Camping with 25 Village Home families at Fort Stevens State Park!
August 16 – 19, 2018
Fort Stevens, Hammond Oregon
This is the highlight of the year for many Village Home kids. Imagine rolling out of your sleeping bag, and jumping on your bike with new and old friends to “ride the loop” before breakfast. Pretty much a dream to most kids! Don’t miss this opportunity for your family!
More details about the trip are here, but here are some highlights for you:
Thursday night: Welcome gourmet potluck (arrive by 4pm please!)
Friday: Astoria Exploration, including the Maritime Museum and the Trolley. We will end our day at the pool. (extra fees apply)
Saturday: Shipwreck Exploration, Beach walk, hiking, biking. At the end of the day we will have a potluck dinner and campfire.
All of the sites have electricity and water. We do not have any yurt sites (because of our Thursday arrival), but all of sites accommodate RVs. The park has flush toilets, showers, and Junior Ranger programs. In addition to the activities noted above, we encourage families to host activities for those who are interested to enjoy together.
About Fort Stevens:
Fort Stevens was once the primary military defense installation in the three-fort, Harbor Defense System at the mouth of the Columbia River (along with Forts Canby and Columbia in Washington). The fort saw service for 84 years, from the Civil War to World War II. Today, Fort Stevens has grown into a 4,300 acre park offering exploration of history, nature, and many recreational opportunities. Camping, beach-combing, freshwater lake swimming, trails, wildlife viewing, a historic shipwreck, and a historic military fort make Fort Stevens a uniquely diverse park. The park also has a network of nine miles of paved bicycle trails and six miles of hiking trails that allow for exploring a variety of habitats including spruce and hemlock forests, wetlands, dunes, and shore pine areas. Coffenbury Lake has two swimming areas, a picnic area, restrooms, and a boat ramp. Two smaller neighboring lakes are great for fishing and canoeing. Throughout the year, you can enjoy displays ranging from the Civil War to World War II at the military museum and information center, visit the only Civil War era earthen fort on the west coast, or explore the many turn-of-the-century, concrete coast artillery gun batteries. During the summer, take a tour underground through a rare gun battery that also served as a World War II command center, ride in the back of a period military transport truck and see the fortifications from a whole new perspective, or get a feel for what the inside of a military jail was like as you walk through one of the last brick constructed guard houses in the country.