Chelsea B.

West Jefferson, NC

Joined August 2021

Really convenient

I loved this site. It was conveniently located close to Portland and stores. The staff was really friendly and the facilities are super clean. And guess what…. The laundry machines actually work! Seriously, that has been a struggle. The campground is right on the Columbia river and this morning a giant cruise ship went by so it’s a cool spot. The grass near the buildings are no pet zones but there is a massive area along the river for the dogs to explore. Overall a great spot.

Perfect fall camping spot

I absolutely loved this campground. It has two very different loops: beach and tree. We stayed for 3 nights in the tree loop and it was so perfect. It rained a couple of nights but being surrounded by huge trees made it really cozy. Nice walking trails that follow creeks and go right along the sound. Playground, bath house, ice machines, ADA accessible sites with concrete pads around the fire pits. Would absolutely stay here again.

Very clean and great trails

What a surprise this little site was. After leaving another campsite because of how dirty it was, this site was just what we needed. The owner was very sweet and everything is very neat and clean. You can tell they take pride in it.

Bathrooms are clean. Laundry facility works really well. And the little walking trails along the river were gorgeous. Again, for a tiny town, this site was a treat.

Private and short walk to the beach

Great spot! Really private loop sites with a large common field in the center. There’s a short walk down to the bay which was an awesome spot to watch the sunset each night. My only criticism is that the bathrooms need work. I went to take a shower one night and was surprised to see that they shut the hot water off each night from 10pm to 7am. And the shower didn’t even work, the water just came out in a dribble. Otherwise a really beautiful site.

Noisy and off-putting

The service… At first, over the phone, the worker here seemed very nice but upon arrival, this campground was very off-putting. I’m not a big fan of anyone walking into my campsite even if they think they are being helpful. But this worker followed us into the site and immediately told us our rig was too far forward… we hadn’t even cut the truck off yet. And proceeded to talk to us while we were just trying to get settled. Just really weird vibes.

About this site itself…. TIGHT. No room on either side. No privacy. No place for pets to go even though it advertises that there is a pet area. This morning, after walking to the back of the campground where the worker told us we could take our dog when we checked in, he told us that we couldn’t let our dog walk in that grassy area. We were like, there is literally nowhere else to take the dog. It’s entirely surrounded by business and the airport.

We kept to ourselves and got a refund for the final booked night so we could just leave. The worker was really not thrilled about that request and was pretty rude about it.

The only reason we give it two stars is for the location. You can’t get any closer to Bellingham which is absolutely awesome.

An oasis on Mars

This campsite is quiet and has everything you need, full hookups, water, showers, and trails. The campground is small but really clean and nearly every site has a view of the river/lake. The only odd thing is that they water the grass with a sprinkler system, yet the surrounding landscape is dry and brushy. I just find it weird to create an artificial green oasis in the middle of a brown landscape.

Checking in was confusing for us (probably because we’re from out of state). But they have a bulletin board with a list of sites that are not yet claimed. So you have to pick a site (first come, first served) and then leave money in the drop box (cash or check). But the deposit slip made it seem like you also had to pay for the Washington State annual parks pass too (because it had a spot to write down your number) so we bought one. But after speaking with a ranger, you don’t have to have that pass number to camp. Oh well, we’ll just visit some more parks while we’re here!

Overall a great spot.

Hiking, blueway, clean showers!

The 221 access had everything we needed. There were sites with full hookups and sites with just electric. Most sites were really private which is nice. The park is spread out over several different, disconnected properties throughout the county which offered a lot of different recreational opportunities. The hiking at Wagoner Access was easy, but 221 and Elk Shoals were more strenuous. Overall the park has miles and miles of blue way. And I highly recommend spending an afternoon on the beach at the Elk Shoals access. Beautiful spot with awesome swimming hole! Pros: super clean restrooms and showers, amazing visitors center, plenty of hiking trails, just a short hike or drive down to the river. Cons: no views from the sites, for noobs like us there weren’t instructions at the dump site

Great amenities, private sites

Love this camping area! Really private sites, clean facilities, and nice lake access. My only con is that the showers are automatic sensors, so when you need the water to warm up, you just have to stand there and take it. If you step out of the way of the sensor, the water stops. But otherwise, great campground.

Great if you already have everything you need...

This camping area is great if you already have a nice rig but if you have a small rig and prefer to take showers in a nice bath house, this is not the campground for you. None of the sites have water hookups and the showers were awful. The stalls were filthy and too small so everything you bring with you gets soaked. Some of the camping pads are pretty steep so longer rigs will have trouble leveling if you’re camping close to the water. Pros: beautiful spot, lots of waterfront spots Cons: not level, gross showers, no water hookups, fire pits located behind the camping pad so not useful.