Resort at Skamania Coves

A Train Runs Through It

Boy howdy is this place a lovely sight to behold! We stayed in spot 1 in our 22 foot RV trailer. The spots are wide, easy to back into, and feature a nicely maintained grassy area on either side along with a picnic table. The view of the river from many of the RV spots is to die for. To say that a river runs through the park is only a slight exaggeration. The river is not more than 1000 feet away from the RV spots.

Overall, the grounds are well-maintained; if staying in the spots nearest the laundry room, the wifi is as consistently available as one can expect of public wifi; and the hosts are amiable and courteous and available when needed, while staying out of one's hair when not. The park offers easy access to the river and is, itself, situated not far from the center of the town of Stevenson where one can pop into the grocery or hardware store to pick up something they might have forgotten to pack. It's almost idyllic. Almost.

The RV park is sandwiched between a busy highway (and I do mean *busy*) and a BUSY railroad track. Both the highway and the train track couldn't be more than 250 feet away the RV spots. The non-stop 18-wheel truck commute noise starts around 5am, daily. It's loud; so loud that, as one might expect, it rumbles the walls of an RV. Surprisingly, the highway noise pales in comparison to the train noise. It's incessant, it's accompanied by the ear-splitting blare of each train's horn, and it goes on, seemingly endlessly. Well, it goes on for the number of train cars per train that pass by, so maybe that's 50 cars or so, give or take. I had no idea that so many trains make their way from Point A to Point B in the wee hours of the night, but it turns out to be true. Not long after one train has blazed a path through an unsurprisingly fitful night's sleep, another one follows suit to keep the promise of sleep at bay and always out of reach. Once night yields to dawn, the trucks take over the noise-making shift and what could have been an idyllic, peaceful time at a lovely RV park, is, instead, a painfully loud and sleep-deprived experience.

It goes on like this, day after day.

By the way, Skamania Coves makes no mention of the fact that, just like the movie "A River Runs Through It", a train runs straight through their property... and then another... and then another... Oh look, here comes another!

We had planned to spend 7 days here but left after 2. The host and owner *refused* to give us a partial refund.

So unless you have an endless supply of industrial strength earplugs, I'd recommend against the lovely but clamorous Resort at Skamania Coves.