Memaloose State Park campground — Hotel in Hood River

Signage is poor. The park is accessible only if you are traveling west bound and you must take the exit for the Rest Stop. Access to the Camp Ground at the end of the Rest Stop parking. There is pavement all the way including the perimeter roads. Check in was self registration. Find an empty site that has not been reserved. Fill out the form and drop in the box. Cash or Credit card works. The rules are fairly basic. Be aware; out of state visitors are penalized by having to pay more than residents.

Our site, B15, was a back in that was just long enough for our Coach and Towed. Services (30 amp, water and sewer) were to the left side. Distancing is very poor for an urban park. Each site has a table and most have a fire pit. Our site was flat but sloped to the front. Overall the park was pretty and well manicured.

There is no included or pay for use internet. Our Verizon Mifi worked well. We did find plenty OTA TV. Satellite might be difficult because of the trees if you don’t have a portable dish. We did not use the washrooms or pay showers but we checked and found them clean.

There is a pathway that runs through the camp ground but no other trails or walks are nearby. There is no access to the river. Clearly, this is not a destination park. It is mostly an overnightrer. We watched it get busier as the evening came.

There are no stores or services within easy walking distance. If you are bothered by traffic or train noise, then perhaps this park is not for you. We found this park to be a well run rural RV park. We paid $38.00 per night and we feel we received fair value. We will be back if in...

No privacy. Like, at all. None. Zip. It is one big giant group camping trip. Decent place for a stay during a trip as a pit stop. But for camping trips? No, go somewhere else.

The bathrooms are in good condition. The roads are decently maintained. There are fire pits on site, so useful unless there is a burn ban. There are good picnic tables at each site (at least ours and those near us....and even not so near us had one. There is a camp host. That is about all I have for good things to say.

The sites are dug up. At my initial thoughts i was upset that someone let their dog dig up the site. However the local squirrel population loves to dig so this is expected for the area. The end result is that there are NO safe spots to put a tent up, with holes abound. There are a few trees, but absolutely no privacy of any sort. There are no obvious boundaries either, so some campers sort of force their way into other sites by having way too much gear (I mean you do you, but respect others around you).

Overall, it isn't the worst place that I have been. For large groups or social campers than this is a great place for you. But if you are trying to camp alone and enjoy peace and quiet this is not for you.

(Edit: changed wording to put the blame for the holes on the correct culprit, and a few spelling and...

I am giving this a 2-Star for the impeccably clean restrooms and showers and two very top-notch, on-the-ball Camp Hosts. I cannot rate it higher than that because of the noisy freeway traffic on I-84. It was like sleeping in a Rest Stop. In my opinion, this would be a fabulous find on a long drive--to pull over to sleep for the night. Other than that, this is not a destination point. The view of the Columbia Gorge is magnificent, but there is no access to walk down to the river. The grounds are well maintained. Campsites are large. Yellow Jackets were a problem. Now, about the camp hosts...

Wildfires were in the general vicinity. We originally had reservations at Lost Lake but the US Forest Service shut it down due to the conditions. Memaloose was closeby which is why we were there. Eating our dinner at the picnic table, Camp Hosts came by and told us we had to turn off our Propane Fire Pit, our Propane Lantern, Propane Stove and snuff out our citronella candles. Wildfires were such a huge issue, these Hosts went around to every camper and took the time to explain everything. They met a lot of unhappy campers, understandably. This left some campers "only able to eat peanut butter sandwiches" they said! They were friendly and kind and got the...