Tall firs close in around the Zigzag and Sandy rivers at Welches, low in the forest under Mount Hood. Climb US-26 and the trees thin until the mountain fills the windshield, well before Government Camp and the ski slopes of Timberline and Skibowl above it. Every one of those mountain days ends back under the same trees in Welches, and that easy return is most of the case for bringing a motorhome or a trailer here.
The big day goes all the way around. OR-35 climbs the east side past Mt. Hood Meadows, crosses the White River bridge above an ash-gray canyon, and runs down through the Fruit Loop orchards into Hood River. It's a full day of stops, and at the end of it the rig is still set up in Welches with the power on.
That base is Mt Hood Village RV Resort, with 382 sites in Welches and RV sites on electric, water and cable TV. Lock the site in before you book the rig, since the site decides your hookups and the size of rig the week can use. Many of the trailers listed around Portland come from owners who deliver and set them up at the pad, listing by listing, and the resort reservation stays yours to make.
Trillium Lake has the reflection, the whole peak doubled in still water on a calm morning, and it's worth working into a mountain day. Its campground limits vehicles to 40 feet and has no hookups, as of September 2026. For two people chasing Trillium, Hood River and the ski areas, a campervan fits that trip better, and the Mount Hood campervan page lays it out.
Strung together, the week makes a loop. The first nights go to Welches and the mountain days, then the rig heads up to Timothy Lake for a dry stretch on the water. From there OR-35 and Hood River lead around to Lost Lake on the north side, and a last night back in Welches puts the rig on hookups again before home.
Timothy Lake, a dry week on the water
Evenings at Timothy Lake end on the dock, with alpenglow on Mount Hood across the water and the kokanee and trout rods put away for the night. Portland General Electric runs nine campgrounds and more than 250 sites around the shore, including Hoodview, Gone Creek and Pine Point, and none of them have electricity or hookups. This is the parked part of the week, a site near the water and a few days of fishing with nowhere to drive. The camps open the Friday before Memorial Day and close in late September, with Hoodview open through the last weekend of the month.
Timothy also has no water fill station, so fill the fresh tank on the last hookup night in Welches before you head up. Keep an eye on the holding tanks across the dry nights and plan the run so they last until Lost Lake.
Lost Lake, at the end of the road on the north side
Lost Lake Road leaves OR-281 and runs 13 miles through the forest before it ends at the water, and from the shore Mount Hood fills the far side of the lake. It's the north side's lake night, a summer stay that slots in after the day through Hood River. The resort's 148 campsites have no electrical hookups, but spaces in the D loop take an RV up to 40 feet, and there's an RV dump and fill, which resets the tanks after the dry run at Timothy.