Plymouth Park Campground

We were looking for sun and warmth a couple of hours from our home. Plymouth Park fit the bill. It is a small but well maintained Army Corps of Engineers park. Mature trees cover about 1/3 of the property. The south edge of the park is a bordered by a channel of the Columbia River created by a small island. It was a very peaceful place to kayak and fish however the ONLY access down to the water is at the back of camp site #4 and it’s a bit of a short but steep climb down to launch the kayaks but we made it work. Boat ramp into the main river is about a mile away. Weather was a perfect sunny and mid 70’s with no wind. Rare in the gorge. You can hear the traffic on I-82 about a mile away and a train goes by a couple times a day. All in all, very pleasant.

Basically this campground is for access to fishing in Lake Umatilla. Boat ramp is a 2 minute drive from the campground. Grounds are kept very clean but the sprinklers and lawn mowing by the Army Corps were annoying. The worst part was one sprinkler was hitting my truck and even though I have a ceramic coating the hard water ate into the coating and it will cost me $300 to get the water spots out. Beware if you have a newer vehicle and are finicky about your finish (like me). But unlike other campgrounds the water here was tasty. No wifi but Verizon service was 2-3 bars. Most spots are pull throughs which is nice and mine was pretty close to level. I was kayak fishing (the only one with a kayak). Lots of boaters. There is a wildlife refuge across the reservoir but the weather was so beautiful I spent my days fishing from the kayak. There are train tracks about a ½ mile away and often saw trains but they were not loud nor intrusive.

We stayed here on 5 October 2020. We paid half price with the Access Pass for a full service site. Most sites are pull through, parallel to the roadway, although some were back in. About half the sites had full service, the other half having water and electricity. Verizon internet connectivity was very slow. This park is a good hub for exploring the area. During our stay, the park areas offering recreation (on the island) were closed due to Covid, so we cannot comment on that. This park is very well maintained and the park hosts frequent the road loop. We thought we would be able to see the river, but trees and brush on the bank practically obscure the view. There is a train line about 1/4 mile to the north, but is not too noisy and we did not hear whistles. I-82 is about a half mile east and we did hear that, but it was not too objectionable. Had we not been near the end of the park closest to the interstate, we might not have noticed it at all. This park is a good place to spend a night if traveling I-82.

This was a spotlessly clean campground with friendly and attentive hosts, who patrolled regularly and tidied up each site immediately after a camper left. My $12/night fee was for water and electric hookups, with 50% off with my NPS senior pass.

Although this was out in the middle of nowhere, it was a good base for visiting the Sage Center, Laser Interferometry Gravity-wave Observatory (LIGO), historic Hanford reactor, Bechtel Planetarium, Fort Walla Walla Museum and the Whitman Mission.

Verizon 4G was 4 bars, -91 dB, but only 1 Mbps down and 3 up.

Usually we stay here in a tent trailer. This time we tent camped. Bad mistake. We had to place our tents on gravel. Not gravel, really, rocks. We tried to pick out the really big ones, but there were just too many. Plenty of grass, but we were not allowed to use it. (good thing, we realized later)

We placed our tent, and the next morning, we were flooded out. Literally. Water was coming from all directions, and literally flooding our camp site. The tent was sitting in water. Our table, and everything on, under, or around, was soaked. Chairs, tables, etc., wet.

We talked to the main gate tender, as she was the one who stopped every vehicle coming or going, and she said they would put a guard on it. A guard will not work, as the water has eroded the dirt around the sprinklers, it will just run around it. She stopped us later, and said the sprinklers would be off for the weekend, so they shouldn't bother us again. (Good thing it was weekend, or we would have washed away)

Bathrooms are cleaned one time a day, so all messes are left until the cleaning man comes the next day. Laundry facility- Washer only works on warm according to the panel, even tho we chose cold. The water was steaming hot.

Cell service with Straight Talk, was full bars, good coverage.

Noise level is a little loud at times, people tend to forget that there are tent campers, and not enclosed n an rv. (Benefit of the doubt.)

The swimming area is reached by leaving the RV park and driving to another area. There are bathrooms there. The beach is nice, but it is not handicap friendly. The water is down a steep slope. It is grassy, but too steep for safety if you have trouble walking.

Pics do not show the final condition of the water, this is how it was when I awoke to water hitting the tent. It was worse by the time it was turned off.

Found this through Campendium! On our way home from Alaska. We have been used to mid 60 degrees. Now we’re in high 90-100 degrees. This is on the Colorado River and we scored a shaded site. With electric and water, plus a dump station what more could you ask for (other to be back in Alaska). Seniors with National Parks pass makes it $12! Cleaning shower that’s Free! Except for the heat this place is perfect.

Great, clean campground. It's far enough off the highway to limit the road noise. But, there is danger lurking under the ground. SPRINKLERS!

Not something you normally think of having to worry about when camping, but at this park, you do. We came in a bit late at night and pitched our tent in the pitch black. Our tent is one of those 90 second set ups so we were snuggled up and almost asleep in no time. That's when the onslaught began. Their sprinkers are legit. They spray at about 120psi. So, our tent got blasted by the first rotation. Like timing a video game, I waited until the sprinklers had done their first strike. Unzipped the flap as fast as possible, threw on my soaked flip-flops and ran around pulling the four stakes we set. Then, my wife and I picked up the entire tent and moved it to the tent pad where the attackers were unable to hit.

Fortunately, the inside of the tent was spared any water from the blast, but it was close. Very close. Other than that, great place to camp for a night or two.