Lost Creek Campground

We ended up hear this past weekend after planning a trip for another, more popular, campground that was fully booked. After 4 hours and checking 7 other campgrounds on Hood in the vicinity, we were ready to give up and drive home. We had hoped that leaving on a Thursday we would be able to grab a walk up site. As a very last ditch effort, already heading in the direction of home, I did a search for campgrounds on the Sandy River and found a review on Lost Creek that convinced us, with very little optimism, to give it a shot. I am so so so glad all the others were fully booked and that we found this amazing little camp ground! Not only that but ALL 4 of the walk up sites were open and we got our pick! Everything about it was wonderful. Stan the camp host is great, the two walk up sites we stayed at with another family were A7 and A8 and they were, in all of our opinions, the best sites they had! They were large and spacious and private. There is a trail right off of A8 that takes you through the forest and interpretive trail. The forest floor is carpeted in mosses and our girls were sure that this is a place fairies would live - it was hard to argue with them ;) The trail takes you to the creek, where there are multiple access points. There is a nice fishing platform (We only caught one fish while were there and it was from another location. The fish are tiny so we ended up throwing it back). It was HOT (100 degrees in Portland) so we spent our one full day with both families at the creek. We found the most perfect spot to set up our chairs, kick back and let the kids play for hours catching minnows and salamanders and floating down the very minor rapids. The creek doesn't get deeper than knee height in only a couple places. To get to this spot you take the path NEXT to the one that takes you down to the fishing platform, walk ALL the way to the end of it on a wooden/man-made path, and there you ill find a small sunbathing deck and a path down to the rock beach and creek. This is where we caught the fish too. The only problem with the entire trip was that it wasn't long enough, no one was ready to leave :( Great for families, small child and dog friendly, small enough that our 5-9 year olds could easily ride there bikes alone around the small loop, and we felt perfectly comfortable. We were excited to check out Burnt Lake and Ramona Falls but learned, after a failed attempt at the Lake because there was no parking, that once you get up the terrifying one lane road that drops off completely to one side (shiver), it is another 3.5 mile hike into the lake. Furthermore, we learned later it apparently doesn't have good swimming, no beaches etc. After learning our lesson we sent my husband in a car to the Falls trail-head to check it out beforehand. There was plenty of parking here but luckily he ran into a couple that shared with him that it was a 7.5 mile round trip hike, and there is a river you have to cross with a bridge that has been down for a couple of years. He told him that this time of year it's low enough to walk across, but not for kids. So just stay and enjoy the beautiful forest, trails and creek instead! Pick some huckleberries for your pancakes (YUMM!) and Enjoy! Just don't tell too many people, this is truly a hidden gem ;) (side note - it is actually $22/night and $40 for the double site. Bundles of firewood are available for $6 which is the same price as the Thriftway up the road in Welches.)