Campground Review - Lewis & Clark Campground & RV Park

Description

The Lewis & Clark Campground & RV Park is small, quiet, forested parked nestled in the heart of the breathtakingly scenic Columbia River Gorge. This small privately owned park is big-rig RV and family friendly. Lewis & Clark Campground is a peaceful and affordable base from which to explore the Columbia River Gorge.

Location

Lewis & Clark Campground & RV Park
355 Evergreen Dr
Stevenson, WA 98648
Phone: (509) 427-5559
Latitude: 45.641973 N, Longitude: -121.981330 W

Details

We stayed at the Lewis & Clark Campground & RV Park for one week in early September. The park was not too busy during our stay, but would become very busy later in the month as fishermen arrived for the Salmon run. We had a 30 amp partial hookup water & electric pull-thru site.

We initially had a mix-up with the park over reservations. We arrived early afternoon and found the office closed. Posted instructions stated to select an unoccupied site that was not marked as reserved, setup camp, and return to the office later in the afternoon to register. We selected one of the many open pull-thru sites, setup camp and went to register. To our surprise, the office could not find our reservation and told us that our site, as well as many others, had been reserved for the month by a large group of fishermen. Management had yet to place reserved signs on any of these sites.

We had made our reservations nearly two months before and had been unfortunate enough to catch the park during their transition to new management. My mistake was not calling to confirm our reservations a few days ahead of our arrival – lesson learned. The management was eventually able to find our reservation in their older paperwork and allowed us to keep the site, resolving the conflict by moving the newer reservation to a nearby site, at least for the week. Yeah! Kudos to the park management for graciously accommodating us.

Cost

Our seven night stay here was $25/night. There were no extra vehicle or pet fees.

Amenities On Site or Nearby

The campground has only basic amenities, including full (long-term sites only) or partial-hookups, RV dump station, tent sites, social/meeting room, propane, restrooms and showers, and laundry room. Few amenities are available close to the park – a Post Office, gas station and mini-market are just down the road at North Bonneville, while a grocery store, gas stations, restaurants and some services are available nearby in Stevenson. A wider range of shopping and services available some distance away at The Dalles or Portland, Oregon.

Ratings (1-5)

Accessibility – 4/5

The campground is easily accessible from the Evergreen Highway, WA-14. The lanes through the park will easily accommodate large rigs. Lanes are gravel, have some potholes or rough areas, and could use some maintenance. The campground facilities have some provision for Universal access, although gravel roads are difficult to navigate. The park has both pull-thru and back-in sites RV sites, as well as dry sites for tent camping. Most of the RV sites will accommodate large rigs.

Be aware that the scenic Evergreen Highway, WA -14, is narrow and windy in places and has many tunnels along the section to the east of Lewis & Clark Campground. Extremely low clearances are posted for the tunnels, but that is along the outside edge of the tunnel. Heavy high-profile semi truck traffic passes through these tunnels, but hugs the center-line, seemingly with no problems. Still, if you have a high-profile rig and are at all nervous about windy roads and narrow tunnels, the better choice would be to take Interstate I-84 and cross the Bridge of the Gods toll bridge to avoid these sections of WA-14.

Facilities/Amenities – 3/5

This is an older campground which offers only basic amenities, including full (long-term sites only) or partial-hookups, RV dump station, tent sites, social/meeting room, propane, restrooms and showers, and laundry room. The grounds and facilities are reasonably clean and well maintained, although showing much wear and hard use – the restrooms, showers and laundry facilities could use more frequent cleanings, as well as major renovations. Limited restroom facilities are supplemented by port-a-potties placed throughout the park. Under new management, the park was in the process of cleanup and upgrades.

Site quality – 3/5

Most short-term RV sites are only partial hookup water and 30/20 electric service. A few long-term full hookup sites are available. Sites are dirt and gravel and include a picnic table and fire ring. Sites are very shady and there is good separation between sites. Sites are generally level.

Scenic Value – 4/5

Set in a rain forest in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge and Cascade Mountain Range, just a short distance from the Columbia River, the campground is quite scenic. The craggy and forested slopes of the Cascades are visible from the campground.

Location/Isolation – 3/5

The campground is in a dense forest and well shielded from Highway WA-14, so it feels quite isolated from the outside world. The campground is generally quiet, but there are railroad tracks passing right next to the park – the Columbia Gorge is a major rail corridor and there are rail lines on both shores. Trains pass often and are quite loud for a time. The saving quality here is there are no rail crossings along the track near the campground, so the trains do not sound their horns. For this reason alone, the north shore of the Columbia River is preferred for camping vs. the south shore, where there are many rail crossings and train horns sound often.

Paws Friendliness – 3/5

The campground is pet friendly, but does not have cleanup-bag stations or any enclosed pet run. The campground is large enough to take a short walk with your pet. There are also hiking trails connecting to the park for even more exercise.

Overall Rating – 3/5

This is a nice basic campground which we recommend, but it is showing its age and could use renovation. We would certainly stay here on another trip.

Additional info

Internet access

We received a weak to moderate 4G Verizon signal at this campground. We deployed our cellular antenna and booster for stronger MiFi hot spot internet access.