My wife and I stayed for two nights in late April, right at the start of their season. We're in our…read more70s and were looking forward to a quiet glamping experience. The camp itself is clean, well-organized, and the staff were friendly. We'd booked a Deluxe tent but were upgraded to a Suite due to low occupancy, which came with a dedicated parking spot right next to our tent -- a real convenience, especially for anyone with mobility concerns.
The Venue:
The views from the camp are genuinely beautiful, but potential guests should know that despite the "Columbia River Gorge" branding, the camp is not actually on the river.
The food was our biggest disappointment. We tried to give them the benefit of the doubt since it was opening weekend, but by day two it was clear the kitchen wasn't hitting its stride. My burger was fine, but my wife's chicken sandwich was overly salty with a panko coating that tasted previously frozen. The fries on both visits were over-salted.
On the positive side, the s'mores at the fire pits in the evening were a nice touch, and with low occupancy, the fire pit area was relaxing. The food is something easily within the capability of camp management to improve, and I suggest they do. This is not an inexpensive venue and the food is priced accordingly, so you want it to be really good.
We expected glamping to skew toward an older crowd looking for a comfortable outdoor experience, but the demographic here leans young - couples, families with kids, dogs. The noise wasn't a problem at night, but occupancy during our stay was only 30%. With more kids and pets it could get a bit noisier at night. It's worth knowing what to expect. And if you've ever glamped internationally - say, a tented safari camp in East Africa - you best calibrate your expectations accordingly. This is a nice, roomy tent with a bed, not a luxury wilderness tent.
The Service:
The service was friendly and helpful! There is no electrical power in the tents, other than what you get from a battery pack, which the camp provides you with. I also got a large battery pack capable of handling my CPAP machine at night. You need to let them know about this ahead of time.
The Tent:
The tent is very roomy! While there are two chairs on the tent porch, there is no table of any kind, which makes sitting out there with a bottle of wine and glasses somewhat inconvenient. There is definitely room for a small table. We had the feeling the tents are geared to move people towards the group area and the restaurant/drink tent where there are lots of tables and chairs.
There is also no place to hang anything up. Just putting a couple of hooks somewhere would be worth it, we thought.
The bed was a very nice King and I have to say quite comfortable! I brought my own pillow from home, though, which is always a nice thing to remember to do.
The cold at night was uncomfortable, but that's April in the Gorge, and not a fair criticism of the camp. However, we had very warm comforters and blankets, and the gas fireplace helped! We slept well!
Tip: Start the fireplace earlier in the day, before dusk. Our first night we waited till evening and the fireplace never was able to overcome the cold, but the next day when we started in earlier, it warmed up the tent much better!
Exploring the Area:
If you are like my wife and I, we like to explore. So, we looked at the map and thought we would drive up to Klickitat Canyon, but soon found ourself off the grid with no phone signal, so our GPS went crazy and we abandoned the effort after going in circles a couple times. LOL.
Tips: This was an unforced error on my part as I should have downloaded some offline maps of the area and also brought along a paper map, just in case. These are things I recommend you do if you want to head out into the hills and dirt roads. We were rusty and it showed.
Winery visits:
There are a number of wineries within easy driving distance. We visited Jacob Williams and highly recommend it. Delicious wine, amazing view, and food to boot!
Bottom line: Under the Canvas on the Columbia Gorge is a pleasant enough stay in a beautiful setting, good for families, but not something we'll be repeating. And for the price point, the food needs to improve.
