Valley of the Rogue State Park camping

Last weekend, KP and I broke out the tent for the first time in 2007 at Valley of the Rogue State Park, 15 minutes south of Grants Pass. We decided to head down south for a weekend of wineries and winter steelhead. We've been working on our tent skills, trying to get better at staying warm (KP's main concern) and staying dry (my main problem). I don't get cold. Not one bit. But I hate waking up inside of a wet tent, covered in drops of my nasty condensed breath. Friday night the temp got down into the 40s but we were pretty well off. Didn't sleep a lot, but that's par for the course. Two people stuffed in a tent trying not to knock into each other.

From MattStansberry

I've always had a soft spot for Valley of the Rogue campground after I caught my massive wild steelhead there last October. It's right on the river, right off the highway, easy to set up and use as a base camp. It's pretty much a grassy RV parking lot, so you wouldn't spend a lot of time there if you were looking for a wilderness experience. But this time it was a lot less crowded and the camp seemed a little more charming.

I've entitled the photo below, "RVs in the mist":

From MattStansberry

Both times I've been there the staff has been really nice and the old folks who make up most of the crowd are really low key. Not much more you could ask for: Decent fishing within walking distance, inoffensive retirees, good basecamp for other stuff.

If you're looking for good food nearby, PLEASE check out the Circle J in Grants Pass. Awesome.