Hart-tish Campground

Hart-tish Park Campground

Date Visited: July 5-7, 2013

Location: On Applegate Lake near Jacksonville, OR

Type of Campground:  Forest Service

Reservations: All sites reservable (I think)

Description: We planned to head down to see the Michael Franti Kids Concert at the Britt this summer and wanted to camp as well.  There were not a lot of campgrounds that you could make reservations near there so we picked this one and hoped for the best.  When you get to the campground it is a bit confusing because there is a large day use area attached to the campground but follow the signs and you will come to the Hart-ish store in a trailer.  You check-in there and then you pack your gear into these walk-in sites in wheelbarrows which are provided.  Once you get up to the sites-they are gorgeous! The sites are located on a little peninsula overlooking the lake and near the day use area which has a large grassy area and rocky beach.  There were only 9 sites and they are pretty large.  Many of them you can easily fit 2 or 3 tents.  Sites 3,4,6 and 7 are all on the lakeside which are up high and not the best choice for small kids.  Sites 1, 2, and 5 were wonderful -near the lake but not scary.  There were two more sites that I think were not reserveable but were also nice- near the grassy area of the day area.  The RV sites were reserverable and horrible-just parking spaces basically.  The bathrooms and water are both a bit of a hike so keep that in mind.  The beach was rocky, the water was a very comfortable temperature, there were motorboats but they could only go 10 mph and we saw actually very few.  We saw some kayaks and canoes and paddle boards.  The day use area did get pretty busy on the weekend but in the morning and evening it was very quiet.  EDIT:  I also was by this lake September 2015- the reservoir was very very very low so it may be important to check lake levels before planning on camping there.

Pros: Near the Brit Festival, Goregous lake setting, beautiful campsites,

Cons: Some motorboats, pretty decent walk to water and bathroom facilities, day-use area can get pretty busy, poison oak, low lake levels some year.

Hikes Nearby: We didn't get a chance to hike much but there were several hikes around parts of the lake and one up to some famous bigfoot trap which looked interesting.  This lake is also near Squaw Lakes which has a gorgeous walk-in campground.  I will review this at a later date.

Ainsworth State Park

Ainsworth State Park

Date Visited: Beginning of August 2012

Location: Columbia River Gorge between Hood River and Portland

Type of Campground:  State Park

Reservations: All sites are first come first serve

Description: We were planning a trip to the Columbia River Gorge to see the waterfalls and started looking into camping.  We found a limited selection of campground including Ainsworth, another state park right on I84, some county parks near Hood River, and some campgrounds in Washington.  We chose Ainsworth becasue it was so conveniently located near so many of the waterfalls.  The campground has mostly RV sites but off to one side there is 6 walk-in sites and they were pretty awesome.  The sites are spread out and set right in the forest: really beautiful.  Of course you do have to carry your gear in but there is a nice big trail that goes to each campsite.  Some of the sites were huge and could fit multiple tents.  It is a bit of a walk to the bathroom which are nice and have showers.  The rest of the campground we didn't really check out much but they were mostly for RVS.  They had some other random things like swings, tether ball, amphitheater, horseshoes, big grassy area, and trail starting right from the campground.  We camped here Wed through Fri and the six sites did fill up only one of those nights.  This is definitely not a remote campground so you can hear I84 in the distance and there is a train that runs by there fairly often. 

Pros:  Beautiful forested walk in sites, near many of the gorge waterfalls, nice facilities

Cons: Rest of the campground are RV sites, near I-84 and train tracks.

Hikes Nearby:  Multnomah Falls, Latourell Falls, Horsetail Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Wahclella Falls