Memaloose State Park, Oregon (C+)

On our trip to the Oregon coast we needed a place in the middle to crash for a night. We decided to try Memaloose State Park. It was right off of the freeway just east of Portland, Oregon. I didn't take any pictures of this park, nor did we explore much but I'll make a few brief comments about our experience.

The Good
This is a great place to pull over if you need to crash for a night. It's clean, spacious and has full amenities (showers, etc.). There are big mature trees and grass. Also a play structure for kiddos. The campsites were level and paved with plenty of spaces for tents and long RV pads. We didn't have a reservation and were able to have our pick of 10+ spots on a Thursday night. We had one interaction with the camp hosts and they were very, very nice. The dump station was convenient and easy to use.

The Bad
The lady at the check in booth was very rude. I think she was a State employee and she had a major attitude. A lot of the grass was dried out but they were doing their best to water it. This isn't a place to camp, only to stay for a night while you are traveling through. It is VERY loud here and not a peaceful quiet camping experience. I can't imagine wanting to stay more than 1 night unless you sleep like the dead. The campground is bordered by the interstate on one side and a train track on the other. The trains went through all night long. At approximately 330am one of them started blowing their horn multiple times just as they were beside the park. There is no vehicle or other crossing there and no reason for them to do that other than they were being jerks. This isn't the parks fault, they are making good use of a difficult piece of property that would otherwise go unused.

The Ugly
Because of the loud interstate traffic and train whistles/rumbles, our children would not sleep. A little over 2 hours of crying and just being angry. Not a great first night of camping for the kids.

Overall I give this campground a C+. If it were in a different (quiet) location it would be great! The river is beautiful and the trees were big. Again, if you just need a place to sleep en route, this would be a good choice!