Wildwood Recreation Site
4Heads up4 fires, nearest 14 mi
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:31 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Wildwood Recreation Site is open year-round but may close due to vehicle access during severe weather. Check status during severe weather events by calling 503-375-5646. Park passes are only available for purchase online for printing ( Wildwood Recreation Site Day Pass ) or onsite at the automated fee machine (AFM), located next to the park’s entrance station. Credit cards only ; no cash or checks. Visitors may purchase either a daily or a Northwest Oregon District Passenger Vehicle Day Use annual pass at the AFM. Keep reading
Visitors with an annual pass receipt should bring it to the park office for transfer to a static cling Northwest Oregon District Passenger Vehicle Day Use Pass. Wildwood staff is limited so please be patient and hold onto your paper receipt until able to contact a park employee. Wildwood is open from 8 AM until 1/2 hour before sunset, or 8 PM whichever is closer, 7 days a week. Please stay aware of the closure times posted on roadside signs throughout the park. The gate will close at the posted time so make sure that you exit the park at or before the closing time. Wildwood Recreation Site is located along the Mount Hood Scenic Byway near the town of Welches, Oregon. Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest mountain, beckons travelers through a forested corridor to wade the waters of the Wild and Scenic Salmon River. This year round day-use area is home to a wide range of recreation facilities and the Cascade Streamwatch Trail. Visitors have a chance to explore natural stream and wetland ecosystems along accessible interpretive trails and boardwalks and observe native fish in a unique, underwater fish viewing chamber.
Recreation
Hiking and wandering the boardwalks at Wildwood is the best way to experience the park. The Cascade Streamwatch Trail is an accessible, 3/4-mile paved loop that features quality educational displays, picturesque views of the Salmon River and a fish viewing window below stream level. The Wetlands Trail is an accessible, 3/4-mile loop trail leading to the challenging Boulder Ridge Trail, which is a 4.7-mile hike up the steep slopes of Huckleberry Mountain into the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness. Visitors also enjoy swimming and fishing in the cool, clear waters of the Salmon River.
Facilities
Wildwood is an excellent place for large groups, company picnics or special events. The site offers family picnic units, several group shelters, outdoor picnic kitchens, athletic fields, volleyball and basketball courts and fully accessible trails. Picnic tables, fire rings and grills are available at each site. Flush toilets and drinking water are also provided.
Natural Features
Nestled in a bend of the spectacular Wild and Scenic Salmon River, Wildwood Recreation Site encompasses 550 acres of beautiful land forested with old-growth Douglas fir, western hemlock, and western red cedar. Dense vegetation provides nice privacy between sites. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (503) 622-3696.
Nearby Attractions
Mount Hood National Forest offers many recreational activities, including hiking, horseback riding, fishing, camping, backpacking, and skiing, among others. Sandy Ridge Mountain Bike Trails.
Charges & Cancellations
Standard fees apply and are non-refundable. Visit https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies for more information.
What the agency tells you
Campfires? Please see here for current campfire restrictions: Fire Closures and Restrictions Typically, campfires are limited to the steel fire rings or BBQ grills provided within the recreation site. No building rock campfire rings.
Group Electric Shelter reservations cover half of the shelter. To use the whole shelter, you must make 2 reservations: Pioneer (WPIO and EPIO) and Mountain View (NMTN and SMTN).
Those renting the Pioneer or Mountain View Group Electric Shelters have priority use of the athletic fields.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Please exit the park 30 minutes before the posted time.
No amplified music allowed in the park.
No horses allowed in the park.
No skateboarding allowed in the park.
A firewood quarantine is in effect to protect the Pacific Northwest from invasive species; please buy where you burn.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…and grills are available at each site. Flush toilets and drinking water are also provided. Natural…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER (PEAK SEASON) on 4 of 7 campsite records, WATER (SEASONAL) on 6 of 7 campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Backpacking
- Berry Picking
- Biking
- Birding
- Environmental Education
- Fish Viewing Site
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Mountain biking
- Picnicking
- Water access
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 760th darkest of 770 in OR
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 6 days ago, 31 km away
- Patchy color
9 of 9 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:31 UTC
The agency files 7 records here and marks every one of them day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
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.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 17
What you actually pay
“Standard fees apply and are non-refundable. Visit https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies for more information.” · this campground’s own terms
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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:31 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
7 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 5 mapped sitesAll 7 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 7 of the 7 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
| Family Picnic Area | SRS-Salmon River Shelter | day use | 15 ft | 15 amp | 2216 ft | 339 ftSalmon River | 79 ft | $125–$150 | |
| Group Picnic Area | MTNN-North half of Mountain View Shelter | day use | 15 ft | 15 amp | yes | 63 ft | 1,770 ftSalmon River | 118 ft | $125–$150 |
| Group Picnic Area | MTNS-South half of Mountain View Shelter | day use | 15 ft | 15 amp | yes | 63 ft | 1,721 ftSalmon River | 180 ft | $125–$150 |
| Group Picnic Area | PIOE-East half of Pioneer Shelter | day use | 15 ft | 15 amp | yes | 49 ft | 1,823 ftSalmon River | 171 ft | $125–$150 |
| Group Picnic Area | PIOW-West half of Pioneer Shelter | day use | 15 ft | 15 amp | yes | 49 ft | 1,841 ftSalmon River | 219 ft | $125–$150 |
| Group Picnic Area | PKE-East Picnic Kitchen | day use | 15 ft | 15 amp | 1,659 ftSalmon River | 154 ft | $60 | ||
| Group Picnic Area | PKW-West Picnic Kitchen | day use | 15 ft | 15 amp | yes | 1,722 ft | 175 ft | $60 |
The agency files 7 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
TollgateMt. Hood National Forest · 4.6 miTollgate Campground & Day Use AreaMt. Hood National Forest · 4.6 miGreen Canyon Campground & Day Use AreaMt. Hood National Forest · 5.5 mi
Riley Horse CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 6.4 mi
Camp CreekMt. Hood National Forest · 6.8 mi
Lost CreekMt. Hood National Forest · 7.5 miWildwood Recreation Site is located 39 miles east of Portland on Highway 26 near Welches, Oregon.
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 45°F, day 60°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 35°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 · a letter you can send
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Wildwood Recreation Site is in Oregon’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Maxine Dexter (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
The agency’s own record files sites here and marks every one of them day use. The draft asks whether any could open to overnight camping, and if not, why.
- The member who votes the moneyMaxine DexterU.S. Representative · Oregon’s 3rd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJeff MerkleyU.S. Senator · Oregon
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRon WydenU.S. Senator · Oregon
Read the draft, or change the wording
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Wildwood Recreation Site has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Maxine Dexter, I’m a constituent in Oregon’s 3rd district. Wildwood Recreation Site, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon carries 7 records on the Bureau of Land Management’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Wildwood Recreation Site (Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Wildwood Recreation Site has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Jeff Merkley, I’m a constituent in Oregon. Wildwood Recreation Site, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon carries 7 records on the Bureau of Land Management’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Wildwood Recreation Site (Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Wildwood Recreation Site has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Ron Wyden, I’m a constituent in Oregon. Wildwood Recreation Site, Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon carries 7 records on the Bureau of Land Management’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Wildwood Recreation Site (Nw Oregon Cascades Field Office, Oregon) via campanac.com