Best Glamping near Bingen, WA

Stunning view of the mountain backdrop- crystal clear waters-access to a small shop and water activity rentals which is fun. There is a resort , and cabins as well as tent camping which I prefer. The lake itself is “busy”with families and kids during the day but nice clean camping otherwise -some might even call it glamping but it’s worth it for the view and having access to the activities the next morning.

This place is incredible. First to cover the basics.

The internet is super fast - I was getting 75mbps up/down when I was in my tent.

They have power/water hookups at each parking spot. The glamping tents have heaters, lights etc. There are heated indoor bathrooms with nice free hot water showers just a short walk away.

This place is at a year round camp/school that has multiple skate parks, trampolines, mountain biking courses, all season ski jumps etc. it’s an action sports camp.

They provide things like firewood and ice which they put in your cooler.

The people are super nice and accommodating. Ask for Jim - he handles all the camping stuff.

Our family has had the privilege of enjoying Columbia Gorge Getaways on three separate occasions and each time was a joyous and exceptional experience. Our first time staying was for a friend's wedding. Everything was perfect from start to finish and hands down one of the best weddings we have been to from the stunning Ceremony site overlooking the luscious forest to the fun event space perfect for any gathering. We stayed in a Bell tent and I have never slept so soundly as I did for this cozy glamping weekend. The bathrooms have everything you need and being amongst friends and family in such a gorgeous space was pure bliss. 

We gathered again for a lovely baby shower on a perfect Spring day! Again, the event space was such a great spot and our kids loved play area and fun lawn games! 

The last time we stayed we brought our tent and loved it. We were amazed at how comfortable and spacious our site was along with a lovely picnic table to enjoy our meals. The kids loved running around the safe and friendly campsite and playing in the play space. They have been hounding us to return and we cannot wait! We will be recommending Columbia Gorge Getaways to everyone as the perfect gathering spot! Thank you for the wonderful experiences each and every time.

Wonderful stay! Gracious, welcoming hosts! Privacy! Turn key camping! Farm Animals! Clean! Proximity to Portland! This place is great!

The Details: This was our first glamping trip and we booked via Tentrr. Our site had a large canvas tent with all the comforts of home: queen bed, heater, water, seating, a desk, WiFi, and even a front porch with two Adirondack chairs. We also added a second tent (large dome tent) for our friends and their two kids to stay in.

There is an awesome, covered kitchen area with three burner propane stove, kitchen sink, prep station, picnic table, food storage bin, soap and hand sanitizer, and more. We brought our camping supplies for cooking, and didn’t need most of them.

The fire area was one of our favorite areas. Lots of seating, bev holders, firewood and tools (Hatcher, fire starter etc), and even a citronella plant. We didn’t see a single mosquito while we were there.

The Loo is amazing! SUPER clean and creative. It has a clean and non-smelly compostable toilet, hand washing area, and very creative/useful shower. The shower worked so well and was unexpected!

For kids: you’re basically camping next to a pet zoo! We had a farm tour by our wonderful hosts (Lisa and Bonnie). The kids got to feed alpacas, goats, ducks, and even Jack-Jack the donkey! This was the highlight for the kids! The kids also loved the playground on site too.

We got some great hiking in on the Lewis River too. About 15 minutes for our site are Moultain, Lucia, and Yacolt Creek Falls.

This was truly “turn key” camping. We appreciated the less time setting up and more time enjoying the outdoors that this place offers.

Definitely stay here! You’ll love it!

The camping area isnt close to the water at all, unless you have a cabin or yurt spot, but its a fairly nice campground, we went in early May and there was stilk snow where our tent was gonna go, so watch for that! It’s a beautiful view though!

We have stayed at Lost Lake a couple of times now, once in a tent and once in a yurt. The lake is fun for fishing and renting a little boat or canoe to get onto the water. The store has a little of everything, though as you would expect, a little pricey.

The only thing missing from this amazing camping spot is electricity and running water. Otherwise, it’s perfect! Absolutely gorgeous view of Mt. Hood, tons of hiking, a beautiful lake and camping spots for everyone. They have walk-in spots, yurts, a-frames, RV spots, a horse camp and even a few rooms at the lodge. Make sure to spend at least 3-4 days!

The views of Mt. Hood are amazing from this lake. Spent the day in a canoe, exploring the lake. Stayed in one of the yurts, which would have been better if it was away from the tent camping. Neighbors were a bit close. After exploring we did see that there were many sites that were more private...next time we will reserve those. You can rent boats, canoes, etc, and there is a store that has anything you would need. Very nice staff.

This place gets CROWDED, and is hard to drive around/walk around due to the amount of day users.  Stayed in a cute yurt which was a bit of walk from the lake (~.25 mi) which is fine but getting my kayak down was a bit of a pain due to the amount of people occupying the road/parking etc.   Stunning views and didn't see anybody on the hike up to lost lake.  Store was poorly set up and chaotic, check in process took quite some time and was confusing.

I have kind of a love/hate thing going on for Lost Lake Campgrounds.

Pros: It is beautiful. There's a reason it's one of Oregon's most photographed sites. There's a 3-mile hike around the lake that shows Mt. Hood and its lovely reflection in the lake. There's fishing, swimming, boating, and a camp store that has "It's It" ice cream (definitely a pro). The camp sites are nice, decent sized, and surrounded by trees.

Cons: It is crowded. We're talking thousands of people on a nice summer weekend, traffic jams, and no place to actually make it into the lake (except right at the boat dock) unless you claim your picnic spot really early. There's also no cell phone reception (at all), and while that may sound lovely in theory, when you're a family trying to find each other somewhere on the trail or in the campground it's a real pain.

On weekends and holidays, you also need to book not two, but three nights in a row (Thursday/Friday and Saturday, for example), so if you're trying to get away for a regular 2-day weekend you're out of luck.

In general: 140+ camp sites including several walk-in-only sites right near the lake. There's also cabins and yurts, though those don't include a bathroom on site, so the $70-$150+ seems pretty steep for still having to use an outhouse (we haven't stayed in the cabins personally yet, but have seen them in person). You can book online for both cabins and camp sites (reserveamerica for the camping).

Tips: For day trips, there's a $8 parking fee that you can avoid if you park outside of the entrance and walk the 1/4 mile or so. Also, cabins and yurts are half-price in May, something we may remember for next Memorial Day well in advance (since everything books up so quickly).

I have been there twice this summer.

Actually, I started camping there more than two decades ago, when it was still being developed.

I am partial to it for that reason.

It is more of an RV campground. But, it does have several yurts, and a tent camping area.

Not the quiet, "roughing it" style I like, but when I just want to chill, and do nothing in particular, this is a decent place to camp. It has a lodge, an exercise room, pool, hot tub, hot showers, bathrooms with indoor plumbing, and outlets for the ladies hair dryers (or charging the battery on your smart phone).

A small store on the grounds provides for the last minute treats to make s'mores, or even a chocolate ice cream sandwich from the freezer.

I actually like using the campground as a "basecamp" for my hikes around Mt Hood.

It's not as quiet as a campsite deep in the wilderness, but sometimes it's nice to get away without getting away from it all.

Oh, and sometimes I prefer indoor plumbing over vault toilets or bushes.

We have camped here three times over the last 7 years.  Sometimes for full vacations, sometimes just as part of a larger trip, and I always love it.  The lake is beautiful, with great views of Mt. Hood.  The little store has snacks and some food as treats and rents kayaks, row boats, etc.  The showers are very nice and clean.  The campsites are huge and very private.  There are even a few trails which leave from the campground if you want to hike.  And for those that want less rustic they even have yurts!

Now, it is busy, especially on the weekends.  There is a reason for that.  If you want to spend the day at one of the spots on the lake, you have to get up early and get your spot (by 9am, even on a weekday).  On the weekend it can be a bit of a mad house with people coming from outside the campground, so I recommend staying during the week.

Also, the bathrooms are pit toilets.  They aren't bad, but still pits. :)

Pros:

* Beautiful lake

* Close to Hood River

* Hiking from the campground

* Store with treats

* Very nice showers

* Very nice campsites with lots of space

Cons:

* Very crowded on the weekends

OK:

* Pit toilets

I stayed here during a two day ride through the Cascades on the Washington BDR. You can tell when the owners of a place like this really care. From being greeted by name as I pulled in to time spent talking with the owners under their lovely shared social hangout area with other campers, it was a very welcoming experience. I'll be staying here again for sure.

This campground is a very nice one to check out when adventuring in the lower portion of Washington.    Much like its single site counterpart the options offered at this campsite are well thought and well placed.    I noticed that the campground itself was very well maintained and offered many features including water spigots in common areas, clear walking paths to facilities and ample parking for the campers.   

Each site was equipped with standard features including fire rings and picnic tables.  But the real advantage to this location in particular is its proximity to some of the more lengthy trails in the park.   

Initially I was a bit confused as to where the camp was, my cell signal was weak and I could not seem to find the campground until I finally gave up and just decided to go on a hike first.    In doing so I was able to navigate to higher ground closer to the Beacon Rock and from there I pulled up a map to locate.    My suggestion is with AT&T to have an offline map loaded when traveling to this area.    While some areas do feature great signal others are more spotty like this one.

The campground was filled with campers and I spoke to a ranger when visiting who mentioned that group sites typically book in advance on weekends but can be more easily picked up on the fly during weekdays from Monday to Thursday with Tuesdays and Wednesdays being the optimum day for last minute travelers to the area.

Sites here can be a bit costly depending on the group size, but the additional offering the camp provides is the ability to rent all sites for those needing a large group. This must be done well in advance but can offer many benefits for larger groups. Much like other state facilities in Washington you will need to display your Discover Pass on each vehicle parked on property. One pass does not cover multiple cars upon a single use.

This campground is big, with a lot of trees and a good number of sites have shade for the majority of the day (at least where we were), they have full hook ups and partial, cable with a great variety of channels, their WiFi is not good, not even by the “lounge”, tiny house and cabins available for rent (pet friendly options available) which is cool, laundry facility, cafe/bakery on site, nice store with good variety of food and drink options, DVD rental. The bakery is independently owned and opens daily, they bake cinnamon roles daily and the cream cheese is home made...OMG, worth having one or two with coffee! Gas station (72) and great grocery store (thrift away) nearby )1.5 mi away). We had a great corner site and we were not surrounded by a lot of people, there was one family at the site behind us and luckily no one to our right. The fact the campground was packed for Father’s Day and lack of cleanliness at their bathrooms and laundry facility makes me wonder how serious they are taking Covid-19. We’ve been to three campgrounds so far and two of them were taking it very seriously and keeping it clean and limiting the number of people using the laundry. Some didn’t open the bathrooms and the ones who did, kept is very clean. Not so much the case here, which was disappointing as this is a “resort”. If you are looking to spend a few days exploring MT Hood area, this is a good location, not too far out from MT. Hood, fun scenic drive to up to the lodge. We saw people skiing there! If you feel like driving an hour, make your way to Hood River, which is an adorable town, with a few clothing stores, pet store, bookstore, coffee shops, brewers and an amazing river...the Columbia River Gorge. You can take windsurfing lessons (which we did and it was super fun). Hood River is the windsurfing capital of the world. You can also take kite surfing lessons or just sit and watch all of them fly around! Across the Columbia river it is the state of Washington, and you can cross the Hood River toll bridge and explore WA. Riverside is a great Restaurant located at the Best Western Hood River Inn-they have a beet salad that is to die for. Calamari app is yummy as well as the mushroom fondue burger. Next day we had the beet salad again and two pasta dishes which were amazing (chicken Alfredo and Fregula & Sausage), they have a pressed lemonade that’s sooo yummy! Hood River is worth visiting! If it is sunny, pack up some beach towels, swimming suit and head there for a day in the water.

I strongly think that Washington State has the best places to camp and hike. The Pacific Northwest has a large array of amazing camp grounds and hikes, and I love it!! I recently wanted to hike within the Goat Rock area, and decided to stay at the Walupt Lake Campground so I could be closer to the trailhead. I left Friday evening after work and headed to the campground. There wasn't as many people as I expected, but the weather forecast was calling for some rain. I went in the beginning of September, so was bummed that I wasn't going to see the fall colors (usually the end of September-beginning of October is when this happens). The campground was great, and I was glad that I stayed here. Because we got here around 7:00pm, we really only pitched our tent and grabbed a quick bite to eat. I didn't tour the campground because it was already getting dark. We woke up early in the morning and headed to the Goat Rock Wilderness. We spent the entire day hiking (13 miles to be exact!). From the top of the hike we were able to see Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Rainier. It doesn't get any better than that!! I would highly recommend this campground if you are just looking to camp, but also if you have a hike you want to do in the area early in the morning. 

PRODUCT REVIEW: Amber 28 Gregory Pack

As a DYRT Ranger, I was able to test the Amber 28 Gregory Pack. I was pretty excited to get to test this pack, because I have a few other Gregory Packs and have been eyeing this pack for awhile. During my 13 mile hike I was able to test this pack. 

3 reasons why I love the Amber 28 Gregory Pack:

1. Comfortable- I love how comfortable and form fitting this pack is. I love packs that don't sit right on my shoulders. This pack gave a little room between by shoulder and the pack which is great! I like being able to carry the weight of the pack by my hips, and this pack allowed that.

2. The space and pockets- I appreciate a pack that allows me to pack multiple items (10 essentials!). The pack had plenty of room, and extra zipper pockets. I was able to utilize all the space in this pack, and it still didn't feel heavy.

3. Breath-ability- The back of this pack has a wire meshing and pads to help with the breath-ability. I do sweat a lot when I hike, so I like this component of the pack.

Overall, I would highly recommend this pack. It comes in a few colors as well which is always nice :) You can find the Amber 28 pack here:

https://www.gregorypacks.com/packs-bags/day-packs/amber-28-77831XXXX.html?dwvar\_77831XXXX\_color=778315590&cgidmaster=packs-day-packs#sz=18&start=37

If you're in an RV, be prepared for some SERIOUS white knuckle driving if you cross the Hood River bridge. It's two lane, NINE FEET WIDE. Most RVs will have inches to spare. I had to slow to a crawl and was trying my best not to rip the side of my rig open.

Now, regarding the campground. The host, Shirlene, who runs the office,  has the poorest customer skills I've ever encountered. She never could remember what she discussed with me, and was very rude and short over email. I had a two month reservation which I actually cancelled because she scared me away with her terrible people skills.

I'm sure the campground is well maintained, but the management sucks. Too many other places in the area who are happy to have your business. Avoid this turkey at all costs.

P.S. Be aware that this outfit expects you to pay IN FULL for the reservation at the time you make it. This might be OK for a day or even a week, but I was planning to stay for 2 months. No damn way am I paying a grand for the place a year in advance. They should learn how to TAKE A DEPOSIT like every other campground in the United States.