Peterson Prairie Campground — Hotel in Hood River

We had a wonderful time at Peterson Prairie! Well, I mean, we had a ton of bad luck things happen to us, which was not wonderful. BUT-- the camp hosts Joel, Kathy, and Jack the pup were so welcoming and absolute life savers for us.

I got a new car in May, and having never had a car less than 15 years old, I was not up to date on all the new technology. I learned that weekend that if you have one of these stupid smart technology cars and you leave your trunk open for a while to tailgate and have fun, it will drain your battery and completely kill it! Just for being open! And no, none of the interior lights were on.

You can imagine my panic when I woke up the next morning to a dead car, at a place we've never been to, and with no service! Joel and Kathy jumped in to rescue us no questions asked. They drove me up the road several times so I could get cell service and call the dealership (it was not readily apparent that my car was dying at first-- it was acting like something else was wrong). After trying what the dealership suggested and getting nowhere at all, the car finally completely died. Joel and Kathy again to the rescue with a jump!

We all took it with very good humor. It was a great opportunity to make some new friends and, even though we were quite angry about the fact that modern cars apparently don't work at all and are unreliable, we were so so grateful that we had people that cared about us when it mattered. Now we have an inside joke for when we go back next year 🖤

Joel fell in love with my dog and gave her lots of pets and adoration through all this, which was extra special to us. Since she's a pit bull, there are a lot of campgrounds that won't allow us in, which is ludicrous and hurtful.

Speaking of dogs: everyone had great dog etiquette by keeping theirs on leash at all times per the rules, even when they were at their own campsites. There's nothing worse than having a random unattended dog come crashing into your campsite that may or may not be friendly.

Our site was spacious, the drinking water was crisp and clean, and the bathrooms were excellent quality!

Even without all the car drama, we would still definitely be coming back year after year. I can't wait to come back next summer, have a good laugh about it, and share some more pie with Kathy and Joel (they'll know what...

Our family of 4 stayed here in July of 2024 for the first time. We had site #7, near the main entrance and the camp host.

We found this campground to be very clean, with nice, welcoming and helpful camp hosts. The restrooms were clean and well maintained. We setup a tent on our single site and felt like we had plenty of room. I thought the sites were pretty close together, and we had a big problem with the yellow jackets. Other than that, there weren't any negatives to the campground itself.

A note on activities: there's nothing to do at the campground, and you'll have to drive if you're looking to do pretty much anything other than sit at camp. There's a lot of wild huckleberries in the area, lave tubes, the ice caves, and goose lake is a GREAT family-friendly lake perfect for swimming,...

Peterson Prairie was a super pleasant experience. The restrooms here were no doubt the cleanest of any campgrounds I've been to. Our host, Cathy, did a super good job keeping them clean and she was also super friendly. I highly recommend this campground.

2022 update: We camped here again this year and Cathy, again, delivered the campground experience like no others. We'll continue to come to this campground every year as long as Cathy...