We are long time KOA users and this was our first trip to this particular one. We camped in a trailer with full hook ups. Stay was 7 days.
Here's the good stuff:
The sites are huge. All pull through with enough room for a long trailer, long truck, and a boat. Easily. I had read reviews saying tires could sink in the grass, but maybe they were old as all the sites I could see were nicely graveled. Almost level right when I parked. Grass on both sides, and plenty of room between sites for awnings, slide outs, screen tents, etc. Never felt too close. Fire pits are large truck/tractor rims and worked nicely. Staff cleaned them out completely between visitors. Picnic table was a standard wood table in good condition.
Bathrooms were kept very clean, hot water was always available, and never ran out of supplies. Game room was pretty neat. Just a couple of video games and a pool table, but they supplied family style board games to use free of charge. Laundry room was clean, cheap, and functional (dryers get a tad too hot though, if you're worried about your clothes be careful).
The store is small but well stocked and the coffee is pretty good.
The staff is excellent. Extremely friendly and accommodating. I had some specialty allergy medication that missed delivery to my house. The company was supposed to call this KOA to verify it was ok to deliver to the campground. They never did. When I talked to the staff at the desk about it, he said it was absolutely no problem. The next day, he actually received the package for me and walked it to my campsite. The staff here has a way of always being available to you without seeming to always be in your space. I can't say enough good things about them.
Playground is off in its own area away from camp sites. So you'll have to go with little ones. They could use some benches for adults to sit on while watching their kids, but otherwise it's a nice little park. Big spacious grass area, sand "boat" and swing set. Swing set is getting old, but I didn't feel it was unsafe at all.
RV hook ups were fine. I only had 30 amp. Since 30 is the most used, a lot of campgrounds' 30 amp outlets are worn out due to campers not knowing what they're doing. Not these. They appeared to either be relatively new, or well taken care of. No power surges or dips were noticed in 7 days of heavy use. Campground filled to capacity during the weekend. Water pressure was great and the water is of good quality/taste. Standard sewage connection, no problems there. There was cable hook ups, but I did not use them, so not sure about that.
WiFi is actually pretty good for a campground. You can actually stream a movie at night with maybe occasional buffering IF you're close to the office. More than 75 yards away and I doubt it would work. But that's not bad for a campground (cell service was very spotty for ATT).
The campground itself is located in a decent area. It's right off the freeway, but I didn't seem to notice it too often. Occasional big loud truck, but not what I'd call noisy. It's centrally located between Long Beach and the bridge to Astoria Or. Those being the two biggest tourist destinations, that was a big plus. The campground seems to also be popular with those who have boats and fish the river. I'd say it's about 10 minutes to Long Beach and maybe 15 to Astoria. Still gotta drive everywhere, this isn't a walk to the beach location..
Kabins. They are typical KOA Kabins with two exceptions. One, they have screen doors. That's nice due to this area being known for mosquitos. Two, the area where the fire pit is has a 3/4 surround, tall fence around it. This gives you some sort of privacy, but doesn't seem to close you off from the rest of the campground. This is especially nice here as the Kabins are located behind a row of RV spots. So you don't have to look at the rear end of rigs while you enjoy the fire.
Now the not so good stuff:
Being long time KOAers, we're kinda used to the standard amenities that most KOAs have. This one has just what I listed above. There's no community kitchen, no bike rental, NO POOL, no movie or ice cream social. These are things that KOA people will understand that it's odd to not have. The thing that most campers would find odd, is there is no BBQ/grill at the campsites. Not even on the fire ring. That's bad. We had to go buy a small BBQ to use while there.
Bathrooms. There's one. This is a large campground that I would have expected to have two or even three bathrooms. It could get crowded with only three showers or stalls. They're great at keeping them clean, but they could have used more facilities. I mentioned the water was always hot, that's true, but two of the three showers would only do hot. Very hot. The shower handles need to be updated/fixed to work properly.
Tents. I saw several people using the tent sites. I'm still a big tent camper, and I probably wouldn't have wanted to use this place for that. They're actually closer to the freeway. Sites looked big, but being 25 yards off a freeway is not what most tent campers want.
The store. It's fine for snacks and such. But if you're used to KOAs, you'd expect more in the way of RV and camping supplies you may have forgotten. This one does not have that. Nothing in the way of real food either. So come prepared or be prepared to shop in town.
Overall, this is a great campground. Especially if you just need a base camp to the area. If you desire to just camp and hang around the campsite, it may not be the one for you.
As for the Long Beach area, I loved it. It's a very touristy area, but you can actually fill most of your days with free stuff. The beach, parks, lighthouses, museums (absolutely lived Marsh's Free Museum).
If you like to eat, you'll love this area. Many great restaurants. Two most notable were The Lost Roo and The Hungry Harbor. The Roo is a big sports bar type atmosphere, pretty darn good prices, and excellent food. Best food on the Peninsula. The Hungry Harbor is centrally located downtown, about as cheap as you'll find there, and great burgers and fish and chips.
Other than that, downtown is fun as all get out. Lots of fun shops, an amusement park, and an arcade. The amusement park is very small and old. But we loved it. Wasn't too expensive and the kids had a great time. Didn't take long as the only rides currently operating were the carousel, tilt 'o whirl, and bumber cars. But it's worth it.
Across the bridge is Astoria and Warrenton Oregon. Astoria has lots of fun things to do and see. Museums and such. The Goonies house and the school from Kindergarten Cop are there. Took all of 5 minutes to see both, but was a funny side trip that I felt was worth it. It's free. Warrenton has just about everything you could possibly need in terms of stores and service if you have equipment issues (like buying a BBQ).
Anyway, hope this may help someone planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest. It's a great area. After 7 days, I feel like we could have spent another week easily as there were many other parks and attractions we didn't see.
