Camping in Astoria, Oregon
Enjoy watching movies? Well, you should take the chance to camp in a place where several films were shot. Astoria boasts beautiful scenery and rich history.
That makes it one of the ideal places to shoot films like The Ring Two and The Groonies. With these attributes, who wouldn’t want to try camping in here?
Known as Oregon’s oldest city, Astoria shows campers the reason why production companies often choose this place to film. Breathtaking places like Astoria-Megler Bridge and Astoria Column give people a piece of the city’s lush history.
Only through camping can you experience what Astoria can provide. Take a look at some of the places you can camp in this magnificent city.
Fort Stevens State Park
Due west of Astoria sits Fort Stevens State Park. Used for military purposes during the Civil War until World War II, it became one of the country’s largest public campgrounds.
The 4,300-acre land houses activities including camping, boating, swimming, kayaking, fishing, and wildlife viewing.
Also, modern facilities aid campers in their apparent necessities. These include restrooms and drinking stations. The park also houses a military fort and a shipwreck for viewing. Camping here gives people new experiences and makes additional knowledge in the park’s history as a takeaway. Now, who wouldn’t want that?
Astoria/Warrenton/Seaside KOA
You should really expect nothing less from KOA-labeled Campgrounds. Being the largest system of private campgrounds, the Kampgrounds of America (KOA) ensures that campers maximize their enjoyment upon staying. If you’re a fan of large-scale camping with all necessities provided, then this place fits you perfectly.
Considered one of the largest campgrounds in Oregon, the KOA offers various activities for people’s enjoyment. The camping facilities itself boasts cleanliness and orderliness.
The services offered comes close to that of a 5-star hotel with very accommodating staff. Furthermore, a high-speed internet connection serves as a bonus here.
Additionally, the amenities provide immense joy to the campers. Things such as barbecue, motorcycle clubs, mini-golf, and even a sauna makes it difficult for campers to leave.
You can go to the KOA either through walk-in or by reservations. Let’s be honest, who would want to leave a place that makes you feel blissful, right?
Brothers Grove
What would you get for $35 a night? You get to enjoy isolation in the wilderness and barbecue with 3 more friends. Brothers Grove provides a typical secluded camping experience in Astoria.
The flat terrain, coupled with the lush forests situated south of the city, gives a perfect forest camping scenario. You can re-enact scenes directly from a feel-good movie here.
Scenes like having a barbecue underneath the night sky or having games in your trailer and such. Only, no cameras, directors, and scripts around, and you don’t need to act.
Seaside RV Resort
This campground lives up to its name due to the town’s location. Literally, the town was named “Seaside” because the Pacific Ocean lies adjacent to it. Ain’t that neat? For just a 25-minute drive from Astoria, Seaside RV Resort provides a camping experience like no other.
Upon visiting the town, an array of fish and chips shops welcomes you. Arriving at the resort itself, however, surprises you with different amenities.
Modern restrooms, laundry rooms, showers, and even recycling stations ease their camping experience. Camping sites, on the other hand, gives people a sense of peace with its grassy meadows.
Campers can also catch a glimpse of the ocean as a bonus. For just $44 a night, you can camp your heart out here.
Hammond Marina RV Park
Driving an average of 20 minutes west of Astoria gives you Hammond Marina RV Park. What’s special here, you ask? The iconic “orca whale gets its freedom” scene from the movie “Free Willy” got filmed on this site. In here, you too can get a taste of freedom from all the stress from the city.
With the Columbia River being adjacent to it, Hammond’s small town bustles with fishing as its primary business. Still, it gives campers the opportunity to camp in a small and secluded place, coupled with the sound of waves.
Hammond Marina RV Park gives that sense of peace and freedom you long for. You may even befriend a fisherman and know his story with a cup of coffee in the early morning.
Lewis and Clark Golf & RV Park
Golf indeed exists in this park, but that’s not there’s all to it. Basically, a place where a camping site sits along a golf course describes Lewis and Clark Golf & RV Park.
You can experience waking up in an RV alongside a golf course with just a 9-minute drive from Astoria.
In addition to golf being its primary sport, camping here provides the opportunity to be close to nature. Its closeness to the Columbia River and Lewis & Clark National Park gives you additional reasons to camp here.
Activities such as hiking, fishing trips, and historical galleries and tours supplement your camping experience here. So bring your family, friends, and RV here to enjoy what the park can offer you.
Gnat Creek Campground
The Clatsop Forest, situated east of Astoria, houses Gnat Creek Campground. What can you expect here, you ask? Well, anticipate the feeling of seclusion and the classic experience of rustic camping here.
Additionally, little to no amenities exist here, so you do pretty much everything, which gives it a rustic feel.
Camping by tent or by RV can be done here. Hiking and fishing activities dominate this small campground. With just 18 miles of driving east of Astoria, you get to enjoy serenity in Gnat Creek Campground. The hemlock trees surrounding it surely will be a perfect background for an Instagram picture.
The Takeaway
The beauty of Astoria already attracted some big movie production companies in Hollywood. It’s tangible proof that the city became a place worth visiting. What better way to experience everything the city can offer than to camp in it, right?
Who knows, maybe you can get to be an extra in some of the films they shoot there? At the end of the day, if the city attracted production companies, then it will entice you too. Camp in there to see why. But be warned: once you arrive there, it will be hard to leave.
Author
JP Velasquez
JP is basically a person who loves to write anything that comes to his mind. He dreams of becoming a published writer someday. Currently, he’s working on how to make that dream a reality.
