Milo McIver State Park

This is a busy campground full of families and many children on bikes but there are lots of trees to give more privacy between sites. The outside loop sites have larger parking pads than the inside ones so keep this in mind if towing a trailer. I loved the miles of hiking trails and my only regret were trails were hiking or horse riding but no mountain biking. I understand the reasoning but wish a few could be designated for bikes. The lake has kayak rentals but I did not check out the prices.

This is a great campground. There is something to do for everone, except maybe mountain bikers, as most of the trails are for horses, and bikes are not allowed on them. Be aware of that. All of the trails are open for hiking though, just be aware, on the weekends, there are a TON of horseback riders.

The sites are nice sized, all come with table and fire ring, and all are electric and water hookups. There are also a few tent sites that don't have hookups. They also have a hike/bike area for those that come on foot or bikes. It is a nice little area, secluded from the rest of the site. They even have plugins for you to charge things up if needed back there.

I still refrain from 5 for site quality, because I can see my neighbors. And while my pad was fine, a few of them are kind of beat up.

Connections: Sprint is useless. It fluctuates from nothing to 3g at best. Verion gets 4g two bars, and my hotspot averaged over the week 5 mpbs down, and 2 up, which was plenty for me to work 8 hours a day!

Milo McIver State Park offers seasonal camping (Mid-March – October) with 44 electric/water sites and 9 tent sites. The sites are large, well separated, and level. The restroom and showers were well maintained and very clean. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Note the sites on the outside of the loop tend to be longer. The park was nearly empty mid-week, but filled up on the weekend. It looks like all sites are reservable and reservations are recommended especially for longer stays and weekends. There is a dump station, but no sewer hookups at the campsites.

We loved the campground and were even more impressed with the wide array of recreational opportunities. We arrived March 15th with typical Northwest spring weather – cold and frequently rainy. Even so we spent a day exploring the trails and would love to come back and so some kayaking on Estacada Lake. The extensive network of pet-friendly trails (hiking, biking and equestrian) is accessible from the campground as well as several trailheads.

Oh, and did I mention it’s not too far from Portland and that means we managed a shopping trip to the Columbia outlet, lunch at the dog friendly and delectable Tin Shed Garden Café, and then a short stroll to Salt & Straw for delicious handcrafted ice cream. Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Icing on the cake: We had 2bars of Verizon 4G unboosted.

We absolutely loved camping here.

The way in to get to the park was a pretty long drive but well worth it upon arriving. No one was at the kiosk as they have some odd hours. Something like 10am-11am then again at 3pm-4pm. What? When they were open we were able to buy firewood to burn at our site.

Our rig is a 34' travel trailer and our site was long enough to accommodate us and 2 additional cars of our friends. For other spots we noticed people having difficulty backing it but our spot was easy enough. We were backed up to the woods and had an odd spot that I assume would normally be used as a buddy site because our sitting area was on the same side as our utilities which meant the same side as our stranger neighbor. We got over it and really enjoyed ourselves.

The trees throughout this park are gorgeous. There isn't a ton of reception but enough to get work done in the park. There is a Starbucks in the nearby town if you need to get larger files uploaded/downloaded.

Close enough to Portland and far enough into the woods to enjoy nature.

McIver campground is a heavily forested campground with lots of privacy between sites. The sites are fairly level with plenty of space to back-in. Drainage from rain causes most sites to remain damp with spots of standing water. Each spot offers electricity and water and a dump station can be found on across from the ranger booth. The restrooms and showers were adequate, but not the cleanest. The best features for this park are the massive off-leash dog park with views of Mt. Hood and nearby trails. This park is a huge locals hangout. Expect to see up to three cars per campsite, lots of kids running around, and vehicles constantly driving through at all hours. If you want a quiet campground, this is not the place.

This is quite a find being so close to Portland. It's a very well maintained campground, that sits along the Clackamas River and dam that forms Estacada Lake. Great for kayaking, fishing, hiking and has an extensive equestrian trail system. Inside the park is also home to the Clackamas Fish Hatchery with the most friendly and knowledgable hosts. For the Disc golf enthusiasts, you will find one of the most revered courses in Oregon.

Our site was the best in the campground, with the closest access to the lake access trail and it felt very private. We can't wait to go back again!