Giles French Park

Got off I-84 at Rufus. Turned west along the river to a big open parking lot. We decided to continue exploring east, towards John Day Dam. Found a nice shady pull off, all paved road. Some highway noise. Train noise, but that was ok. Reminds me of my childhood and lulled me to sleep.
Yes, you can see some old fishing platforms over the edge, by the river. Beautiful view. We felt safe. Spent the night in a 25 ft class C. Bigger rigs would fit in just fine.
I had 3 bars (of 4) 5G on my Visible service (a Verizon product)

Upon first glance this seemed like a great place to boondock for the night. We set up our camper for the night and walked along the river looking at the decaying fishing platforms. We soon realized though that we didn’t feel comfortable here. The place was very run down, and although mostly deserted there were a few tattered RVs surrounded by their belongings and rubbish. We packed up and drove about a mile west to Rufus Landing which was excellent.

Our visit was in early January. This has the potential to be a great spot; however, when we drove through, every loop was occupied by folks who were set up on what appeared to be an endless campout, with lots of tarps and other gear spread around. So, we elected to drive west along the river road to Rufus Landing Recreation Area (https://www.campendium.com/rufus-landing-recreation-area) and camp there.

This proved to be an excellent boondocking site. The Park seems to stretch over about 2 miles starting as you pass under the overpass. It was clear there were a few “long term” residents but it was only 3-4 from what we saw. The drive down the length of the park is pavement, with plenty of “private” pull offs that would fit 1-3 RVs. There is a pebble beach towards the end and our kids loved it. There were plenty of paved and unpaved walking trails with awesome views only being 30-40’ away from the river. There was some highway and train noise, but no train whistles which was a blessing after some other places we have stayed.

I stayed here recently (Fall '17) for a week. Closer to the dam, there seem to be fewer campers and (bonus) there are flush-toilet facilities. The main road is paved and frequently used by dam employees. Tribal fishing platforms and camping equipment dot the river but were not used much during my time there. It feels secluded enough, yet safe. There are nearby trains on both Oregon and Washington side but the noise is less loud than some other nearby boondocking spots because they are slightly elevated above the park and (probably most important) there are no nearby crossings so fewer horns (than, say, Celilo Park where there is a crossing *and* the tracks are mere yards away). It is right along the river so it is exposed and windy and, depending on the season, can be either quite hot or cold. There are trash receptacles and dumpsters but still a fair amount of litter.

This park seems to be a couple miles along the river with several places to camp. When you first enter the park the first paved area is full of unsightly campers and a crowd we didn’t care to camp near. We pushed on and found a spot a mile or so closer to the dam, a little gravel pull out with two spots.

We setup about 20 feet from the edge where it drops down to a number of Native American fishing stands. We sat and watched the sun go down and got a visit from a couple fisherman checking their nets. They didn’t bother us, just checked for fish and left. The dam lights lit up red white and blue which was also very pretty.

The trains are very active here, and I expected them to be more bothersome than they were based on some of the reviews. We wear ear plugs when sleeping so that likely helped as well.

The wind was a bit stronger than I like, but should be expected in this area. There is a reason they pepper the foot hills around here with wind mills.

Overall we enjoyed our visit and would stay here again.

I stayed here just for an overnight, and though it was thrilling. Yeah its a parking lot, but I was under trees, and twenty feet from the river. This park is below the John Day dam and the river is very active here. The "residents" are mostly native americans who are allowed to fish the banks with drift nets from platforms on the banks. This area is also very active with "bounty" fisherman, who are paid to catch pikeminnow fish that will eat the salmon fry.

We've stayed in some gorgeous ACOE campgrounds with full amenities: Giles French is not one of those. This is basic parking lot camping, but nicer than WalMart due to the views of the Columbia River and that it has plenty of room to spread out. If you just need a spot to overnight, access from I84 is quick and easy. On the night of our stay, there appeared to be several long-term residents (despite the 14-day advertised stay limit) and there were piles of trash in a few places. We did not check out any of the bathroom facilities. A dumpster is located at the boat ramp. There is some highway and train noise (a track beside I84 and one on the opposite side of the river) but there are no train crossings, meaning we did not hear any whistles. We didn't find either the highway or the trains to be intrusive.