Trillium Lake Airstrip

Though I’m told it can be busy and noisy on weekends and holidays my stay during the week is quiet and peaceful.

There are trash bins, pit toilets, and potable water available in the Trillium Campground Day Use area a mile down the road.

Verizon wireless is 2-3 bars and solid.

Sign posted warns of possible closure of this dispersed camping area because of “garbage, human waste, and toilet paper.” It is possible that campers are being more considerate and complying because it’s not too bad where I am camped.

So we arrived on a Sunday afternoon and figured we would pay the day fee at trillium lake and fill up our water tank at the campground. I was directed down the road and soon realized we were in the wrong area and in a tight spot needing to turn around with fifty or so onlookers. Days later I found a water source in an area near the campground, and it would not have hooked up to our hose anyway. In my opinion if you have a big rig don’t try it, it’s only good for water jug fill up. The airstrip was a good open area to camp with plenty of room for all that show up on the weekends. We were only in the sun from 10:00am- 3:00pm which wasn’t optimal for our solar setup. There were a few big parties during our stay that seemed to fill up most of the sites and then down to ten or so rigs on average during the week. A rocky and bumpy entrance that any rig could handle at slow speeds. Two mile or so walk to get to lake trillium and some sweet views of Mount Hood. There are so many different lakes and hikes to do on this area and the town of Welches seemed to have whatever we needed. Pro tip: the restaurant SkyWay in Welches has some of the best Mac and cheese and bbq around and the prices were beyond reasonable for being “on the mountain.”

This campground is very open, we were even able to park so that we could still get solar. We stayed the whole 14 day limit and got water from Trillium Campground down by the lake by paying the $5 day use fee. We were not able to find anywhere nearby (within 50 miles) to dump so we did it on our way to our next destination.

There are TONS of sites here and any size RV can fit. There are fire rings all over but be sure to follow the rules and don't have a fire if there is a fire ban - it's also important that you put your fire dead out before leaving it unattended. There is also no trash collection here so please pack out what you pack in, there are already too many people leaving trash behind every day - we took out more than one large bag full of trash when we left.

While we were here, on the weekends it filled up pretty full but since there's so much room it COULD have fit many more - at least 50 parties were here while we were. During the week it never emptied out, there were always at least 10 other parties/rigs/families there too but during the week it's actually pretty quiet. There are no quiet hours, so be aware that generators can be run all night and people did take advantage of that while we were there, so bring ear plugs if you need it. This seems to be a sort of free overfill camping area for Trillium Lake, which is popular and there there is a hiking trail down to the lake from this group campground.

Overall it was pretty nice despite the noise and tons of other people around, and was a good place to have base camp while exploring Mt Hood National Forest.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and there was plenty of spaces for our 32’ 5th wheel. There were 2 oversized - overstuffed trash bags that had been left behind by the previous campers. They had been torn open by critters and some of the trash was strewn around the site. Once we cleaned that up and dumped the trash down at the campground just down the road, the site was great! There were lots of campers, tent, RV and even a converted school bus, but it didn’t feel crowded at all. Cell service was really good as well. Judging from what was in those trash bags, I’m not sure I’d want to be there on the weekend with the partiers though.

We posted up here for two weeks in August to check out recreational opportunities around Mt Hood. It's hard to come by official dispersed camping options in this area, but you can use the Sno-Parks for no charge in the summer months. We would have rather have gone that way, but Trillium Airstrip is higher elevation (thus cooler) and gets better AT&T mobile service. But we found this place to be half 'party central' and half homeless camp. The party scene was only on Fri & Sat nights, but literally drew hundreds of people. The dust alone was unbearable; kinda like Burning Man, but not as cool. The cast of destitute characters where harmless, except when they butted heads with Natl Forest Service rangers, which happened twice. And there was a man who traveled across the country to Trillium Lake to live out his last days...

We stayed here 12 days during July. We arrived on a Saturday to a full campground. The campsites were full in every from the beginning of the road to the end. The noise level was at a 10 with loud music coming from 3 sites. They partied until 2am and then woke up by 9am, packed their stuff, left their trash and left by 10am Sunday morning. The airstrip was EMPTY left with only full timers and homeless people.

The weekdays were nice though. Quiet for the most part. There is a nice homeless man that lives there (over 2 months) names Bruce. We camped next to him the 12 days we were there. He was very social and just wanted someone to talk to.

Saying that, the Forrest service rangers drive by once a day but don’t stop. There are RV’s that have been there 3+ months while working at the local lodge. Very nice people.

If you stay here, I highly suggest taking a walk down the main road to the Summit. There is a beautiful view of Mt. hood with a gorgeous meadow.

Other than the cleanliness issues and the noise issues, it’s a steady place to stay. Bring water in because there is no access. The rest stop will let you fill up containers if needed though.

There's not many dispersed camping areas this close to Mt Hood, that offer access to trails and lakes. So guess shouldn't be surprised at how busy this area is. Every inch of this stretch of dirt is taken during the week; we set-up earlier in the day and were completely surrounded by evening. There was the usual mix of full-time traveling families and destitute octogenarians living out of their Astrovans. But Friday and Saturday were absolutely crazy! The whole strip became a parking lot and several parties raged into the night (accompanied by the expected arguments and fist fights at midnight). Then everyone was gone by noon on Sunday (leaving much of their trash of course).

There are no amenities close by so come full of water. Mobile signal is strong. You can easily walk or ride down to Trillium Lake. We wouldn't want to post up here again, but would if in a pinch or maybe in the off season. Think one of the nearby Son-Parks would be more clean, peaceful and secure.