Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

Stopped overnight between a couple campground stays. This was a quick place to go for free. Talked to the Evergreen museum staff and the Labor Day week they did not allow RV’s overnight but said we could stay in the water park next door for free instead. Funny because that lot had many more cars but we did find a good spot. No purchase required to stay.

Fantastic free boondocking location. Roomy, multiple, paved parking lots. It seems the one for RV parking is one between the main building (where the Spruce Goose is) and the water slide buildings (with the plane on the roof).. The museum is great and there’s a water park on the grounds, too, with a Boeing 747 on the roof that the slides start from. Huge parking lots, quiet and you are welcome for 2 nights. We stopped a few weeks back while on the way to Mount Hood. They had car races going on in one of the parking areas Saturday and Sunday but it was quiet and nice where we were. We watched them for a while. We are coming back toward Portland from Bend now and decided we’d stop here to break up the drive. Turns out they have an RV Show going on in the back lot. Again quiet and peaceful on our end. This was a great recommendation from a friend and I’m happy to pass it on.

There's not much bad to say about Evergreen. It's free, the museum is top notch, plenty of space to spread out and it's quiet at night yet well lit and secure. Check in was about as easy as it gets. You don't even have to pay to see the museum. They told us to go grab a spot in the big lot in back and that was about it. But we paid for a membership anyway ($27 admission per person but membership is only $75 for two people with a lot of perks and admission to dozens of other museums around the country). Glad we did. Amazing collection of historical planes and space vehicles.

The only down side was it was 95 degrees and the endless blacktop made it even worse. Park towards the west side of the big lot to catch some shade a bit earlier in the evening. Wander around after hours too. There's plenty of airplanes outdoors and you can walk right up to them, including a 747! Didn't try the water park but it looks like fun, if not a little pricey. I wish this kind of hospitality was more common.

Dry camping here was super easy as the parking lot is LARGE. We arrived at 9pm, parked on the eastern side of the complex. There was one other boondocker there.

The impact of the aircraft lit up at night makes this an extra fun stop!

Side note : we dumped immediately prior to arriving here at the town's Water Reclamation Plant. Sadly, potable water was NOT available there.

Checked in with the museum front desk. The young lady working said we were welcome to stay 2 nights the docents said we could stay as long as we want if we invited them to our party. We stayed 2. A lovely park with walking paths is located at the back of the parking lot. It was a great place to walk the dog and get some fresh air. Our 7 year old loved the playground at the museum and the museum was a hit. The whole family loved it. Get an ASTC museum pass and the museum is free!