“4,200 acres to discover history & nature”
Fort Stevens was once the primary military defense installation in the three-fort, Harbor Defense System at the mouth of the Columbia River (Forts Canby and Columbia in Washington were the other two). The fort was in service for 84 years, beginning during the Civil War and closing at the end of World War II. Today, Fort Stevens has grown into a 4,200 acre park offering exploration of history, nature, and many recreational opportunities. Camping, beach-combing, freshwater lake swimming, trails, wildlife viewing, a historic shipwreck, and a historic military fort make Fort Stevens a uniquely diverse park. The park also boasts a network of nine miles of paved bicycle trails and six miles of hiking trails that allow you to explore a variety of habitats including spruce and hemlock forests, wetlands, dunes, and shore pine areas. Coffenbury Lake has two swimming areas, a picnic area, restrooms, and a boat ramp. Two neighboring, smaller lakes are great for fishing and canoeing. Throughout the year, you can browse through displays ranging from the Civil War to World War II at the military museum and information center, walk through the only Civil War era earthen fort on the west coast, or explore the many turn-of-the-century, concrete coast artillery gun batteries. During the summer, take a tour underground through a rare gun battery that also served as a World War II command center, ride in the back of a period military transport truck and see the fortifications from a whole new perspective, or get a feel for what the inside of a military jail was like as you walk through one of the last brick constructed guard houses in the country. The park continues to have the longest running partnership with a friends group in the state of Oregon. The Friends Of Old Fort Stevens is a 501(C)3, nonprofit group dedicated to preserving, restoring, and interpreting historic Fort Stevens. Funds earned by the Friends Of Old Fort Stevens are utilized to further enhance the historic areas of Fort Stevens State Park for future generations.
Reviews of Fort Stevens State Park
97 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 40 users | Last reported on September 17, 2024AT&T 4G/5G
Confirmed by 35 users | Last reported on January 31, 2024T-Mobile 4G/5G
Confirmed by 15 users | Last reported on January 31, 2024Reviews
We really liked that ship!
One of my favourite camping spots! the staff are super chill and always really helpful! It does book up in summer though so be prepared for that!
Check in was easy. This is a huge park and depending on which loop you reserve you could have good cell service or no cell service with Verizon. We didn’t have much of a choice. We booked it two weeks before we arrived and we were lucky we got in. It’s an extremely busy park. There are north and south loops. Some loops are extremely forested.
We are in O-1 which I would stay again. Starlink is not possible in many of the loops. We were lucky as there’s a marsh area behind us and my partner put on rubber boots and went out and put our Starlink out in a clearing. We are also a short hop over to the lake.
There are many things to do here biking, hiking, and exploring the historical sites. There is coffinberry lake to fish, paddle board and kayak in with a boat launch. The lake is only about 2 1/2 miles around and it’s a nice walking path to take your dog on with very few people.
The day use area has picnic tables and is right by the lake. There is a place to rent paddle boards and kayaks by scanning the code and choosing, your equipment. There’s also a bike rental place.
There is a Walmart and Costco a few miles away.
You can book fishing charters as you’re right at the mouth of the Columbia river.
You can drive your 4 x 4 onto the beach and our dogs had a great time running along the beach early in the morning. There is a season when the snowy plovers are nesting, and then there are restrictions along the beach.
Nightly Rate: $46.00
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: 01
RV Length: 34 ft
RV Type: Class A
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
What can we add?...Signage to get to the CG was a little confusing to us. We drove all the way to the end of the jetty and took a nice walk around there that we wouldn't have otherwise. So, when in doubt turn left to get to the CG. if you think you have gone too far, you probably have.
As we usually like to do, no matter how tired or hungry we are, we drove around and around to assess the different loops and pick our spot. They are all more or less the same though, so if you are in a rush, and have to choose, just go for it!
We stayed in the off season and though the park was pretty empty, we appreciated the year round camp hosts. A note of warning - the air compressor at the welcome center actually took air OUT of our bike tires.
We biked from here to Ft. Clatsop. Would recommend, but the route does take you along some busy roads. Teeny tiny blip of AT&T coverage came in and out.
Nightly Rate: $29.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: -
RV Length: 22 ft
The rate is for a full hookup site. This campground has 500 campsites, electric/water and full hookup, in 12 loops (C-O), plus a few cabins, yurts and tent sites. We were here in November and they had shut down loops N and O. We thought the layout of loops L and M felt a bit more private with pull-throughs on the inside of the loop and back-ins on the outside of the loop.
Sites are in forested areas, paved and with picnic tables and fire rings. There are rest rooms in each loop, and showers in most loops. There are day use areas, picnic shelters and biking and hiking trails nearby, as well as access to Swash Lake.
The beaches are beautiful and dog friendly (one part of Clatsop Spit has a leash requirement from March 15-July 15). Driving is permitted on a part of the beach, though we did not drive on the beach - see notes from other reviewers on this.
The remains of the wreck of the Peter Iredale, a ship which ran aground in1906, lies near the southern beach access parking area and is a very pretty sunset spot. There is an observation platform near the South Jetty on Clatsop Spit with a great view of the Columbia River bar crossing. On a clear day, the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse is visible across the way in Washington (a good one to visit also).
The park also houses an abandoned fort, the Fort Stevens Military Reservation, sections of which are open to the public (there is a brochure for a self-guided tour), and a Military Museum. And the Fort Clatsop unit of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, where the Corps of Discovery spent the winter at the end of their journey, is a short drive away.
There are grocery stores and other services in nearby Hammond. And the lovely town of Astoria is about 20 minutes away, with more museums and historic sites, breweries, restaurants, cafes and more fun stuff.
Note: The office was only open from 9-11AM during this season. If you have no reservations the bulletin board directs you to sites that are available for one night only.
Nightly Rate: $32.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: M43
RV Length: 25 ft
RV Type: Class C
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Saw this park when we flew to OR to visit relatives and vowed to come back with the RV. Took our first long post retirement trip in July-Aug 2015 and this was our end point. Loved our stay under the tall Sitka Spruces along with the very short route to the Pacific Ocean. Some sites could be a snug fit but no more so than other parks. Park was well maintained & run. I hope to visit again someday.
Nightly Rate: -
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: -
Huge park with a variety of activities. Perfect for bike riding. Both full and partial hookups. Clean bathrooms and very hot showers. We arrived on a busy Saturday and there we several large and loud groups. By Sunday it was calm and quiet. No trash cans on the camping loops, you have to take all trash to a central recycling center. Beware of swarming mosquitos in early May. Made it impossible to sit or cook outside, it was a miserable two days in the campground. Once you moved away from the lake and swampy areas, very pleasant. Nice group of volunteers helping with firewood ($5.25) and at the Fort museum. Seemed to be many dog owners not following leash rules.
Nightly Rate: $29.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: O51
RV Length: 18 ft
RV Type: Teardrop Trailer
Love this park! And there is probably close to 100 geocaches! However, download them for offline use as cell coverage is practically nonexistent.
Others have pretty much covered all the rest of the great points, so I'll leave it at that.
Nightly Rate: $32.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: L loop
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
Cost includes fee from ReserveAmerica.
This is a wonderful park. There is a history area to visit, as well as an old battery. No signage, but also no restrictions, which made it fun to explore. An old wrecked ship is on the beach, and the beach is free and accessible from the campground on a wonderful miles-long paved biking trail.
We went into Astoria for dinner (Bridgewater Bistro, which was fabulous and only 8 miles away). Played some bocce, but were chased indoors by the mosquitos. Full disclosure -- we're from Colorado and not used to the humidity and bugs.
There is so much more to do here than we had a chance too even begin to explore in our one evening. We would definitely come back, and next time for a longer stay. You could not ask for much more than the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Columbia River on the other!
Nightly Rate: $37.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 256
RV Length: 34 ft
RV Type: Toy Hauler Travel Trailer
Our particular site is quite close to the rest rooms and showers, but that turned out to be a good thing. Also, the main walking path to the rest rooms goes right by our site. Another good thing, as it happens, because that meant nobody was camping next to us on the "curb side" of our trailer. It felt like we had a gigantic campsite.
There are plenty of large trees throughout the campground, and our site had several nearby. Privacy is pretty good - in part because the sites are so big, and in part because there is a little brush between some sites.
Something to keep in mind, however, especially if you're towing a trailer. All sites on the inside of each loop require a "blind side" back in to get onto your pad. If you prefer not to do that kind of a back in, be sure to reserve a spot on the outside of a loop - those are standard driver-side back in, and are much easier to handle with a trailer. We made it after a couple of tries and are pleased with the result, but it required more tinkering than a spot on the outside of a loop would have needed.
Regarding cell phone signal here. Yeah, with Verizon we get 3 bars 3G and 2 bars LTE - un-boosted, and can make all the phone calls we want, but for us the data bandwidth was terrible, especially in the evening. We have a basic Wilson Sleek LTE booster which took our iPhone from 2 bars to 3, but it was pretty much impossible to do anything in the evening. In late afternoon bandwidth seemed fine, but then everything died after dark even though signal was about the same. As a result, we had to spend a fair amount of time in Astoria at the Blue Scorcher bakery and cafe (really good, btw) to get the bandwidth we needed to complete a few tasks before we could get back to fun. So, if you're planning to use your Internet connection here, you'd best have a good booster solution and time your usage for when there's some bandwidth.
BTW, we saw someone doing the cell phone perp walk around the campground, hoping to find enough signal to make a call. Probably not a Verizon customer, because that wasn't an issue for us, but in any case it's best to realize that connectivity here is imperfect.
Activities her are legion. We went on a ranger-guided bird walk (free!) , and a volunteer-guided kayak trip ($10.00, which is less than it would cost to rent a kayak for 2 hours in most places). There are lots of other activities here as well, check the website.
BTW, our site had 50 amp service. Some do, some don't. If that's important to you, check before selecting your site.
Nightly Rate: $29.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: G-263
RV Length: 24 ft
RV Type: Class B
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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Fort Stevens State Park
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Back In RV Sites Count
- 31
- Last Nightly Rate
- 46.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 42 ft
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 0.0
- Max Length
- 70 ft
- Max Stay
- 14
- Pull Through RV Sites Count
- 36
- Sites Count
- 476
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Paved Sites
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Pull Through
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Tent Sites
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Dump Station
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Big Rigs
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Open Seasonally
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Age Restricted
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Back In RV Sites
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Boondock
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Cabin Sites
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Dispersed Sites
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Firewood
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Fulltime Residents
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Group Tent Sites
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Laundry
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Mobile Homes
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Permit Required
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Potable Water
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Propane
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Public Water
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Showers
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Sites
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Standard Tent Sites
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Vehicle Wash Permitted
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Water Hookup
Campground, Restrooms
Nearby Hotels
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