Skamokawa Vista City Park

We love the dry camping sites right on the river and camp here frequently. Great for kayaking and ship watching.

Skamokawa Vista Park is located in the fascinating town of Skamokawa in Wahkiakum County, Washington.. The town resembles Who-Ville, where the buildings are all taller than wide, and lean a bit, being built on natural canals instead of roads, where people hop into boats instead of cars to visit neighbors or the general store. The Park has a white sand beach, white-tailed deer, and plenty of protection from the wind. It is an undiscovered gem that I can recommend without hesitation. Who knows, maybe you'll even meet Cindy Lou Who. For more info, click onhttp://campeverycountywa.com/wahkiakum-county.html

We realized after we rolled in that we weren't quite prepared to be in Skamokawa for a week. The nearest laundry facility and grocery store is in Longview, and we weren't figuring on such a long drive. There is a restaurant and cappuccino food truck in town (the latter is actually in the park), plus several more restaurants along the highway. The town itself is pretty adorable.

The park is also nice, with lots of fields for kids to play, tennis & basketball courts, a few walking trails (don't miss the trail at the top of the hill near the yurts -- we did until our next-to-last day!), and some really nice beaches for swimming and walking. There's a boat ramp and a playground too, as well as bathrooms and showers.

The nicest sites are definitely the ones with limited hookups. The full hook-up sites are lined up in a gravel field, but the other sites are spacious with lots of green in between and trees.

Verizon and AT&T were accessible but SLOW for us, so we didn't stay the full 2 weeks we had originally planned.

Skamokawa Vista City Park is slightly schizophrenic. The larger part of it consists of an immense open field that ends at the banks of the mighty Columbia river. A dozen or so water/electric RV sites, and a smattering of dry camp site (for tents or RVs) as well. The views of the river and its massive ships are stunning. But, it's also utterly exposed. Lots and lots of wind, and plenty of sun, rain, or mist — depending on the day, or even hour. Beautiful, but the sheer lack of shelter from the elements can be(come) a drag.

The other part of the campground is nestled up against the hillside and forest. Especially towards the back there are around 6 or 7 full hookup RV sites (and four yurts) that are well sheltered in a grove of pines and birches. No views like on the river banks, but 100% beautiful and relaxing. A great find for a relaxing weekend, or a family get together (plenty of space on that massive grass field).

This park was staffed with very friendly staff!
The park was well maintained really, with the exception of the shower (single, unisex shower room) being grimy (bring quarters for the water-you will néed 50 cents per shower).

The was a huge field for frisbee, etc and lots of road for a child-sized bike rides! We did not use the beach due to some temporary work being done by the Army Corps of Engineers.

We were traveling up the 101 so this is a bit out of the way, but after the beach crowds we've seen along the coast, we figured out of the way was good. This is a big, open campground, and all the RV spots near the river are visible, but have a great river view. It gets windy at night, or at least it did for us. We had spot V2, near the RVs, but it's a tent site and worked perfect for our vanagon.The showers get closed down from about 8p-8a, but they are quarter pay and hot when open. The little town of Skamokawa is very quaint, don't expect to stock up on supplies there. The hosts are super nice. Really, a cute, quiet on the river campground. Our Verizon 4g had 2-3 bars the whole time, worked fine.

Very kind and accommodating camp host and a well-run park. Gorgeous beach and lots of space. There are two showers — one is coin-op ($.50) and the one toward the front of the campground is free. Really liked this spot.

We have a new trailer and wanted to have a trial weekend not to far from portland. This is a perfect weekend hideaway. The view is spectacular. Very friendly staff as well.

The site backed up to the river with no obstructions. I came here to get some peace and do some work for a week, which required decent 4G signal for AT&T in my case and it worked flawlessly. I got 4 bars without boosting and it went to 5 easily with my booster antenna. They have wifi for a charge here but I didn’t need it.

50 amp service worked great. My only very small gripe is that my neighbors are a little close on each side but it’ll do and I’ll definitely be back.

Checkin was simple and fast. Friendly staff at the desk and they had my reservation ready when I arrived.

Our site backed up to the river. The beach was a few steps away. Nice sandy beach. So relaxing hearing the small waves lap on the beach with a slight breeze. It got windy we as the day went on, but it was still warm. Watched the big freighters go by. Nice clean level gravel site with power & water only. They do have a dump station on site. Very clean camp ground, friendly staff. Didn’t use restrooms or other facilities. Very family friendly.