Rufus Landing Recreation Area

Great location along Columbia River Gorge; Oregon side.
- No fee
- any size rig
- conveniently located off Hwy 84, old route 30 (Columbia River Hwy)
- 2 bathroom stalls/room (vaulted)
- nice views of river and nearby terrain
- near town of Rufus, Oregon w/ nearby market, gas and restaurant @ 1.5 miles
- Biggs Junction (OR) nearby w/ gas, McD’s and market(s)
- fishing
- surf boarding
- Rocky terrain (if using a tent; required pad/inflatable mattress for comfort)
- windy; location popular for windsurfing
- Noisy w/ Hwy traffic/lights and train (across river on state of Washington side)

We'll echo most of the reviews here already: the views of the Columbia River can't be beat, and we were treated to a kite-surf expedition all afternoon. We stayed here mid-week and had easy access to a spot right on the river. Be ready for some highway and railroad noise and the wind blows pretty intensely. The Sinclair station across the highway has a dump station ($10) and the clerk told me that the water was potable ($5). We'll stay here again!

Huge area, level, not crowded, fun watching the kite surfers. Amazing sunsets and moon rises. Most of the time we had the beach all to ourselves.

Only negative for me were the frequent flies sneaking in the MH.

Sign says area closes for the season starting Nov. not sure if that is just the toilet facilities, the area closer to the dam, or the whole entire area from this location to the dam.

Ranger comes through once a day. Records the license plates. During my time most everyone was here for several days. Down closer to the dam I would say there are some that live FT there.

We stopped here on our way South.

There are signs everywhere that say "day use only" and "no camping". I'm not sure if those are new, but it certainly didn't stop 9 rigs from parking overnight.

The wind was pretty...windy, and the trains were pretty...trainy...but all in all, a really awesome spot. We parked right up by the river, and enjoyed watching all the kite surfers.

Dump, water, propane at Sinclairs.

Verizon was slow, even with a booster.
AT&T was significantly faster, no booster.

We chose this place vs Maryhill because of the views and remainder of the sun on our epic day. Huge lot with tons of room. Families swimming, people fishing and folks chilling by their RVs but It still wasn’t crowded. We had a rare not windy evening but it picked up after 1am. The trains were a constant and it wouldn’t have been too bad but the heat had us with our windows open all night. Amazing views, nice beaches and free! Signs that say “day use only” were ignored by all.

There was no wind at all when we stayed here (late June) in fact it was almost 90 degrees and no breeze! Huge open gravel lot with some pretty spots right along the water where you can walk in and swim. Giving this 4 stars though because the trains woke me up a few times at night. There was also a very aggressive goose that wouldn’t leave us alone haha.