After driving through the Columbia River Gorge I was looking for a spot to camp for the night. I pulled into the Deschutes River State Recreation Area and was immediately impressed. The campground has a loop for those who need hookups but I chose the "B" loop which doesn't have hookups. This is essentially a big grassy area with fire rings and picnic tables arranged in a semi circle. My stay was on a day that the temperature reached 100°. The big trees in the campground provided a lot of shade. Enough that it was still pleasant to sit outside and read and drink an adult beverage. There were only two downsides that I had with my stay. First, it is near a rail line and trains seem to go by every couple of hours. Second, even though the bugs didn't bother me much while I was sitting outside when I went to bed I bet I had 100 or more flitting around inside my rig. I was very careful to keep the screens closed so I'm pretty stoked about how so many got inside, although a lot of them were of the "Noseeum" variety. Even weirder they were all gone by morning. So however they got it must be the same way they got out. Bottom line though, it was a great spot for an overnight stay and with the Deshutes River at your doorstep it would also be a great place to stay more than just one night.

A cute little campground, we were lucky to be able to snag a spot in the overflow....which was great for us. We don't need hook ups, and this location put us further away from road and train noise. In fact, we had a very peaceful quiet night. This is the starting point of the Rails to Trails bike trail along the Deschutes River. We had an enjoyable day riding the trail...32 mile round trip. Free showers to boot! Yeah!

The river park is beautiful. Check on the length/depth of the site you’re reserving as some are much tighter than others. There’s a few gas stations and fast food down the road but otherwise nothing for a while.

Watch-out for site A7, one of those that tweaks your rig to one side and puts you nose downhill at the same time. Thankful I have only one night to deal with it. Guy across the road actually came over to tell me I’d done a good job and that was the best I was going to get it, he’d watched many others try and try to level in that site. No wonder it was the only one still available!

Very nice park. Lots of grass and trees. Free showers. Water and electric. We stayed in A30. $34 plus $8 reservation fee on line.

No dump station, so be prepared. TA down the road does have one. Park is about 4 miles off of I-84, no gate or stops going in, just go to site. No one came around to check on us. Site A26 is a good site, it is angled so you get more privacy. No hang tags issued, no rangers checked. Campground is in a wooded area, next to the river. Sites are nicely paved, and level. Electric and water worked well. Saw an adult rattlesnake on the Deschutes River Trail, be careful hiking. Other told us of rattlesnakes near the campground. Bathrooms are average, but there are private showers with hot water. Did not see a goose in the campground area (see post below). We were not bothered by any insects. Negatives: During the day and at night, a high speed train comes through about once an hour, about 1/4 mile away, with horn blaring. They clean the bathroom at 0830, an inconvenient time. AT&T cell service was excellent, 5 bars of 4G, no problem streaming.

Deschutes River Recreation Area is a beautiful state park. Right on the Deschutes River very close to where it meets the Columbia River. Big, private sites and a huge grassy area behind with large mature trees. Plenty of room for our 39’ class A. Great camp hosts. Quiet at night - kind of! If you are okay with the goose poop all over the grassy area and about 10 trains per day very close by and loud horns (only 1 or 2 in early hours of the morning), it’s a great place! We didn’t mind either of those things.

This campground is right by the river with lots of recreation at its backyard. We saw people fishing, we rode our bikes and hiked the trails just outside our van. It was quiet except for a few trains. The highway noise is non existent. A loop has electric and water, a little more expensive than T loop, just an open field with picnic tables for $10/night. We had 2-3 bars of Verizon LTE. The down side was goose poop everywhere. Literally you cannot walk without stepping in goose poop. For as many of them as there were they weren’t aggressive so that was nice.

Sweet little spot for the night. Clean, beautiful spot by the river. We went for a hike the next day with the kids on some great trails overlooking the Deschutes. Tons of geese and poop everywhere but it was dry and easily cleaned off of shoes. Picnic table next to our spot was a great help after traveling with six kids inside! Will def stay here again. Didn’t go inside any of the bathrooms but there were plenty. A great spot for dry camping for $10. The sounds of the train in the distance were very sweet and other than the geese honking occasionally it was very quiet.

We were fortunate enough to reserve an outside site on the A loop over Labor Day weekend in 2017. It was warm, but the park had plenty of shade from mature trees. For our 25’ trailer, I wouldn’t want to stay in anything other than the outside sites on the A loop. The inside sites are pretty tight. We were able to get some hiking in and even took the short drive down to Maupin one day and did a rafting trip. Great way to beat the heat!!

From Seattle on way to hell’s canyon!!

Really debated between a 3 and 4 for the rating of this park. If you are in an RV, you’ll probably want the A loop. If your RV is longer than 23’, you’ll probably want the outer edge of the A loop. The inside edge campsites, in the A loop are very small and very tight. The entire campground is tight. This is a very well maintained small campground. Saw multiple rangers daily mowing and cleaning the park. The river runs right along the campground. Unfortunately the water is very high and several on the basic tent sites ( non-hookup and not A loop) were flooded. 30 and 50 amp electric worked fine. Water good. No sewer and NO dump. There’s a nice gravel bike trail at the entrance of the park. Trains all night so be prepared. Guessing 3-5 trains every night and the tracks are right at the entrance. And because there is a cross road, the trains blow their horns.

With the sprinklers running almost 24 / 7 , this park could be nothing but GREEN. Very nice setting away from the main highway along a frontage road. Lots of space for me to walk the dog and even let her off leash to run a bit. Across the river there is a kayak/raft launch and the dog made good use of this area to access the river. Bathrooms and showers were clean. I had trouble getting my 30 amp to work at the pedestal, but the camp host addressed it quickly. Nice relaxing place ... just passing thru from Washington to Central Oregon.

Hi all. Overall we really enjoyed our stay here. The A loop spots are right unless you are on outer edge ‘river side’ we were not but we managed to get our TT in after some finagling and the camp host told us to park our car on grassy area / side lawn of our site which worked perfectly because that space was pretty generous. Our favorite things about this park: The river is right there! Great views. Good sunsets. Super green lawns surrounding you. Great for hanging with the dogs and paying frisbee. Giant willow tree. I became obsessed with this one gorgeous giant willow on the lawn area. So pretty. Campers were friendly but also at night quiet. A loop is small so not too big of a crowd. Private showers that are HOT! Great trails all around. You don’t need to get in a car to explore. The things that could be better: Some highway noise is consistently buzzing. You are near railroad tracks. I find it charming. But it annoyed my husband. It’s an active track so you here them choo choo’ing often. But you aren’t so close it shakes the camper :) Finally a couple of days in the area was enough for us. I think we’d be bored if we stayed much longer. Things we recommend doing if you stay here: Hiking Rowena Plateau/ Tom McCall trail- great views! Going to Maryhill Winery Hike and mountain bike the trails around the camp Happy travels! Rachel and Daryl

Only 2-3 other campers here overnight. At this time of year no water, no indoor toilet, no showers, but we were prepared for that. Site length was perfect for our 40-footer + toad but seemed to be the longest site here. No pull-throughs. Nice horse trail to walk on with good views. Clean, pleasant. Trains? Yes, but not a bother for us. Able to stream video with ATT & Verizon.

Train and highway noises are pretty much inevitable along this section of the Gorge. Sites were a mixed bag here, some very small, some very spacious. Lots of fishing, family activities, noise, etc. That said, sites backing up to the River are pleasant. Wish we had known there was no dump station here before we arrived. 3 or 4 days is plenty of time here, but it was a nice stopover.

Very nice park, a bit noisy due to the interstate and railroad but that’s pretty typical for the Columbia. We will definitely be back for a summer visit.

Expansive lawns watered continually in summer and fertilized by hoards of Canada geese. Really wide open grassy area next to the Deschutes River, fairly shaded. Loop A is a little tight for larger RVs. Water and electricity only. No dump station. Lots of river access, but marginal for bank fishing. Lots of open lawn to play fetch or just hang out with your dog. Ours loved it! Great for a night or two.

Just west of The Dalles Oregon on interstate 84, this is a nice and clean campground. If you want to play on the Deschutes River, this is a great place to do it. You can put in right off the rock banks to the park or go a mile directly across the river to the boat ramp. They do have mooring toes along the park but you are required to anchor off the stern as well. You can swim here but the current is not to be trusted with young children alone. It was not that deep where we went. This park is right near the freeway and main east/west railroad tracks. So you will hear lots of trains and distant road traffic. We found the trains charming as they blew their horns every few hours. The summers are HOT here, the end of July we stayed with 102 degrees a couple of the days. Mostly mid to high 90’s the rest of the time. This is the Columbia River Gorge so wind is always possible. We had one day of four that was windy enough to prevent using our awning. The grass, AMAZING grass. Large very well watered and maintained lawn everywhere, it’s truly therapeutic. The side affect, I watched several pull in with sprinklers hitting their RV’s. Host were usually quick to fix it tho. Individual showers and restrooms in A loop. Pit toilets everywhere else. Didn't make a lot of sense but they were near the RV sites but they were clean and in good shape. BUGS. Be prepared to deal with bugs. I used the screen on my gazebo for the first time ever. They will drive you out as they flack to the light after dark. Daytime is just blowflies, and not that bad. Nothing bit me but I did see some no-see-ems around. Inside loop sites are short, don’t trust the published lengths my 28ft RV fit fine in a 29ft site, but no room to park. The nice thing is they do let you park where you can off pavement. OUTSIDE sites on the water side are suitable for big rigs in A loop. We will be back to this park.