8/11 LePage Park, John Day River, WA

LePage Park is a Corps of Engineering park and campground on the John Day River as it empties into the Columbia River, just east of the John Day Lock & Dam.  The COE builds parks and campgrounds near almost every lake and dam it constructs and manages.  I really like them because they are almost always extremely well maintained and are half-price for us seniors who have a federal pass.  (I purchased my lifetime America the Beautiful Pass when I turned 62 for $10.  It gets me into national parks and monuments free and gives me a 50% discount on camping in nearly all federal campground for as long as I live.  The price was raised last year to $80 for a lifetime senior pass, but it is still a bargain. There are similar handicap and veterans passes available.)

Plus, campsites nearly always have electric and water hookups at each site with a dump station nearby. And this one is in a very pretty place. 

This is the I-84 bridge over the John Day River as it enters the Columbia River.  Behind this bridge is also a railway bridge.   

Looking from my campsite towards the bridge.  Note that several campsites on the left are empty.  

Looking upriver with empty sites behind and in front of my site.  

This is the day use area.  It was empty on this Friday morning, but got really busy over the weekend. 

 

This park is what is called "right off the freeway."  Luckily, the campground is at the far end of the park, so there is almost no road noise other than a little bit of noise as trucks hit the roadway connections over the bridge. 

The camp hosts have camping spots high on the hill and protected from the hot sun by canvas shade structures. It can get REALLY hot here, like the 108 degrees when I arrived last week!

Looking down to the campground, past the day use area. 

On Friday afternoon, the weekenders started to arrive with their big boats, large families, guests, and multiple vehicles!!

 

It was very windy today on the Columbia River, as you can see by the whitecaps past the bridges.  So most of the boats were not launched until noon and then mostly stayed on the John Day River instead of going onto the bigger river. 

You can see the willows bending in the strong wind.  These are two of the boats.  I think they were some kind of a group because there were several boats that were almost identical except for the paint. 

And they all made way too much noise roaring back and forth!!

The good news, at least for me, is that most of these people have to go to work on Monday, so will be leaving around noon on Sunday.  

I, on the other hand, am lucky enough to be able to stay here until next Saturday when I will be heading to my next campground on the coast.