Cascade Locks / Portland East KOA Holiday — Attraction in Cascade Locks

I want to give this campground a better review, but there just isn't a ton of great things to say in our experience.

Cons:

1. The tent sites overall seemed small and kind of on top of each other. It was hard to define where our site ended and our neighbors began. Some of the sites were a little roomier but our site was a bit small and odd.

2. As a tent site user, it was difficult to tell exactly where we were supposed to be getting potable water from. There was a spigot at the end of our little row of tents, but it was only 10-15 feet from someone's tent, and later looking at their campground map that lot was a water/electric site so I'm not even sure. They need to mark the water sources on the map and make it more obvious where we should be filling up.

3. My wife discounted the reviews about the trains including the proximity, noise level, and frequency. If you are a sensitive sleeper either find another location or come prepared. Our toddler and myself didn't have issues, but the trainers made sleeping difficult for my wife.

4. The bathrooms are rather small for the amount of usage they saw. Despite the majority of the occupants utilizing campers/RV's, there were a few times where there was a wait for the two toilets in the men's restroom. We showered at night and did not find any waits for them.

5. The playground isn't very toddler friendly and is mostly older equipment geared towards older kids. There was a larger slide, a monkey bars arch, seesaw, a weird old school merry go round, and a large tire stuck in the ground. It was definitively better than nothing, but nothing all that great.

6. The little fenced in area for the dogs is pretty small. Like the playground, it's better than nothing but rather useless unless you have small dogs. I found a trail crossing the train tracks to an open field area where I could toss the frisbee and take my dog down to the river to swim.

7. We ended up needing to utilize a cabin for a night and while the electricity and ceiling fan were nice, the large bed was uncomfortable and squeaky. My wife who is a difficult sleeper said she would have rather been back on our cots than on the cabin bed.

8. The WIFI rarely worked. I don't expect internet while I'm camping but we ended up needing it and the WIFI rarely worked. The 4G was extremely spotty despite having several bars of service (utilizing Verizon Wireless).

Pros:

1. The store was nice and well stocked. Prices were also very reasonably priced which was a surprise. They stocked the grocery basics, canned sodas, ice cream, basic camping items, along with some souvenir type of items (clothes, magnets, books, etc..)

2. Staff was super friendly

3. As mentioned in the cons, there is a large field on the other side of the train tracks if you have a larger energetic dog. There is also a path that leads down to the river for some doggy swim time.

4. Easy to get on/off the highway, close to Cascade Locks, and close to Hood River. It's a decent location to set up home base and check out some different areas of the gorge.

We would possibly come back to this campground if we couldn't find a better option in the area, but it definitely wouldn't be my first pick. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I would like to give the campground a better rating, there just isn't a lot of things that make me want...

Please read the full detailed review if you want all the ins and outs of this place.

Short review: Stunning location. Beautifully nature-filled. Lucious green trees with vibrant wildlife. I woke up to birds singing. Upon checking in the staff was amazing. This place totally deserves more positive reviews. My experience was nothing but positivity.

A special Thank you Micheal for showing us new RVer's how to do the basic essential things. We really appreciated your time and patience when showing us how to use the hookups. I love this location and will definitely be coming back for future stays.

Long review: This place is a hidden GEM. I mean I was taken aback by all of the beautiful trees, plants, and wildlife. I saw all types of birds. There were some butterflies too. It is a nice, clean, family friendly location. The lake is a 5-10 minute walk from the campsite. There were waterfalls nearby that you could hike around. Really pretty. Plenty of peace filled, fun memories were made while we were here. I will definitely return for future family fun! Thank you so much Cascade Locks / Portland East KOA for making our visit a highly memorable one. Special Thank you to Micheal for helping me and my family (All New Novice RV'ers) in understanding how to properly use the hookups.

Things We Enjoyed: Heated pool || Clean restrooms w/ showers || Special handi-capable showers || Mini Playground || Hot Tub || Nearby lake || Little game room || spaces were fairly sized.

Friendly Suggested Improvements

Worst KOA stay ever. Campground was fine and the train wasn’t terrible, it was the staff. Coming in late we had a very nice reception, though rushed. At no time did anyone ever stress to us the incredible strictness of this campground’s check out time, and we were road weary.

Got up to make a quick breakfast before a short drive home and at EXACTLY 11:00am there was a loud banging on the door. We opened to a very rude young man named Kevin who told us we had to leave immediately. Mind you we were still in pajamas after oversleeping on our vacation. He told us that he had a lineup of rvs waiting for a spot and the hour it would take us to be out was totally unacceptable to him. He couldn’t do it, wouldn’t have time to “clean the space” despite the fact that we arrived do late we never even unhitched! We were never outdoors in the space, went straight to bed.

As we’re pulling up the jacks at noon, having put everything away as quickly and safely as we could, another young woman comes to ask us how much longer we’d be, that check out was at 11:00. I looked at her and said “do you not see I’m pulling up the jacks right now?!”. Just astounded at how this KOA treats its customers. We weren’t even in the spot we paid for more than 15 hours, not even a full day. And to be so rude about it is not the way to treat customers. A simple “hey, we’re really strict about checkout time so if you could pull out ASAP we’d appreciate it” would have fostered less animosity. Better yet, telling us at check in how strict the policy was would have served both them and us much better, since MOST campgrounds do give you some leeway.

Overall, a horrible end to an otherwise great camping vacation (at other campgrounds). Good job Cascade...