Skamokawa Vista Park

Had a great time inside V4. Campground is nice clean restrooms and right on the beach. Lots of boat traffic to watch. Great hiking.

Easily amused, all it took was the Marine Traffic app and watching the ships glide by to keep us entertained! We had the campground yourselves this wet January. Got a few sun breaks and dry hours to walk to central Skamakowa. Drove to Cathlamet and walked around. Hiked a bit (pretty wet)at the campground.
Campground was very clean with water and electric hookups along the view sites. Kids’ play area plus the beach and ships makes this a place I’d like to share with our grandson. The staff and camp hosts are very welcoming and helpful. Rural hospitality at its finest! We’ll be back!

Nice spot, quiet. Beautiful views of the Columbia river!, although my spot v13 (and v12) have a camper and pump station in front of them, not ideal for long term stays.

General: Vista Park, located directly on the Columbia River between Long Beach or Astoria to the west and Kelso to the east. It offers a variety of sites from walk-in tent sites to partial to full hookups to yurts. 

Site Quality: Site 30 was a sweet little site; since it is a pull-through with trees on one side, it offers some privacy, it is tucked away and more private than many of the other sites. While it appears to be a very large site on the map, in reality, it was perfect for our campervan but would be problematic for larger RVs. In my opinion, Sites 27-29 are the most private with lots of trees separating them. Sites 27-33 have their own garbage receptacle at their site while others have a more centrally located garbage/recycling area. If you prefer to be closer to the water, Sites 19 and 20 and V1-V13 would be a good choice. 19 and 20 are very nice as they have a concrete pad, and sheltered picnic table. V1-13 have NO privacy between sites; the same is true for 34-43, which are tent-only sites. The yurts are located on top of the hill, away from the water. Although all of the walk-in campsites had reserved signs on them, not a single one was occupied when we were there on Labor Day weekend. 

Bathhouse: Basic but reasonable. The showers are $.50 for 4-5 minutes. The shower located in the center of the campground was ok but has seen better days. The shower at the top of the hill is better; it had a sign that said it was only open from 10 am– 8 pm but we were able to use it at 8:30 am. 

Activities: Fishing and boating (there is a boat launch). Two playground areas; one in the day-use area (but close enough to the camping sites) and one in the loop with sites 1-15. There is a short but nice beach to walk on and a hiking/nature trail that leads to the beach(the beach is also accessed directly from the day-use area).

I've camped here a few times each year but I visit the park frequently for day-use throughout the summer. I typically camp here a few days in October or November during the off-season. The rates are a little less expensive then $25/night for a partial hook-up site (water & electric). The peak season rate is $30/night. They have 27 of partial hook-up sites; 15 full-hookup sites $40 peak and $35 off-season; 27 tent sites, $20/night and 5 yurts, $40/night. Extra vehicles are $5/night and extra tents are $10/night.

During the summer reservations are highly recommended because this is a favorite place for many people in the area.  Reservations may be made up to fourteen months in advance.  And they've recently required online reservations but you an make them from the office if necessary. Also the park now has reliable internet.

Check in: 2:00 p.m.  Check out: 12 noon

Yurts*: 3:00 p.m.  Yurts* 11 a.m. * yurt check in and check out times adjusted to allow staff extra cleaning time 6 persons and one vehicle allowed per site

The park is right on the Columbia River not too far from Astoria Oregon which is a gateway for international shipping. On any given day up to 10 ships can be found at anchor in the Columbia River along the Astoria waterfront waiting for berths to open upriver. Skamokawa is upriver and those ships pass right by Vista Park. You'll get some great photographs and the kids will love seeing huge ocean liners and even cruise ships passing by during your visit.

Skamokawa is a friendly quaint little town. If you visit in August be sure to check out the Wakhaikum County Fair. You can walk to the fairgrounds from the park (the town in so small you can walk to anywhere in town from the park.)  Be sure to visit the Friends of Skamokawa/River Life Interpretive Center when you're there.

Beautiful access to the beach. Large tent sites. Area is very clean. Reservations are easy and the host asks what form of payment we would prefer. Very professional.

This park has a little if everything. There’s a playground, basketball and tennis courts though the latter two are not in great shape. It’s really windy here and the spots right in the river are the best views with the most wind. We crossed the Astoria bridge and played around at Fort Stevens. We wanted to kayak but the tides were off for that. By far the best thing about this park is the big ships that go right past the park. I would recommend site 4 or 5 if you can’t get on the river. Both have unblocked views.

Great camp sites nestled in the pines within walking distance of beach access on the Columbia River. Great fishing and barge watching. All the full hook up sites had shade except for ours which was fine by us. The camp road is a bit narrow with steep drop offs so take it easy pulling in. Very clean coin operated showers (50 cents for 5 minutes). Firewood delivered to your site for $7/ bundle. Would definitely return.

Depending on what you’re looking for in a campsite, Vista Park either delights or disappoints.

Pros: Great views of the Columbia and the Oregon coast. Awesome beach access. Very kid friendly - a nice playground and open play park. Great paddling, cycling and nature trails fairly close-by. Camp hosts are lovely and helpful.

Cons: Many of the sites have really awkward setups — hookups on the wrong side, fire pits far away from pad, etc. The sites are really close together (for someone who likes forest camping), to the point where it’s difficult to set up a lounge area. For sites 12 and 13 the river views are obscured by site 14.

In summary, if you don’t mind a picturesque but awkward campground, you could do much worse than Vista Park.

Spectacular Columbia River views from this campground. We camped in the full hookups section in the woods and it was awesome. Next time, we plan to snag a partial hookup spot on the river. Very clean and kid friendly campground!

Most sites have a view of the river. Fun to watch the large ships go by. Boat launch available. We have seen deer every time we have camped here. Very helpful, friendly staff.

This park was recommended by a fishing guide I’m going fishing with. I had low expectations. This is a beautiful park. It’s not huge and there are not a ton of full hookup sites, but it’s a very sweet spot on the Columbia River. The staff and camp host are exceptional.

We liked the campgrounds. For the size of the property there could have been more than one shower. I would’ve liked to have more trees aroInd the tent apacea and cleaner bathrooms but it was nice and peaceful for a family campground.

RANGER REVIEW: GREEN GOO

Campground review: This small campground is located about 45 minutes inland from the Washington coast on the bank of the Columbia river. It was more than adequate for our end of the summer camping trip. The beach access was remarkable. The campground welcomed tents,rvs, and even had yurt village set back in the hillside. They sold their own espresso from a coffee truck (which was quite good by the way) and also sold fire wood on-site. Amenities also included clean restrooms and a free shower house! This is a great place for water sports or fishing on the Columbia. Sandy bottom shores abound!💜🤗

Gear Review:Green Goo

As a Ranger for the Dyrt our family will occasionally get products to review. This round we were testing GREEN GOO products. On this trip we tested the Outdoor Travel Pack. Consisting of smaller versions of GREEN GOO originals. We used the Bugs Be Gone Spray and First Aid Salve. Seperate to this set we also tested the GREEN GOO Skin Repair Salve which we have been using for a while now at home but was nice to have especially after having spent some time in the sun.

Review:Green Goo Bugs Be Gone Spray

We loved this! My son and I used this a few wks ago at scout camp also around horses and it kept the biting flies at bay. This stuff is 100% natural so I'm all about that. We used it again this trip at the river in the evening when the bugs came out and were not bothered. Just wish the bottle were bigger.

Review:Green Goo First Aid Salve

This product was honestly a lifesaver for my 2 yr old this trip. Both of my kids were playing in our campsite and she tripped and fell in thorny ground brush. She had tiny slivers all in her hands and was really hard to calm down. I tried to just pull then out but it just made it worse. After remembering I had the salve packed away we tried this on her hands and they wiped out easily with a towel. I was really quite impressed. So I highly recommend having this on hand if you have little people who are active.

Review:Green Goo Skin Repair

I have been using this at night around my eyes for a few wks now and I love it. It's a multi purpose salve so it's pretty great. However this trip the kids and I used it for minor sunburn relief and I found it worked equally well for that. I would just recommend keeping it in the cooler as it is a salve and will melt if it gets too warm.

Www.greengoohelps.com