Viento State Park

This park is in a great location for hiking, water activities, its shaded, the spots are nice, but I dropped my coffee when I heard the train go by -- it sounded like it was right out our back window, which it was.

"Have you been here before?" the campground host was old, and jolly. His dog pulled at his leash to nearly tumble the old man over, and this seemed to be a perpetual happening for the poor guy.

I said no.

"Well, here's how it works, these spots up here, you get the highway," which was constantly busy, all night long, every day. "And those spots down there," the ones we wanted to stay in, "you get the train."

"I don't mind a train," I told him.

He looked at me like I didn't really understand what he meant by "train".

So we went about our lives, setup camp, tossed around a frisbee, annoyed the neighbors with our loud skateboard wheels and then...wow, the train was really, really close. And super loud.

Still, I don't mind a train, and I sleep really soundly.

"Isn't this park stunning?" another camper mentioned during some small talk.

I looked around again, in case I'd missed something. The Columbia River is very nearby. But it's basically a reservoir with some massive (though definitely beautiful) cliffs surrounding. We'd hiked a mile long trail that follows the highway to a waterfall, which was also impressive enough.

"Yeah," the other camper continues, "this is the most breathtaking place I've ever been."

All I could think was "You should go more places."

Nice campsite but on an active train route. Horns blow all night. A little expensive for a state park with no interagency discount.

We had pretty much settled on sleeping in a rest area with no reservations on a summer Saturday but figured we try our luck. There was a spot that said open and we pulled in- went to the board to pay and it listed that spot as having an incoming reservation-we talked to the camp host who admitted he was also confused about whether that spot was open or not and he directed us to a different spot.

Electric and water at each shed for $24 isn’t bad. Can walk to river access and watch the kite surfers. Train goes right through the park maybe 15 feet away from some of the sites, you definitely hear it but it didn’t bother us

4G AT&T signal that was pretty darn slow, Verizon probably better but we were being throttled for already using our limit.

Also the showers are amazing and worth staying for them alone, I mean they aren’t the cleanest or biggest but the shower pressure is life changing and they are free

Good for an overnight but be ready for freeway noise and frequent freight trains passing by. Also this campground is windy due to Gorge winds. Tent camping not desirable.

Glad we only stayed one night! The train comes through several times a day/night. Not impressed and confused why this campground gets such high remarks! Not recommended.

Great little spot. As others have said, active train line and 84 behind :D. With aircon's on, we could barely here - if you are tenting, that will be a different story (I also don't mind trains...)

Would have stayed longer if there was a vacancy.

NO DUMP. Be prepared :D. The parks either side have one, but Viento does not. Host super helpful; good location on the gorge.

Site was super level as well.

Stayed here for 3 days in July. The biggest drawback is the road noise. If you stay on the side near the interstate you cannot hear your companion unless you are 1 foot away. Look at the map and stay on the side near the river. It is close to railroad tracks, but trains come through less often than semi trucks. The campground is really nice however. It just in a very bad spot. Close to Hood river, Multnomah falls, bridge of the gods, and other visual attractions. Would have given them a 4 if not for the location.

This was close to a shop i was headed to in the Hood River area. It's nothing too special but it's close to town and wooded. My site was well maintained and flat, a nice table etc.

We knew about the train ahead of time and just accepted it would be fine for one night, but the site we chose backed directly up to the tracks and the train does blow its horn about every hour coming through which makes for a restless night unless you sleep like a log!

If you come here, you have to do the 2 mile walk to starvation Creek Falls. It’s along the Columbia River Highway State Trail and the walk alone is beautiful!