Eastern Oregon (camping?) (Bend, Pendleton, Hermiston: RV park, how much, live in)

[UpNorth]

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick question here:

Do you know of any camping/camp ground suggestions for a family to visit in Eastern Oregon? My family and I live in Bend, OR and our friends live in Walla Walla, WA. We'd like to meet somewhere (anywhere) in between and camp early this summer (so a lower elevation is preferred).

Links to articles/photos/other sites would be most appreciated.

Thanks all! Have a great weekend

~UpNorth

[Terryj]

In Northeastern Oregon I'd recommend Wallowa State Park, beautiful area.

[skinem]

Check Oregon's state park website. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department: State Parks Campgrounds
For eastern Oregon state park campgrounds check Oregon Parks and Recreation
There are a lot of choices...
Hat Rock State Park on the Columbia outside of Hermiston. Wallowa. There's a state park right off the freeway near Meacham in the Blues--Emigrant Springs. There's Hell's Canyon, the Imnaha, Hilgard Junction, Ukiah-Dale Forest scenic corridor.

Depending upon how much down the "roughing it" scale you go, there are a couple of decent wilderness areas such as the Eagle Cap, Strawberries, Umatilla.

Don't forget to check the National Forest Services website as well for their numerous campsites.

Have fun!

[bluebird39]

I'd say your best bet is somewhere on the Umatilla National Forest for cheap. I'm pretty new to the area though so can't help you out much. Sorry. Here'a link: Umatilla National Forest

I'd say the Heppner Ranger District would be the closest to half way : Umatilla National Forest - Heppner Ranger District

FWIW, Hat Rock, as mentioned, does not have public camping, but does have a private RV park next door.

As for low elevation, the only place I know of are primitive spots near the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness Area (Umatilla Forks). Don't know if that's your thing, but it's only 40+ minutes away from "civilization"... sometimes a good thing with kids: Your National Forest - Recreation Opportunities I hear Jubilee lake is nice too, but that's almost to W2.

[skinem]

Jubilee isn't bad, but it gets crowded.

Check out Tollgate area NW of Pendleton/Athena as well.

Heppner area has some great places, but won't be quite as much on the way for either party.

There's a blue million private camping/rv places between Boardman and WW.

[zedd]

I stayed at the Crow Butte Park on the Columbia once and really enjoyed it. It used to be a Washington State Park but got privatized during budget cuts several years ago. It is kind of isolated (~30 miles from the nearest town of Umatilla) and is a patch of green in the dry area in this part of the Columbia Gorge.