Champoeg State Park

Though it is technically not part of the city, there is a park just outside of Newberg that is too cool not to mention, Champoeg State Park. If you’re looking for another great place to spend a day (or even a week!) Champoeg is a great place to go. It has a recently upgraded Frisbee golf course, a campground, several historic sites, two day-use areas and seemingly endless trails to hike or bike. There are so many things to do here, and on top of it all, it’s absolutely gorgeous!

Located at 8239 Champoeg Road in Northeast St. Paul, Champoeg State Park is roughly only a twelve minute drive from Newberg. To get there you can turn left off of Highway 99 onto North Springbrook Road, on which you will continue down until you reach Highway 219, where you will take another left. Stay on Highway 219 until you see Champoeg Road (which will also be on the left), turn left and continue until you see Champoeg State Park. There is a $5 day-use parking fee, with additional fees possible depending on how long you stay there and what you plan on doing.

My favorite thing to do at Champoeg is hike the trails, because they never stop being interesting. I went on this one once that started down by the dock (Champoeg has a view of the Willamette River too!) and wound through the trees. At times there would be clearings that you could see the river through and that was cool, and it would fork off a couple of times so then I’d have to decide which trail to take. Eventually I ended up looking out onto this amazing meadow with a stream running near it -- so just when I thought the hike couldn’t get better, it did! And that’s how a lot of the hikes are, there is literally adventure around every turn.

If you'd like your visit to be educational as well as beautiful and fun, you can visit several historical sites while at Champoeg. The visitor's center, pioneer mother's cabin and Newell house museums give you a glimpse of what pioneer life was like there.

The campground is cool too. There are hookups for RV’s, so if you aren’t too keen on sleeping in tents you can definitely bring your motorhome, or you can rent a yurt. Each campsite has a somewhat different view too, so you could camp there several times and it still wouldn't be boring.

For information on upcoming events at Champoeg, detailed rates, FAQ and more, you can click here.