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.