French Prairie Rest Area Southbound

We’ve stayed in both the North and Southbound sides of the French Prairie rest stop near Aurora, OR. Signs indicate a 12 hour maximum stay. These are HUGE rest stops that have additional parking areas in the rear that are perfect for an overnight. While there is always the chance of a semi idling nearby, the “additional parking” areas are far enough away from the interstate that road noise is barely noticeable. There are areas with large trees and an open field to run the doggies. There are multiple bathroom stations and picnic areas. The Northbound side is a adjacent to a very large solar collection facility with interesting interpretive signs. We’ve honestly stayed in campgrounds that were far less attractive with more road noise and you can’t beat the price!

This was our first time staying overnight at a rest area and probably our last unless we really had to!

Didn't really feel safe to go to the bathrooms there so we just stayed inside all night. It worked for what we needed but the people that stay there for what looks like longer than one night would deter us from ever staying again.

I'd rather find a Walmart, Cracker Barrel or Cabela's to overnight at.

We stayed here on a Saturday night and it was very noisy: people running their generators all night, loud music blaring in the middle of the night and dubious-looking people around. Make sure you follow the Additional Parking sign and go further from the road in the furthest lot for less road noise. There is a large grassy area which was great to play with our dog. If you go there on a week night, it might be less noisy. That being said, it's a rest area, so semi are using it too! But hey, it's free and very well-located! Strangely, the connexion was not so great.

This rest area is directly after exit 282 (A&B) on I-5 southbound. Wind your way through the parking lots, following the signs for additional parking. We parked two big RVs here at 6pm on a Saturday night in October. There were a few other RVs, semi trucks, and... "car campers" there for the night. (I locked my door for the duration of my stay.) Although signs are posted about a 12-hour limit, nobody came knocking on our doors when we enjoyed a leisurely morning to depart 15 hours after we arrived.

The noise level from traffic wasn't bad and didn't impact my sleep. The public restrooms are unlocked in the off season from 7am-3pm and were clean and well-stocked. There are picnic tables, trash cans, and lots of grassy areas with trees. The parking lot isn't quite level, but nothing my leveling jacks couldn't handle for one night. We enjoyed streaming video through Verizon's mobile service, so I'd say that coverage is great.

All in all, a very convenient stay if you're just stopping for the night to continue on I-5 in the morning.

All that was said by other reviewers is very true. This is probably the best Rest Area we've seen and has quite a bit of room. The noise from I-5 is minimal and the surroundings are quite nice.

Having said all that it suffers from the 'problem' all (or most) rest areas have... semi trucks. Don't get me wrong I know full well these guys (and gals) are working and I know how hard it is to make a living driving but they are also very loud. When we parked there were no trucks around and so we soon were in bed. Then one truck came in on one side of us and another on the other side. Thankfully, they soon turned off their engines but they start early in the morning and it didn't matter if we wanted to or not, we were up early too. So a free stopover but not a very restful stopover.

My fiance and I needed to stop here for the night as we were exhausted from moving around all day. We parked in the 3rd lot and moved ourselves toward the back for an easy exit the next day.

Well, in theory it sounded fine.

When we woke up the next morning we walked outside our RV to see my Subaru and the RV blocked in by people living inside their vehicles on all sides. We were shocked to see how they decided to congregate around. Nevermind the fact that we were alone when we initially parked but waking up to seeing a drugged up almost naked guy walk directly in front of your RV door to the car parked next to us had us very nervous and on edge. We noticed several other vehicles in the same condition (really dirty, packed tight) around the same parking area but their drivers seemed to be sleeping. I'm sure the rest area would have been a better experience if we hadn't parked there as there are several bathrooms and vending machines, paths to walk around and lots of picnic tables but just knowing and seeing this was a serious problem for us. Be mindful of your gear and other vehicles and check outside the door before you let your kiddos or pets out or you may end up regretting it like we did.

It's a rest area, so expect trucks, people moving through and noise. But it's huge and there are quieter areas in the back parking lot. It's a good place if you're tired and just need to get some shuteye. Put on a white noise app and you're good. No dump station, but clean.

We are headed to Sacramento and we needed an easy place to sleep. It’s a HUGE rest stop right off of the freeway.
Lots of semi trucks. Bathrooms in the back lots are closed from 3pm-7am. Only the bathrooms at the entrance are open.
Lots of green space for pets and clean bathrooms.
Not where you’ll hang out but a solit overnight option.

We stayed one night and this is a really great, very large and clean rest stop. It has a huge grass area for waking, waking paths, and 50 different trees to represent 50 states. Beautiful!

Three large parking lots. We stayed in 2nd lot next to Trucks because we feel it’s safer and don’t mind their generator noise. The back(3rd lot) looked like small cars and a lot of people “camping” (living in cars). I recommend 1st or 2nd lot.

Bathroom was clean.

I don’t understand the bad reviews!

Easy spot to stay close to Portland, good service. Fills up easily but never had issues finding a spot. 12 hour time limit that I did see someone giving notices for over staying.