Deschutes River State Recreation Area

I was so excited to get a spot in this park after trying for the past 2 years that I didn’t read the last review regarding A07. Yes, avoid this spot. It is about 7 inches unlevel side to side and very difficult to back a 26 foot trailer into.

The park ranger took mercy and let us move to A31. Much better.

Nice shady park in the gorge. Except for the almost hourly train running next to the us blowing its horn.

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!

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.

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.

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.