Campground guides

Mt Hood and the Clackamas

An hour and a half to two hours from Portland, give or take: the Sandy River below Mt Hood, the small lakes on its north side, and the Clackamas and the Oak Grove Fork, where the Riverside Fire burned in 2020 and the Austin Fire in 2026.

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  McNeil Campground

  Which of 33 first-come sites to take, a few minutes from the Sandy River, with Mt Hood above.

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  Lost Creek Campground

  Built to be barrier-free from end to end, under tall firs beside a clear creek, a mile and a half from McNeil. Two canvas yomes and five walk-to sites.

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  Dollar Lake

  Backcountry spots around a small pond just off the Timberline Trail, with Mt Hood right above, seven years after the fire that took its name.

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  Black Lake Campground

  A few tent sites on a small lake at 3,740 feet above Hood River, and from the parking lot a view all the way down the valley.

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  Promontory Park Campground

  PGE’s campground above the Clackamas: yomes, cabins, showers, a kids’ fishing pond, an hour from Portland. The last one open up the river after the 2020 fire.

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  Ripplebrook Campground

  On the Oak Grove Fork: reopened after the 2020 fire, closed again by the 2026 Austin Fire. Sites 3 to 6 sit on the river.

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  Fish Creek Campground

  Where Fish Creek meets the Clackamas: big cedars, two yurts, calm water. Closed since the 2020 fire; this is how it was.

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  Armstrong Campground

  Ten sites in grass and alders beside the Clackamas, an hour and a quarter from Portland. Reopened after the 2020 fire, closed for a time by the 2026 Austin Fire.

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  Roaring River Campground

  “River is really roaring loud! Luckily the campsites are not next to it.” Closed since the 2020 fire; this is how it was.

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  Sunstrip Campground

  Nine sites on the bank of the Clackamas, each with its own path to the river. Closed since the 2020 fire; this is how it was.

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  Lazy Bend Campground

  Twenty-one sites under tall firs at a bend in the Clackamas, an hour from Portland. Damaged by the 2020 fire; this is how it was in July 2019.

Outside the campgrounds: Dispersed camping on the Sandy River near McNeil

Outside the campgrounds: Dispersed camping on the Clackamas, before the fire

Also on the map: Ramona Falls trailhead, Rainy Lake Campground, Lake Harriet Campground (closed for 2026 after the Austin Fire), Clackamas Fork

Near Portland

Two big state park campgrounds within an hour of the city, in the Willamette Valley and the Coast Range foothills.

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  Champoeg State Heritage Area Campground

  Shady oaks on A Loop, open lawns on B, yurts, cabins and six tent sites, 47 minutes from Portland, where Oregon voted itself a government.

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  Dairy Creek Campground

  A big year-round campground 51 minutes from Portland: half the sites against the forest, half in an open meadow, and twelve walk-in tent sites.

The Santiam and the McKenzie

Up the North Santiam canyon, where the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire burned, and over to the lakes below the McKenzie Pass.

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  North Santiam State Recreation Area

  The campground the Beachie Creek Fire burned through, site by site, as it was the year before.

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  Scott Lake Campground

  Tent sites around a small lake on the McKenzie Pass, the Three Sisters across the water. Go after the mosquitoes, before the snow.

Also on the map: Parish Lake Campground

Central and southern Oregon

The lakes east of the Cascade crest: Suttle Lake below Santiam Pass, the Cascade Lakes Highway, and out to the Klamath Basin.

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  Blue Bay Campground, Suttle Lake

  On the south shore of Suttle Lake. Sites 19, 20 and 21 sit right at the water; 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 look at it through the pines.

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  Devils Lake Campground

  Ten hike-in tent sites on a small green lake below South Sister, 50 minutes from Bend. Bring repellent early in the season.

Also on the map: Jackson F. Kimball State Recreation Site

Southwest Washington

From the Yacolt Burn State Forest, an hour from Portland, up into the Gifford Pinchot below Mt Rainier, Mt Adams and the Goat Rocks.

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  Sunset Falls Campground

  A waterfall inside the campground, open all year, an hour from Portland. Sites 11 to 16 are the ones to want.

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  Cold Creek Campground

  Eight free sites under tall firs in the Yacolt Burn State Forest, the forest that grew back after 1902.

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  Rock Creek Campground

  A horse camp with a few tent sites, under a mile from Cold Creek. Two of them have the woods to themselves.

Outside the campgrounds: Dispersed camping on the Nisqually River below Mt Rainier

Also on the map: Streeter's Resort, Silver Lake, Morrison Creek, Council Lake, Chambers Lake Campground, Summit Creek, Soda Springs

The Olympic Peninsula

The foothills above Sequim and the rain forest at Lake Quinault.

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  Slab Camp

  Our all-time favorite in the Olympics: an old campground nobody keeps, a meadow edged with boulders, and a creek.

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  Falls Creek Campground, Lake Quinault

  Lake Quinault in the Olympic rain forest: a few sites on the shore, nine walk-ins across the creek, and moss on everything.