Oxbow Regional Park Campground

Perfect place for the kids' first camping trip! Sadly, we hadn't been camping in easily 10 years (you might be brave enough to camp with infants but not me! :) ), but this "beginner" campground made it easy to fall right back into it. We reserved our spot online ( https://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/oxbow-regional-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=OR&parkId=402500 ) and I noticed there are some RV and ADA spots, too.

Each camp site has a fire pit with grill, raised barbecue, picnic table, shared recycling/garbage and water spigot with neighbors, and most have a lantern hook. Camp sites are generously-sized and spread out enough that even though we could see and hear the closest neighbors pretty clearly, we didn't feel an uncomfortable lack of privacy. Our site was near the path down to the river, where someone had helpfully created a little rock dam to make a safe place for littles to play in the water. There are bathrooms (glorified port-a-potties) in each loop and a real bathroom with showers at one end as well. We were there in the middle of the week and the campground was maybe half full, so the bathrooms were not too bad and we didn't have to wait in line. You will want to bring a flashlight for middle-of-the-night potty trips.

The wildlife is fairly tame; as we drove in we saw rangers shooing deer out of someone's site and several deer wandered in to check us out. Chipmunks and squirrels were extremely bold, even hopping up onto our picnic table hoping we'd share lunch with them (we didn't, of course). The trails are gorgeous and clearly defined but nature sure does like to creep in, so pack something to soothe nettle stings if you bring kiddos (it was our biggest "tragedy").

The only small con (for us) was the proximity to PDX. We heard planes coming and going late into the night and early in the morning, but honestly it was easy to ignore with the sound of the rushing water nearby. We'll definitely be back with the kids again and next time we'll check out the amphitheater and events, too.

There will be construction this summer and fall, so the traffic and noise may be different from our very mellow experience. From the Metro website: "Construction is starting on a Sandy River restoration project. A heavy-lift helicopter will be used 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 19, 20 and 31 and Aug. 1 and 2. Please excuse the construction noise in the park. Most of the park will remain open during this work. Construction on a new campground road is underway at Oxbow. Work is expected to last through September. All open campsites remain accessible to vehicles."