Campground: Forlorn Lakes — Hotel in Hood River

It was gorgeous, but chilly when we visited around July 4th. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw or still too early in the season, but we experienced icy winds sweeping down from Mt Adams and came to understand how this location earned its name.

The camp sites were scattered in such a way that they felt relatively private and afforded us a fantastic, waterfront view of the lake. It is a rustic campground, however, so there is no running water. For us that was a perk because it meant that there were no RVs and thus it was pretty quiet and peaceful. The sites all had fire pits and picnic tables though, and we packed in our own water, so we had what we needed.

I would recommend not setting up a tent on the furthest edge of the site closest to the water. Our group had two tents and the one that was on the peninsula got most of the wind, nearly blowing away while we set it up, while the one closer in, just a few yards away did okay. If you go prepare for the weather. Bring extra layers and a warm bag or two. I definitely ended up needing our spare to use as a blanket and extra insulating layer at night even though I have a pretty warm sleeping bag...

Best camp ground if you want privacy, extreme starlight, and tranquility. It is dark and very quiet at night. Perfect for stargazers. The stars literally reflect in the water. Occasional light pollution from other campers but usually pretty dark. Camp areas are wide and can accommodate large tents or multiple large tents, depending on the site. Fire pits and picnic tables are available at most sites I've seen. Ocassional bears or dark-colored cougar but if you maintain a clean camp you won't have any problems. Bear spray and an air horn is a good precaution, though.

Big Foot hoaxers occasionally show up to scare campers and capture content, I guess, then leave "footprints" in the area. Last year, we heard loud knocks in the night and woke up to find large prints on the trail leading from our camp to the lake edge. We didn't fall for it, but another camp did and vacated, screaming at 3 a.m. The next day, we saw a dark cougar in broad daylight run through the area near a restroom, so...be prepared for the unexpected. You are in the middle of nowhere,...

It was a cute place, very tranquil for sure. Unfortunately we ended up camping at one of the smaller lakes instead of a bigger one, and the views weren’t as pretty as some of the other pictures I seen. Lots of flying beetles and mosquitoes that wouldn’t leave us alone, and leeches in the lake that kept sticking to our poor dogs. The bathroom near our site (site 2) was absolutely disgusting with stains everywhere, a horrible smell, and lots of flies. But, it is a vault toilet, so what are you gonna do. Luckily we brought our own portable toilet so didn’t need to use it. It was definitely an okay place to camp, just don’t know if I’d wanna go here again. I think I’m just someone more interested in camping where theres running water,...