Mount Hood Railroad

The boy’s a big fan of trains, as so many little boys are. And while we haven’t yet made the trip on the Mount Hood Railroad — maybe next Christmas for the Polar Express — we did get our fill of big engines out near the mountain this past weekend while camping at Memaloose State Park.

Threaded in between I-84 and the railroad tracks along the south side of the Columbia River a few miles east of Hood River, Memaloose is actually a fairly scenic spot, assuming you get one of the campsites with a commanding river view. But even if you do get a money spot, there’s really no escaping the noise — the constant din of highway traffic to the south, the regular, repeated rumble and roar of trains just one blackberry thicket away. What’s more, there’s another set of train tracks just across the river in Washington, which adds even more railroad action throughout any stay at Memaloose. Some people might find it a little too noisy.

Others, not so much.