The upper campground has 28 standard campsites. It is an older camp in a forested setting suited more for tents than RVs. There are a limited number of sites that accommodate RVs over 20 feet. This campground closes seasonally.
Upper Campground — Beacon Rock State Park is located in Washington
45.63543088185175 N
122.02411118902165 W
We hardly ever stay at State Parks due to we like less people. This visit was wonderful. Our site was very large and private. Campground was very quiet. We enjoyed the miles of hiking trails that were connected to the park. We really enjoyed our stay. Beautiful area!
This is probably the most beautiful camping site I have every stayed at. It was so green and the camp sites were so secluded and private it was I felt like I was camping in the woods by myself. I paid 45 for myself and 2 dogs for one night. It’s a tad more pricey than I normally pay for campsites but totally worth it for a campsite like this. There was a family of squirrels running up and down the trees by my campsite and the weather was beautiful. The bathrooms are a bit far from the sites and I had to drive down to them any time I had to go but the bathrooms were decently clean. This is a great place to disconnect as you will have no service when you get to the top campsites. My only problem was the fire pits were unavailable to use during my visit which kind of sucked. Highly highly recommend this campsite and will definitely be going back.
Beacon rock main campground is pretty great! You have miles and miles of hiking which lead to a waterfall you can hop in and beacon rock. The sites at the main campground will cost $30 a night and there are around 20 spots. The spots are pretty close together and it definitely would not be ideal for someone with an RV, but great for tent, car, and van camping!
We stayed in the upper camping area, about a quarter mile or so up the road from the group camping.
This campground is absolutely gorgeous. Most of the lots are quite private, with a shared trail system in the middle to the restrooms and community spigot.
Access to several good hiking trails right out of camp.
Looking forward to going here again someday.
Campground Review: Beacon Rock State Park
Beacon Rock State Campground is a very nice, small, looped campground located across the freeway and about a mile or two away from the amazing hike up Beacon Rock. There's trees galore and there's also several very nice hikes of various lengths that leave right from the campground. Camp sites vary greatly, and every time I've gone it's first-come, first-served, so it helps to come early to grab a spot, though even in summer we've had luck on an off-night (like Sunday or Wednesday) grabbing a decent site. This most recent trip was early in the season, so even though the weather was lovely, we had practically the entire campground to ourselves.
In addition to the 28-site campground, there's also two day-use areas that you'll pass on the way to the campground which are very nice and include basic kitchen set-ups built back in the 1930s by the CCC, bathrooms, and picnic tables. The first day use area on the right as you enter also has a playground, while the second area on the left has great views of Beacon Rock.
Pros: Great spot for heading out on hikes. Showers and decently clean bathrooms. Trees.
Cons: Definitely some spots better than others.
Overall, a great spot as a base camp for hikes in the area, but not a ton to do at the actual campground.
Campground video: https://thedyrt.com/member/corinna-b/reviews/44685/media/141684
Ranger Review: Wenzel Oversized Quad Chair
Stats: 22x22x36 inches, about 7.5 pounds. Supports up to 350 lbs.
The Wenzel Oversized Quad Chair is a well made, sturdy chair that works equally well for car camping or outdoor events. As a Dyrt Ranger, I was given a gift certificate to Wenzel in order to choose an item to review. We used it two purchase two of these Quad chairs, and they've quickly become the chairs everyone fights to sit in anytime we're at a kids' soccer game or camping. While they'd definitely be too heavy for walk-in campsites or hiking (about 7.5 pounds on a bathroom scale), the built-in strap makes them perfect for carrying a couple blocks. After almost two months of weekly use, the construction is holding up very well, unlike other chairs we've purchased from other companies in the past.
Pros:
Cons/Improvements:
Overall, the Wenzel Oversized Quad Chair is a very solid option at a good price. I've been impressed with how well they've held up so far. These have become a must-have addition to our car camping trips.
Wenzel chair video: https://thedyrt.com/camping/washington/washington-beacon-rock-state-park/review/44685/media/141685
We went over there after we went Easter egg hunting with the grandkids because camping season came early this year. Beacon Rock was as pretty as it always is and lots of people at the day-use area, but there were only a couple of other people at the campground.
Spring flowers and everything is pretty and blooming and it was a nice stay. Also what’s fun about the campground is that it's the starting point of a bunch of hikes that are anywhere from a quarter mile to several miles. One particular hike we like is the one to small Beacon Rock where you hike up and have a great view of the larger Beacon Rock.
One thing is that later in the season as far as hiking goes you do have to watch out for poison oak. And about the campground, while it’s not large (about thirty spots) you can get to the restrooms easy but you do have a certain amount of privacy, depending on which spot you get.
This campground is a good place to go in that it’s a place you can get close enough to other things when you can camp there and do quite a bit of exploring in the Gorge. So I guess the bottom line is I would recommend this campground at at least 4 stars and probably 5. It would only get 4 because some other campgrounds have a little more privacy.
Beacon Rock is an incredible, tall hill in the Columbia River Gorge and a Washington State Park. The climb up the rock is through a well-built trail. It can get narrow at spots and not for those who fear heights. The view at the top, however, is amazing. Easy day-use area and there is also a popular campsite nearby with hiking trails.
Camp sites are kind of small, with most in forested areas. A few are slightly more exposed and some are split-level, in that you park up top and walk a few steps down to your camp site. Bathrooms and water on-site. It is close to Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington and very popular and busy.
There's some really cool hiking here. Beacon Rock is amazing. What happens is you sneak across the road and there’s a road up the hill with first come first served spots. Some are pull in and some are back ins. Just before the campground there’s a 1/2 mike hike or so where you can look back over and see Beacon rock from the other side. The campsites are wooded and nice, but the hike is where you get the good views. There's a ton of poison oak so be very careful. This is one of the two largest areas of poison oak that we’ve come across in Washington. It's on both sides of the trail. As my wife says, "leaves of three, let it be"
There are at least four different campgrounds within Beacon Rock state park including the main camping site, an equestrian area with two spaces large enough for horse trailers, a group camp site that can hold up to 200 people, and a small 2-tent and 5-RV space down by the boat launch (at the base of Beacon Rock). This review is for the main "Beacon Rock" campground, which has 28 sites nestled in the woods including two walk/hike-in only sites. From the main road, head north directly across from Beacon rock until you come to a parking lot on the right that's the trailhead for Hamilton Mountain, Whispering Pool and others. Just past the parking lot (which also has a nice day-use picnic area and shelter) and on the right you'll come to the entrance of Beacon Rock campground.
Sites are a good size with lots and lots of beautiful trees, though the size and privacy varies greatly depending on which site you get. Ones on the right when you first enter are smaller since they butt up next to a ridge. For the most part the sites on the inside of the loop and especially the back side (it's a one-way counter-clockwise loop) are larger. Sites are first-come, first-served, and even on Memorial Day weekend there were several still available at 5pm on Sunday. Not sure if that was a fluke or we just got lucky. The campground and day use areas were built by the CCC in the 1930s so there's some beautiful rock work here and there, but it was not built with RVs in mind, so most people had tents, though a smaller trailer or pop-up might work depending on maneuverability.
Pros: Sweet little campground with lots of beautiful trees and greenery. Still had spots available on a busy weekend.
Cons: Best for tents only or a smaller trailer. Some sites are definitely better than others.
If you can get a site here, book it without question, even if it's out a year. Not only can you do the less-than-two-mile hike up famous Beacon Rock, just off the Columbia River, you get even better views from the eight-mile loop around Hamilton Mountain, just across Hwy. 14 and next to the campsites. Since there are only 20-some sites, and some have nice space in between, you're even more likely to hit the jackpot even though, overall, the trails can get crowded with hikers. With so much to see around this part of the Columbia Gorge, this is a great place to start, and end.
