Roaring River
3Heads up3 fires, nearest 1 mi
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:21 UTC
- Sites
- 14In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Campground closed due to the 2020 Riverside Wildfire Roaring River Campground is located across from the Wild and Scenic Clackamas River in the beautiful Cascade Range of northern Oregon. The small, rustic campground has some charm and provides visitors with access to a variety of outdoor recreation opportunities, including world-famous whitewater rafting. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing is very popular in the Clackamas River and anglers can expect a catch of winter steelhead, spring Chinook and late summer Coho salmon, as well as other species of freshwater fish. The Clackamas River provides miles of wild water as it bends through the scenic Cascade Range, making whitewater rafting a very popular activity. A hiking trail follows the river north and south. Scenic driving is also available on the nearby West Cascades Scenic Byway, which follows the river.
Facilities
The campground offers just over a dozen single-family sites, the majority of which are designated for tent camping only. RVs larger than 16 feet are not recommended in the campground. Utility hookups are not available and parking surfaces are gravel. Each site is equipped with a table and campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Firewood is available for purchase within the campground.
Natural Features
The campground is nestled in a wooded area thick with moss and greenery, at an elevation of about 1,000 feet. The river is across the highway and is not visible from the campground, but can sometimes be heard. The river provides habitat for the federally protected bald eagle and northern spotted owl, as well as an occasional peregrine falcon. A variety of wildlife makes its home in the area.
Nearby Attractions
Just below nearby Indian Henry Campground, the Clackamas River provides 12.5 miles of class III-IV whitewater as it works its way toward North Fork Reservoir.
What the agency tells you
In accordance with standard industry practices, Mount Hood Recreation will be assessing a $8 additional vehicle fee on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered as one vehicle for determining additional vehicle fees. The third and fourth motorcycle would also be considered as one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles.
Off-road vehicle use is prohibited within the campground
Click here for more information on Mt. Hood National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 1
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 14 · 13 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…and campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Firewood is…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…with grill. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Firewood is available for purchase…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, River
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 745th darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 5 days ago, 26 km away
- Patchy color
Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:21 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, Mount Hood Recreation will be assessing a $8 additional vehicle fee on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any doub…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 4
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Roaring River closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Elk Lake CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 23 mi · walk-up
- Fox Creek Group CampWillamette National Forest · 26 mi · 1 site
- Marion Forks Campground and Day Use AreaWillamette National Forest · 39 mi · walk-up
- Sunset Falls CampgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 46 mi · 18 sites
recreation.gov availability, read 16:21 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
14 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 14 mapped sitesAll 14 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 14 of the 14 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 71 ft | 228 ft | 3,097 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 71 ft | 235 ft | 2,977 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 251 ft | 2,852 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 85 ft | 284 ftRoaring River | 2,685 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 85 ft | 200 ftRoaring River | 2,602 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 006 | tent only nonelectric | 64 ft | 88 ftRoaring River | 2,490 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 37 ft | 118 ftRoaring River | 2,499 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 64 ft | 88 ftRoaring River | 2,481 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 37 ft | 154 ftRoaring River | 2,535 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 55 ft | 194 ft | 2,589 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 011 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 77 ft | 242 ftRoaring River | 2,635 ft |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 012 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 189 ft | 2,861 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 013 | tent only nonelectric | 71 ft | 164 ft | 2,975 ft | |
| AREA ROARING RIVER | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 71 ft | 159 ft | 3,117 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
SunstripMt. Hood National Forest · 0.5 mi
Fish Creek (OR)Mt. Hood National Forest · 1.8 miFish Creek Campground/Day UseMt. Hood National Forest · 1.8 mi
ArmstrongMt. Hood National Forest · 1.9 mi
LockabyMt. Hood National Forest · 1.9 miCarter Bridge CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 2.2 miFrom Estacada, travel east on Highway 224 for 20 miles to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Mount Hood Villages, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 42°F, day 59°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Roaring River is in Oregon’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Janelle Bynum (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →