Oxbow Regional Park

This is a beautiful, scenic place with the river right there and so much to do! I really enjoyed coming here and just listening to the breeze. The beautiful colored leaves of the deciduous trees were falling and it was truly breath-​taking. The water was too cold for me to swim although that day I did see some others trying. The people out there aw relaxed and smiling and wave and say hello or come talk. I really enjoy being where people are laid back, happy, and not afraid to be friendly and neighborly. I believe a lot of the world is missing that! I really want to come float on the river next summer and bring my boy and just love up the beauty, nature, and well kept parks that Oregon has to offer, this state is most certainly great!

Hot summer days in Portland, warrant cooling off in the water… So much water around Portland, but WHERE to go to actually enjoy it!?! Oxbow is perfect for swimming! It’s about ¾ of a mile hike to the Sandy river (I hear if you take another trail it takes you to the Columbia, but I haven’t been to this portion) where you’ll find a huge amount of sandy riverbed and a sandbar that extends halfway out into the river before you find yourself in swim-​able water depths. This area is absolutely perfect with its shallowness and lack of muck and many, many people bring their joyous pups to run in the 12″-deep water around the sandbar. The river doesn’t have a strong current, nor has it been cold in the 90 degree weather we’ve been having (2015). The water is a perfect temp, lacks debris underfoot, and with the shallow areas you are able to just sit in the water to relax the day away if you feel like it. The only trouble with this spot is that the trails are not well marked so you have to wing it a bit if you’ve never been here without a guide. There are narrow trails extending off the parking lot in multiple directions. Once you arrive on a hot sunny day, I recommend chatting up some more well-​informed visitors and tagging along behind them to get your bearings. Also, the shore is smooth river rocks for the teeniest little ways so I recommend taking water shoes to cross them if you don’t have tough feet.

A warning to anyone looking at camping here. As mentioned by other reviewers below, they lock the park gates after sunset! Forget going to watch the stars somewhere, forget running out to Portland for extra diapers, or going for a late-​night drive. Once that sun goes down, you are confined to your campsite. The prison atmosphere detracts a bit from the outdoor experience, I do have to say.

No Dogs allowed? I am very disgusted! I pay Taxes for Parks just like People with Children do…
The Park Rangers gave us such a hard time it was unbelievable and gross!

Great park.
Clean sites.
Clean restrooms.
Good River view.
Had a E.F.M. Youth Campout here. Everyone had a fun time. Plenty to do.
We swam in the Sandy River via the well marked trails.
Had a lovely camp fire with the firewood we bought on site at $ 5.00 a bundle. We had a good fire that lasted all night only using 2 bundles and slept like a baby to the sounds of the river.
Lots of different camping options from Group Sites to Yurts. Being only 22.2 miles from Portlandia makes me long to come back.

I am limiting my observations to floating down the Sandy River. Floating down the Sandy is like nothing anyone who lives on the East Coast would ever experience. It is the most laissez-​faire run park I have ever experience. Unlike the more uptight and rule bound folks on the East Coast it appears the folks here take a much more catholic approach to the happenings on the river.
There is ample parking for folks to blow up their inflatables, fill up their coolers and /​or pipes for the float down the river. Folks are very respectful in terms of keeping the river clean which means despite the upteen cases of beer consumed no cans are seen floating in the river. You need to wear some sort of footwear since the river at times is full of rocks on the bottom of the river bed. It can take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours to float down the river depending upon where you start. While the views are incredible almost as entertaining is watching the folks on the banks of the river. You will see a cast of characters including yesterday a full scale Baptism.
At five bucks to park this is one hell of deal.

Stayed here 3 full days during a road trip through Oregon, and happened to be there the july 4^th weekend. Obviously this was a busy weekend, but I really don’t consider that a great excuse for our experience. Read below…
Here are some «pros», I guess, on why we reserved a spot here, it is:
1) the closest non-​RV type camping to portland
2) Reviews seemed ok, although most are «oh its so pretty! and deer!»
3) price is right.
** On these three meager and expected things I give it 2 stars, but there is A LOTof issues that lowered the rating.
BUT after this stay, I would NOT recommend staying here if you are:
1) Camping here and using it as a base camp to check out Portland/​surrounding area, or expect to have «late» nights visiting the city (this was our NUMERO UNO issue, see extended review for details). There is a gate, it locks at 9m, you WILL get locked out…
2) Interested in getting a good nights sleep or expect a person of authority (i.e. rangers) to care about noise
3) a person that enjoys more that 15ft of space from their camping neighbors
4) Someone with a dog
5) Someone that enjoys having some of Oregon’s delicious and legendary craft beer at your campsite
6) Someone that dislikes a «touristy» feeling or people that disrespect nature while camping
If you match to a couple of these, you’ll probably be disappointed by Oxbow…
That is my quick review, if you’d like to read on, here is in some more info on some of those points:
1) THIS IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE BY FAR…
Since this is the closet normal camping to Portland (it seems out there, but only takes about 30 mins by car or 1hr by train to get into city) it is the natural pick to use as a base camp if your on a road trip or visiting this awesome city. It is also in a pretty good location if you want to wander east towards the overly-​touristy falls, and the pretty cool Hood River. BUT BE WARNED!!! There is an unlisted rule that the parks gates CLOSE at 9pm and you CANNOT get in if you are not at your campsite by this time. That’s right, they literally lock the gates on you and you cannot get to your campsite unless you walk the almost 2.5 miles from the gate to the campground at the center of the park. You can leave the park after 9pm, but you can’t get back in. So if you are feeling like you want to explore the city past sunset in the summer or fall, when the sun SETS at almost 10pm, be aware that you will be crap-​outta-​luck. This issue had us annoyed over the fourth of july weekend, when our family couldn’t even go to see any fireworks shows, or jazz concerts in the surrounding towns, because the sun wasnt even down but it was 8:30…They enforce this rule above all the other ridiculous ones and its absolutely stupid (especially since they have staff on site to guard 24hrs and living 20ft from the gate.)
2) Yes, we stayed there during the 4^th weekend. Yes, people like to party.
But no, no, no… This is not the place to have a massive party.
But apparently you can and that’s not a problem. There are several rules posted that the max # of persons at a site is 6, and 2 cars. But on 3 out of 4 nights there were campsites of tents and people numbering from 10 – 15, and tons of cars. At no point when these campsites were up being loud way past 11 did the sight of a ranger patrol even occur. Its one thing to allow alot of people at campsites, even beyond the «rules», but its a matter of poor park management when you cant have patrols to enforce some simple rules on turning down the music past 11.
3) Our campsite was literally connected to another. The table was 15 ft from another families tent. The campsites were separated by a log. That is all…
So I’m all for making friends with camping neighbors, in fact we make it a point to be friendly, share food and drink, and hang out with as many as we can and share stories around campfires. But some measure of privacy is nice. 15ft is not that measure, and doesn’t make for a fun camping time (and luckily our neighbors were quiet and nice which was a massive grace).
4) No Dogs? Seriously? = Nuff said.
5) No Alcohol? Seriously? = OK I get the idea behind this one, because most people are jerks and dont know how to drink responsibly. But when you walk around the campsite and find cans of tecate and liquor bottles in the hands of people at the crazy rediculous sites, it again brings the failures of management and unbalanced enforcement of park rules into the light. But seriously, having to enjoy Oregon’s amazing craft beers in secret (responsibly) totally sucks
6) This place is crowded, like REALLY crowded. At first I thought it was just because it was the 4^th weekend, but the main park and swimming areas get CRAZY with people during a regular day in the summer. And if your not into people who seem to have little to no respect for nature or others, then avoid this place like the plague.

This place was an okay swimming spot. It costs $ 5 a car to get into the place, but it wasn’t to crowded. This is a family friendly area, but secluded spots can also be found. Although the sandy river is not my favorite, it is pretty clean compared to some parts I’ve seen of it.

Soooo beautiful!
Not too far outside of the city, however, you FEEL like you are miles and miles out in the middle of BFE.
Hiking, water activities, clean camp sites, toilets… this park has it all.

Camped there for 2 nights. Love the location, not too far from the city but you pretty much felt like you were in the middle of the forest. The campground is nice and peaceful. The rangers were not super friendly which I was a bit taken back by. We spent an entire day at the day use area by the boat ramp, floating on the river with the our kids and friends. It was very nice and not too crowded for a nice summer weekend.
If you are going to camp or for the day, please note they do not allow dogs or alcohol. We were a bit bummed out by this at first but had a great time despite. I would have given it 4 stars if we had our dog with us and had I not had to be super sneaky with the vodka :)

This is a quick trip out of Portland to enjoy mother nature. My kids, a 7.5 year old boy and a 15 month girl love this place too! The camping is a great intro for the kids and you can enjoy the beach that runs along the Sandy River. They have decent bathrooms and coin operated showers. Beware, the camping spots are first come, first serve. It gets pretty packed during the holidays and warm season.
If you prefer to take a day trip to the beach, it is located off the boating dock. No dogs and booze are allowed so it makes it more relaxing than some areas along the river.
I suggest getting there by 11 during the super hot days in Portland to get your ideal spot, and finding parking that isn’t too far from the beach.
There isn’t a lifeguard, so you want to be sure the kids are supervised well. We witnessed a teenage boy almost drown!
Be safe amd have fun!

Awesome spot for a day outdoors! Great day use area, lots of space to explore. The only bummer is that it’s not free to get in, but as long as you plan to spend some time here, its worth it.
For those who are interested, parts of Twilight were filmed here, and are accessible to fans!

Wonderful camping and great day use area.

Love this place! Though you are not that far out of town, you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.
There is a lot of wildlife — Bambi and her mom were in our campsite a few times!
The Sandy River runs right next to it, so you can hop in and go tubing.
There are two playgrounds for the kiddies.
And for those who are a little skittish about the outdoors (like my sister) this is a place I like to call «Princess Camping.» They have bathrooms with automatic toilets, hand dryers and sinks, as well as coin operated showers.
This place is kept up well and actually smelled lemony fresh when I walked in.
Go here for the day or for a nice weekend getaway! You won’t regret it!

Are you if-​y if the camping thing is for you but want to give it a try? Want to get out in the great outdoors but don’t have much time? Love tubing? Cruise on down to Oxbow!
Who knew that a mere half hour from the Portland metro area lies the breathtaking great outdoors! Owbow has clean lemony fresh bathrooms, showers with piping hot water (.25cents for 2.5 mins), and clean water for cooking /​drinking! It’s not exactly ruffing it, but it’s perfect for relaxing and getting away from it all.
Truth be told I’m not much of a camper, but I was lured in by the prospect of tubing. I’ve been tubing twice on the Sandy river both of which were a blast. It’s tame enough to enjoy a nice brew and take in the scenery, but it keeps you on your toes. And you can stumble back to your camp site for s’mores!

Despite its location on the outskirts of Gresham (I know what you’re thinking!) Oxbow park is a beauty of a park. Although managed by Metro, it more resembles a State Park than a City Park.
This protected area along the Sandy River Gorge is a great place to hike, swim in the river, camp, or spot deer and other wildlife.
And its biggest draw is how close it is to the city. You don’t need to spend hours in the car to get to a beautiful slice of wilderness – this one is waiting for you just on the edge of the suburbs!