Champoeg State Park

WARNING: There isn’t an actual frontier town in this park. There are only wooden posts across the park showing where the streets once were. My girlfriend and I went to park because online it said there was an old town on the park. We were sadly mislead. I would actually compare this «State Park» to a city park. Yes it has camping, but it also has a disc golf course through the park, and giant picnic areas through the park. It even has signage in front of all of the group spots with a phone number you can call if you would like to make a reservation.
The only things that were nice about the park was that the trail was well maintained along the river, and it had bicycle trails.
Other then that it really just seemed like a super yuppie spot for people to drive their fancy rv to on the weekend, and then go wine tasting at all of the local vineyards in the area.
If I go back it’ll just be to see if the leaves are cool in the fall along the river.

Loved this place. Decent space between sites with lots of unfettered views out the back window. Water and power hookups, but no sewer at camp site — but they do have one on the way out. Nice walking trails and a HUGE disk course.

We’ve been coming here for years, both with our children, and now as a retired couple. Very well maintained and in a very convenient location, close to wineries and Portland, but totally in the country with nice walking/​biking trails. I grew up as a small child in Newberg, and love coming back to relive the memories. A few really nice restaurants, and coffee shops as well.

I am just finishing camping with my small travel trailer for a week In Oregon, during January 2015. This park was better than any KOA, private RV park or any of the other Oregon state parks. Nestled in a quiet valley, just a few miles off the I-​5 speedway, it was worth the time to detour and rest up. They only have one of the loops open, during winter, so I recommend paying the extra $ 8 to ReserveAmerica to be sure you get a space. Since I don’t haul my entire house with me, I plan on using the showers. Hands down the best I have ever used. The heated space was terrific in addition to the hot water. Also the heated bathrooms were so warm, the toilets felt warm when you sat down. I visited here in September last year and found this to be a very quiet and restful location, not too far from a town with all the shopping you need. Enjoy.

Where Newberg was founded.”
Great history.
Wish Rangers would in force rules.
Patrons show little respect for State Park. Campgrounds really messy, needs to be policed. (Military term for cleaned up).
Great area for picnic & games.
Very nice in Summer.

So much stuff to do at this park! Disc golf… Bike parade… Bird show… Camping!
The rangers and park hosts were super friendly towards our group (which consisted of about 95% of the campground). Even when some of our reservations had issues, they worked to make everything right.
We are TOTALLY coming back :)

Not impressed. Sign said vacancy so we drove into the park only to find no campsites were open.

Champoeg (named after the Indians) is one of my favorite state parks, nestled right there up against the Willamette R. Sure, it’s no Cape Lookout with sweeping views of ocean from picturesque hill, but it does offer, hands-​down, is easy peace away from city life. And so close too. Exit 278 off the I-​5! 7 more miles to «home»!
Clean, quiet, picturesque, super close to wine country, I like it here. Even the bathrooms have always been clean and orderly.
I like it so much that I even rate it a 5, despite having been stung promptly after taking my first step out of a pup tent years ago. So much pain for so many hours…
My friend Jen K. is right. the pronunciation for this place is SHAMPOO+ EEEE. cute, eh?
PS The cabins are 6 in total. there are no longer grills provided on the porch. close to showers/​bathrms. Prefer the B loop. Loop A hosts the yurts and more tents.
Gorgeous country out here. Gateway to Pinots… huge selling point. Lots like to use the trails to bike
PPS Coming up in a few! cannot wait.

Don’t Go… drive farther… it will be worth it.
Champoeg’s 4pm check in is a disaster… it gives you no time in the afternoon to make lunch and hike or ride… by the time you set up… you are working at getting dinner together… they are so very firm on the 4pm check in… and there is not another state park I have been (30 yrs of camping)…that has a 4pm check in… amazing.
the B campsite area has no shade… no trees… one bathroom with 3 stalls total… there are bike trails… but you are better off going to vernonia where the trail is far better shaded and scenic… this trail is way above the river and if you continue it is alot of sun… a very busy urban style park… not ever again for us… coastal state parks are the way to go and I will drive another hour and not get caught in this «but it’s so close» mentality again… it is not worth your effort… trust me.

We have come here for a night overstay several times. The camp is always listed as filed, but during he week a site sometimes miraculously appears. We make Reservations now. Nice walks and a 3 mile hike along the River is joy. Like.

I’ve always intended to spend more time in this park and based on the reviews I definitely need to.
I happened to attend a Christmas party within the museum area. This was the first time I had, had the opportunity to check out the exhibits that the Friends of Historic Champoeg watch over. The museum itself is small, however, there are a lot of interesting items housed within it.
I noted a wonderful selection of books for purchase about the area on the way out as well as sweatshirts and other souvenirs. They have a large conference room just off the museum which I believe can be rented out.
I’ll be back to check out more of the fair weather activities when summer comes around again.

LOVE to ride bikes here and the best part is they are user friendly trails for everyone. Theres a good sized campground nicely kept, picnic areas too! Best part is the historic little Butteville store is close enough by to ride there or drive. Step back in history and visit! Very cute!

I went here as a child and coming back as an adult was a completely different experience. I loved hiking around on the trails and seeing the beautiful scenery along the river. Definitely worth the drive from Portland.

Fun! While I am not a huge outdoors-​y person, I enjoy coming here with my husband on summer evenings. We go down to the boat docks with folding chairs and have a picnic as we watch the boats pass by on the Willamette.
Take note that a day pass costs $ 5 unless you have a year-​round Oregon parks pass.

Nice open campground with lots of hiking and biking trails and history. Newer B loop has smaller trees but has alot of space between sites. A loop more condensed and crowded feeling. great place to camp and visit the wineries. Would definately come back.

I have to admit that other than what I saw on their not so helpful website I knew very little about Champoeg State Park prior to visiting. I expected that I would at very least seem some beautiful flora and fauna, sit by the river and enjoy some time in nature with a loved one.
What I actually experienced was hordes of screaming children, oppressive and overgrown trails with snarled and tangled greenery and teasing views of the river that provided no options for getting anywhere near it. The overall appearance of the park was dry and depressing. All this for $ 5. I definitely think I will be sticking with Forest Park from now on.

Hm. I don’t know — maybe I was hoping for too much, but when I saw on the map that it was adjacent to the Willamette, I hoped that there might actually be some kind of beach access. Instead, there were merely trails that went tantalizingly near, and ten foot drops to the water.
The park was also swarming with screaming children. Everywhere I looked, there was one or three or five or fifteen on bikes, skateboards, running, jumping, yelling down the paths, in the picnic area — like ants swarming sugar, they inundated the entire park. I had gone hoping for some greenery, some private-​ish space to walk in something resembling nature, and to get away from the heat of the day, and instead I found runaway hordes of kids. Meh.

This park was a family favorite for a number of years when my boys were small. So it was a bit of a blast from the past to visit this weekend during ‘summer in February.’
Champoeg (Sham-​poo-​eee) is still a nice spot for biking with our kids, since is has a nice wide (relatively flat) paved trail system. But compared to Silver Falls, Multnomah Falls and Forest Park, it certainly lacks the wow factor. You pretty much need to bring the fun with you to enjoy this state park.
It is nestled along the banks of the Willamette River so bring your canoe, kayak or power boat. One of the more interesting features is a large disc golf course that runs through the middle of the park. There are six yurts and a handful of wood cabins for rent year round. There are also a number of RV hookups, but the camping areas are not heavily wooded so you are rather exposed (visually and aurally) to your neighbors.
I’ve been here for company picnics in the large group camp areas and it seems to be a popular spot for classic car shows in the summer. We’ve visited the park for special events at the pioneer cabin when volunteers demonstrate what pioneer life was like in the area.

No visit to the area in the summer is complete without stopping by the Historic Butteville Store for ice cream. It is only open from May — September on the weekends.

Camping in a yurt at Champoeg State Park is the way to go. I’ve never camped in a yurt before until I came here with my friend for her company overnight retreat.
The state park itself was pretty clean, it’s not really quiet like when you camp in the woods, since Aurora airport was nearby and you can hear the choo choo train too.
They have showers and restrooms. It’s pretty clean for a campground. If you want to go camping and not wanting to go all the way to the coast or Mt Hood, drive down to Champoeg. It’s only 40 minutes drive from Portland. :)

Here’s the deal. There are so many different kinds of camping, that I’m not even sure how to award stars for this one, so I had to go with 3, but that’s not really fair.
If I had an RV, I’d guess but not be confident giving 3 stars since Champoeg seems decent enough since there are lots of happy looking RV folks there and hook ups and whatnot. Beyond that, I can’t say much on the RV aspect.
For tent camping, I’d go with 1 star because there are zero spots that are even remotely secluded or private or in any way interesting or unique, and the park itself is decent, but again, not spectacular.
Now, for camping in the winter in a yurt, I’d go with a solid 4 stars. Just the idea that you can do it is cool. Yurts themselves are cool. The way that you are camping but not really camping all the way like summer is cool. Having a nice soft sleeping surface to put your sleeping bag on is cool. Having heat is warm, but not quite warm enough, so that it’s also a little cool. There is still a firepit and picnic table for those happy outdoor moments, but then there is shelter for playing Scrabble when it’s too cold to pretend it’s summer any longer.
The $ 6 reservation process is kind of a rip off through Reserve America as the only choice, and their policies are pretty harsh, but if you are sure there will not be weather keeping you away, go ahead and book with fingers crossed. If it works out, it’s worth it. Champoeg yurts are $ 33/​night with the $ 6 fee.
We saw some of the park itself, and people were enjoying their Frisbee Golf, but there wasn’t an awful lot to explore beyond that, at least not that we saw. From the car, anyway… Still, there were some great trees that photograph well, and there is even a little wishing well and area overlooking the river.