OR/WA/ID/MT camping fly in this spring?

dstollery

Climbing to Cruise
While I appreciate we are not going to win any STOL competitions any interest in a camping fly in this spring? Im in oregon and would love a reason to get my babygirl out and moving. It also gives me something to look forward to. So lets get the creative juices going any lines on location or what your thoughts would be?
 
I camped in Idaho once on the recommendation of a BAC member.  Canavaugh Bay (66S) is on Priest Lake about 20 NW of Sandpoint.  The camp ground is attended in the summer and they have a couple of fairly crude small cabins you can use.  The camp sites in the trees are OK, but I found none that was level without lots of tree roots.  I chose to camp on level ground near another airplane close to the attended facility cabin.  There is complementary hot coffee early in the morning, restrooms, showers and a lounge.  At the end of the runway is a motel/restaurant that I'd probably stay at if I went again. 

The runway elevation is 2454 ft and is 3100 ft of grass and is uphill.  There is no line of sight between runway ends.  All landings are up hill (R15) and all takeoffs are down hill (R33). Traffic for R15 is right. The runway is fairly bumpy but my Sierra handled it OK.   The terrain rises enough that I don't think a Mouse could make a go-around once over the fence.  I wouldn't try it in my Sierra.  So keep your speed down during the approach. There is the lake with the motel/restaurant and marina just at the far end of runway 33.  So, you can fish and probably rent a boat. There may be other activities, but I was only staying over night and didn't look into it.  As the majority of the camp sites are in the trees, depending on the fire conditions you may not be able to have a camp fire.  So, I'd pack a camp stove in if you plan to cook.  I went in there after the Portland BAC Fest and the morning was pretty nippy.  I think the airport and camp ground is maintained by the Idaho State Pilots Association.  There may be a website for more information.  There is also a seaplane base close by.  AirNav shows the airport managers number as (208) 334-8775.

Marty Vanover
Tucson, AZ – KAVQ

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Where I have landed a Baby Beech
 
A lot of the state owned airports in WA and OR allow camping on the field. And some local, small Port owned do as well. KORS is owned by the local Port District. It allows camping, charges less then $10 per night and has showers, loaner car, etc.
We've plane/camped at Stehekin, Tonasket, Packwood and Manzanita. All were good, though the state park at Manzanita deserves special mention. It's a campers dream. Pacific Ocean 1/2 mile from the landing strip, standard park camping facilities, Nehalem Bay right off the end of the strip and town is about 1 1/2 mile walk. No loaner car though.
On our list still to do are: Seku and Cavanaugh Bay (definitely allow camping) and Westport, Ce Elum, Gran Coulee, Colville, , etc... that have camping nearby.
 
On your "To-Do" list, do you know that all of those airports allow camping? If so, I will add them to my spreadsheet.

 

Jack Becker said
A lot of the state owned airports in WA and OR allow camping on the field. And some local, small Port owned do as well. KORS is owned by the local Port District. It allows camping, charges less then $10 per night and has showers, loaner car, etc.

We've plane/camped at Stehekin, Tonasket, Packwood and Manzanita. All were good, though the state park at Manzanita deserves special mention. It's a campers dream. Pacific Ocean 1/2 mile from the landing strip, standard park camping facilities, Nehalem Bay right off the end of the strip and town is about 1 1/2 mile walk. No loaner car though.

On our list still to do are: Seku, Westport, Ce Elum, Gran Coulee, Colville, Cavanaugh Bay, etc...


  
 
As mentioned before, the Recreational Aviation Foundation www.theraf.org is a great resource for this type of thing. Being able to camp at Ryan Field (2MT1) is worth the price of admission (which is a voluntary donation of any or even no amount) In the next month or two, the EAA is going to publish my spreadsheet listing places all across the country that are open to camping so look for that in an upcoming issue of their magazine. I'm not going to make it this year but I hope to make it out to MT and ID next year for some airplane camping myself.
 
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