Campground for a camping wedding?

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Bluesbelly
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Joined: July 3rd, 2020, 8:24 am

Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by Bluesbelly » July 3rd, 2020, 9:03 am

Heya! My fiance and I are looking to get married in late summer/early fall 2021. She and I are both super outdoorsy and are looking to hold the ceremony/celebration out in the woods as sort of a camping retreat. We are originally from Portland, but have only moved back after about a decade away, so we don't really have an idea of good spots anymore. We would love some ideas about where might be a good site!

Our ideal would be to reserve either a whole small campground or a good portion of space at a larger campground; something pretty and on the more remote side, but hopefully with toilets. We're not crazy party people looking to get wasted or blast loud music, we are just looking to have something relaxed, casual and joyful with a chosen family of around fifty or so. Probably not everyone would want to stay and camp, but we'd like to invite anyone who wants to to do so. We would be looking to be there for two full days, arriving in the morning to set up, having the ceremony / reception in the evening, having a good night of camping fun, and tear down and clean up the next day.

We'd like it to be within an hour and a half (ish) of Portland so that people have the easy choice to either stay and camp the night or head back to Portland after the wedding stuff.

Does anyone have any ideas if there is a site that would work for this? Thanks in advance! :D

Aimless
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by Aimless » July 3rd, 2020, 10:30 am

Let us all hope that by September 2021 the pandemic will be sufficiently addressed to allow your plans to bear fruit. If flush toilets are part of your agenda, I'd concentrate on state parks rather than campgrounds in the national forests, where vault toilets are the standard amenity. Here's the site for checking out Oregon state parks:

https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm ... t.dsp_find

Bluesbelly
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by Bluesbelly » July 3rd, 2020, 10:43 am

Haha, yeah, all of these plans are very Covid dependant, sadly... Hopefully things will be better by then? Fingers crossed for a vaccine? Making plans, but holding them loosely for sure.

Vault toilets are totally fine. Most of our friends are pretty outdoorsy, so no need for anything fancy. I just think pooping in the bushes at a wedding with fifty odd people around might be a biiiit much.

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jime
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by jime » July 3rd, 2020, 11:33 am

Lost Lake might be an idea. Looks like they have group sites & organization sites.

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adamschneider
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by adamschneider » July 3rd, 2020, 11:43 am

Note that there are some group campgrounds out there that are standalone facilities rather than add-ons to "normal" campgrounds; those might be ideal if you don't want to worry about bothering anyone else. Sometimes they'll be labeled on the USFS maps with a tent icon but no name. You can get more information by calling an individual ranger district.

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goingrouge
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by goingrouge » July 3rd, 2020, 12:48 pm

Horning's Hideout in North Plains. Has everything you mentioned.

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xrp
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by xrp » July 3rd, 2020, 7:11 pm

Reserve a lot of campsites/RV sites at Champoeg State Park or Silver Falls State Park.

I think the reservation window is 9 months in advance on reserveamerica.com, so just be prepared to camp on that website!

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oldandslow
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by oldandslow » July 3rd, 2020, 7:45 pm

Cougar Campground is operated by PP&L on one of the Lewis River reservoirs. I used to take my sailboat up there on day trips but I have looked at the campground. Nice camps with flush toilets and showers. About an hour and a half from Portland.

justpeachy
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Re: Campground for a camping wedding?

Post by justpeachy » July 6th, 2020, 11:56 am

adamschneider wrote:
July 3rd, 2020, 11:43 am
Note that there are some group campgrounds out there that are standalone facilities rather than add-ons to "normal" campgrounds; those might be ideal if you don't want to worry about bothering anyone else.
This is exactly what I was going to suggest. Here is the page for group camping in the Mt. Hood Forest and here is the page for Willamette.

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