level ground, accessibility): 4 Noise: 5 Reservation Process/Ease of Getting a Site: 5 Layout: 4 Customer Service: 5

We only stayed at Wine Country RV Park as an overnight along our way, however, this could be a nice basecamp spot for people who love exploring wineries. The small town of Prosser has almost 30 wineries and tasting rooms in the immediate area and this park is in the midst of them all.

The staff is quite friendly and they offer tastings from local wineries in their community room frequently. It’s worth mentioning that mask-wearing seems to be finished here. To each their own, but I know it’s still very important to some.

The grounds are mostly well-kept though we did see some dog poop as we were walking around and some long term residents that took up more than their own space. The grounds are big-rig friendly and there is some grass between spaces. Premium sites have concrete pads while the lower cost sites are just gravel. The pads are mostly level, but slope upwards in some spots so unhitching can be just a little tricky. There is no privacy between sites, but the sites are wide enough for slide outs and chairs. Hookups were good, wifi was good enough for streaming (the park was only about 1/4 full while we were there). There is a pool and hot tub, both of which were closed for winter, and a small playground and basketball hoop for kids.

Price is reasonable, if a little high, for being in the middle of a bunch of wineries, and they take Good Sam and other membership discounts. The area is quaint with lots of farms (and some of the smells that go along with it). There is a cute bakery just over the bridge in the historic area of town called Jade’s. Give them a visit! Also, for runners/walkers/bikers... there is a very long path system that goes from Prosser and along the highway for miles into Sunnyside! It’s accessible about 1/2 mile from the park. Also walking distance is Vintner’s Village with a series of tasting rooms to visit.

A nice find for both passing through or staying a while longer if you’re into wines!