The first night on Mt. Hood is a shoreline walk at Trillium Lake, with the volcano in the water. The cone stands alone in the frame, snow on top and timber around the shore, and you do the loop again at last light when the wind drops. The campground next to the lake is how that walk becomes the overnight.
The Forest Service calls Trillium Lake Campground the Forest's most popular, and it caps vehicles at 40 feet. In summer, late May through October, you reserve that site first and treat the van as the second booking.
Timberline Lodge is 1930s WPA stone and timber above Government Camp, with the Palmer Snowfield on the south flank and the Timberline Trail leaving from the lodge. As of September 2026, a reduced Grasshopper Fire closure runs through the end of the year and keeps that trail and the Pacific Crest Trail open.
Lost Lake is the other still-water overnight, around the mountain on the forest road off Hwy 281, toward Hood River. D loop takes vehicles up to 40 feet and there are no electrical hookups. A dump and fill are on site, and unreserved sites run first-come.
Near Rhododendron and Welches, Still Creek and Tollgate cap vehicles at 16 feet, and Camp Creek caps them at 22. Tollgate is on the Zigzag River, and these three are the US-26 nights if you are still down the mountain after dark. If you need more sleeping length, RVs for rent in Mt. Hood National Forest are the longer option.
Hood River
Orchard rows and roadside fruit stands run the Fruit Loop out of Hood River through Parkdale, with cideries and farm wineries in the mix. You spend the day pulling off for a stand and catching the river again between stops. Sailboarders and kiteboarders use the wind on the water below town, and the waterfront lots are day-use parking only. The western Gorge and Multnomah Falls belong to Portland.
Tucker Park, the county campground on Dee Highway, is first-come with no hookups, and its site rules name a Sprinter van as a permitted unit. That is the overnight after the orchards and the river.
Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows, and Skibowl
Ski days run on the south side at Timberline and at Skibowl in Government Camp. Mt Hood Meadows, on OR-35, is closed to the public as of September 2026 for the Grasshopper Fire.
The Forest Service campgrounds close for winter, so a van sleeps off the mountain. Mt Hood Village RV Resort is the private year-round park on US-26 at Welches, or you stay in Hood River. A Sno-Park permit is required from November through April at designated trailheads and ski-area lots. The rest of the state starts with Oregon.