Customer Reviews

The Best in Tent Camping: Oregon: A Guide for Car Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We're just back from a two week vacation in Oregon. I found the book a very helpful addition to the camping guide I had. And I think one needs an additional camping guide that covers all places since there are just a few in this book. We also found a lot of other nice places that were not described in this book, but still primitive, remote, quiet and beautiful. With one or two campsites we were disappointed and left. Also I would love to see an easier layout, because you have to flip back and forth to find the place. But that is not really important. We just found quite some more places that we thought would deserve to be in there.

Solid guide with a nice mix of coastal and inland sites. We used the book to plan a week in Oregon and found the site reviews very accurate and helpful in steering us to great campgrounds we wouldn't have found left to our devices. When we were unable to reach one of these sites, we were dismayed by our lot as the alternate state campgrounds we found were overcrowded, RV filled, and exactly what we didn't come for. Highly recommend this book. Pyle offers usefuly ratings for various dimensions including best season to visit, level of campground bugginess, solitude, etc.

At the time of this review I had only visited one site so far listed in the book. I'm not sure when the author updated this book, but when we visited Three Creeks Campground near Sisters in late Sept 2007 (we purposely waited until after Labor Day/School was in session to hopefull avoid the crowds) it was full of exactly what she said it DIDN'T have. Not only was it jam-packed, but RVs and campers outweighed tents (I think there was two, and we were one of them). There were kids running around yelling and screaming and the RV/Campers were always firing up their generators for hours on end. These were the things we were trying to avoid.

I'm not discounting this book yet and will try other sites. My other camping experiences over the summer have resulted in the same crowding, noise, etc. Perhaps the camping of old where you find peace and tranquility is no longer to be found.

Written by veteran camper and nature lover Jeanne Louise Pyle, The Best In Tent Camping: Oregon is a detailed guide especially for Oregon campers who like scenic and serene sites, removed from concrete, RVs, boombox-happy individuals and worse. Categorized according to the section of Oregon in which they are to be found, the campground sites are presented with detailed maps, directions, descriptions, and ratings on their beauty, privacy, spaciousness, quiet, security, cleanliness, and insect control. A superb guide for anyone looking to enjoy the peace and freedom of nature.

This is a nice review of established campgrounds, most of which are crowded and noisy. Sorely missing from this book is any mention of the more remote places you can camp and really get away from it all...

We planned an entire camping trip around the recommendations in this book and were sorely disappointed. "Yellowbottom" campground WAS paved, was cramped and there was no privacy whatsoever. We ended up in a Forest Service campground fifty miles away that was better by far. I don't know what the author considers spacious and private...but this campground was crowded, paved and lacked any of the reasons my wife and I go camping. We burned the book in our campfire.

We have recently decided to go back to tent camping, after years of RV's so we weren't sure where the best places were. We wanted campsites that were more remote and away from the side by side camps that we normally found with RV's. Although we purchased the book late in the camping season, I have glanced through it and know it will come in handy for next year. There were a couple of places that we had already discovered and loved. The only negative thing I would say is I wish it had a few more places. It was limited on the amount of campsites they had reviewed. We and all of our family are avid campers and we like to visit new places often.

For those of you who have a desire to vacation but need to lower expenses, you might find that camping is something to investigate, and this book is a great resource. It is based specifically for Oregon, but has great information that could apply to anywhere. As for the Oregon specific information, the book is invaluable. If you are new to the area or well-established, I think you can still find helpful information here. It is well organized and well written.