Ainsworth State Park Campground

Ainsworth State Park is a gorgeous state park in the heart of the Gorge with great hikes and views of the Columbia river, all not far from Portland. The campsites, however, are located right next to the History Columbia River Highway, making for loud camping experience, though you are near all the great park activities. And when I say close, I mean you can see the highway from your tent.  

  

Its location near Portland makes it very popular, and it is often full. Restrooms and showers available.

State Park in the Gorge near road

This campground is right off of 84 about 30 minutes from Portland. I liked the walk-in sites which have a bit more privacy than the A loop or B loop campgrounds. I especially liked C-6 was slightly up a hill from the other walk in sites. A loop seems like it is mainly for RVs and B loop is still a little cramped. They have nice bathrooms, showers, horseshoe and a place for seating where I imagine they give informal classes.

Close to the Gorge but not very secluded

We had an awesome time here. The campground was really clean and you could tell that the staff took pride in their park. We stayed in one of the pull through RV spots, but the tent sites (tucked up in the trees with a common parking area) were adorable. The only negative to this campground is that it is next to the railroad tracks and there are a lot of trains that go by. But you seriously stop hearing them after a while and it shouldn't deter you from enjoying this gem of a State Park!

Quiet Campground in the Heart of the Gorge

I camped in the walk in sites which felt secluded despite being pretty close together.  The campsite was well shaded and linked into an nice set of trails.  The picnic table was great to cook on and the camp host was very helpful in suggesting hikes.  Overall a good spot but a little noisy and probably cramped if you end up in a non-walk in site.

Nice Starting Point For Gorge Hikes

The campground at Ainsworth State park feels more like an RV parking lot than an exotic Columbia Gorge camping experience. The majority of the camground it rv hookups with just a few walk in tent sites. Yet, while the campground isn't impressive in itself, it is in an amazing location for exploring neighboring Eagle Creek and the rest of the gorge just steps away!

The parking for the tent sites is close to the walk in trail. There are only 6 tent sites and they can be reserved online so it is not easy to roll up to a free spot in hiking season.

The sites themselves are basic and offer much more privacy than your neighbors in the RV section of the park are getting. There is water near the tent site entrance. Toilets are a bit of a walk from the tent sites.

This site does take credit cards for campground registration.

Convenient Location

Ainsworth is one of three state parks with camping along the Columbia River Gorge. All are very close to the highway so you will hear road noise and trains thundering past on the adjacent tracks. But, if you are looking to camp with easy access to the Gorge, especially the waterfalls, this is a reasonable option. Many sites in the RV section were pull-through, with very generous sized driveways. Each RV site is full hookup with a picnic table, fire ring, and dish water disposal drain. Bathrooms are spacious and clean with HOT water. Showers are clean with a hook, and a stool. Six walk-in sites. Camp host was friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, all trails from the campground are still closed due to the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire but it was nice to see the reforestation that has occurred so far. 

Good location to explore the waterfalls 

I really loved this campground! The Columbia River Gorge is a crazy awesome area with a ton to do. The campground had plenty of amenities like showers, hiking trails, a playground, and clean bathrooms. There was also firewood for sale and hook ups for RVs. The sites were all pretty nice, flat, and it wasn't overly crowded. We did go kind of early in the summer, so this might be why there wasn't as many people. 

  

The best part of this trip was that there's a whole bunch of stuff to do in the area. The gorge has wind surfing, kite boarding, white water rafting. The town itself had some pretty cute shopping areas. If you want some scenery that's super easy to get to, check out Multnomah Falls.  By far the best part of this stop was when we went white water rafting. I would definitely recommend checking out the Wet Planet rafting company on the white salmon river. You have to cross back into Washington to get to it, but it was well worth it. Amazing experience!

Beautiful campground and area 

When we pulled in with our 40' Coach I thought oboy I blew it. Getting into our site was a little tight but doable. We were in a pull through tucked in the forest with full hookups. A fire pit and picnic table too! If you go camping to stay inside our Verizon phones, Sprint hot spot and over the air TV all worked. You can hear the train in a distance and a little traffic. It is a great spot and we will come here again. 

Suprised

I really, really expected to love this campground. It's one of (perhaps the) closest Oregon State Campground to Portland and I'd heard great things about it. It's also in the Columbia River Gorge, which is green, great, and beautiful. But the campground itself is just so-so. Okay sites terraced on top of each other right next to the road.  

  

Pros: Great location, plenty of trees, and good prices ($17 tents and $26 for full hookup). Also flush toilets.

  

Cons: Right next to the road and sites are crammed in. Nothing really to do in the campground.  

  

Tips: The walk-in tent sites look nice. Also, book well in advance. Very popular in the summer.

Super Close to Portland, Basic Sites Near Road on Top of Each Other

We stayed in the C Loop, walk-in camping, for one night in July. The C loop is great! More secluded than most state park tent camping areas. Water by the parking lot. The bathrooms are a bit of a hike away. I'd stay here more often but with the Gorge 400 trail closed due to the Eagle Creek fire and many nearby sites closed due to COVID, it isn't the best jumping off point for Gorge adventures. I still plan to come back. 

It looks like site 1 and 5 in the C loop are the least secluded, but they all still have much more privacy than a normal state park site.

Great walk-in camping option

Nestled in the awe-inspiring Columbia River Gorge, Ainsworth is equal parts waterfall wonderland, hiker's playground and camper's delight. Situated at the eastern end of the Historic Columbia River Highway, the park also marks the eastern end of the popular "Waterfall Corridor" that begins at  Crown Point and includes the majestic Multnomah Falls.  Latourell, Bridal Veil, Wahkeena, and Horsetail Falls are also along this route.

Awesome Adventure 

Our first time to Ainsworth state park. We found the(A) loop where we stayed very nice and sort of secluded with lots of trees even though you could slightly hear the HWY traffic and the occasional train without any horn. It was really not that noisy. The B loop is much closer to the noise and is more flat ground area. The only slight complaint we had is that the speed of the vehicles going down the hill road past our camp area was a little excessive. Most don’t understand what 5 MPH is and are doing 15-20 MPH. Much too fast for the small road and people. This Park is really not suitable for very large rigs as the roads are narrow and have several tight curves. We found the showers and bath rooms very nice and clean. As a matter of fact, the whole park was very clean by the attentive staff. The campground has a large play area that has a horse shoe area and they have an amphitheater area as well. A very nice place to say for only$26 a night for full hook ups.

A very nice place to say for only $26 a night for full hook ups.

Close enough to home but far enough to be away.  Great area close to another of trails.  A little
E close to very active train. Just make sure you look for a site away from track. Not a flat campground, electric bikes would be nice.

First Shake Down Trip of the Season.

this place is super clean, trees all around, you really feel like you’re dee in the woods with the luxury of a full hookup campsite. Friendly host, helped with all my questions about the park and the local waterfalls

Beautiful park in the trees 

Our friends highly recommended this park and we weren't disappointed.  Although it rained hard for about 18 hours and our site B loop flooded we still enjoyed our two day stay. Beware of the trains and highway noise, but not too terribly bad. We hiked the great trails to two water falls and enjoyed the beautiful second generation timber. The park is very clean and the B loop sites offer greater privacy. We'll make it an annual stay!

Respite 

Quaint little campground with decent privacy in the A loop. A bit of traffic and train noise but it didn’t bother us at all. Literally a climb to go anywhere and back. We came home with sore calves from walking the dog and going to the bathroom. The bathroom is a steep climb from either loop. Cool playground and close to all the waterfalls. Slightly narrow roads for the bigger haulers. 

Fun at 45 Degrees

Ainsworth is a very nice, small state park. We had two different sites due to limited availability. Book early!  Our sites were asphalt and pull through with full hook ups. The park is very clean and quiet until the trains start at night. We were okay in an RV with air on. However, tent campers might be effected by the train. 
Bathrooms are large and spotless. Internal roads are tight but I saw larger rigs in the campground. 

Your campsite fee includes a permit for the beautiful waterfall corridor and historic Columbia River highway. Take left out of the campground and stop at all as you make your way to Crown Point. 


Shaded campground close to trains

My first time really exploring the Gorge since the fires of 2017. Lots of signs of the burn, but the campground seems untouched. Spent one night here on a hot August day. Power and water was nice to run the AC and also dump my tanks. Showers were decent. No camp host on duty, but the rangers came through a few times. 

  

The sites were mostly pull through. I reserved in advance, but there are some FCFS sites. You do need a reservation to drive into this area of the Gorge and a reservation at the campground counts, so not sure how the FCFS would work. 

  

I would have stayed longer, but terrible cell signal.

Columbia River Gorge

Easy access right off Interstate 84 and the waterfalls are right up the road.  I stayed in the pull through's in section B.  My site wasn't level, but not a big deal.  Some of the back in's in B loop looked terribly unlevel.  Cell service for ATT was non existent.  One night is sufficient if your stay is to see the waterfalls and historic route 30.  Showers and bathrooms were clean.  I enjoyed the little trail between A and B loops to walk the dog.

Convenient to Gorge Waterfalls 

Picture a hillside with a winding road surrounded by thick green trees. Ainsworth is that place. Absolutely gorgeous.  I would give this place a 5 except out Starlink only works intermittently due to the beautiful trees.   Old gouge highway bike path near by.   

Beautiful beautiful beautiful  

I tent camped here so I only know about the C loop(make sure you watch the videos). The park is large, lots of RV spots.  There are 6 tent spots that I seen. I think the area is beautiful and has a lot of interesting little critters.  They have locker room like showers that get real hot.  It has nice paths that lead from one section to the other and it’s easy to navigate.  I would stay here again if I got the right site(again, watch the videos)

Rest by the falls

I love this park, super hot showers, the park rangers pretty much leave you alone . They are not into bugging you about any extra vehicle’s. As long as your site is paid for then you won’t see much of the rangers/ park host 