CAMP 18
By guest reviewer, Tammy Bowers
Nestled in the Oregon coast mountain range on highway 26 is a massive log cabin named Camp 18. It’s not a KOA Campground or a place to send the kids for a week in the summer. No, it’s a logging museum and restaurant that serves man food—big portions at fairly reasonable prices. Just 58 miles west of Portland in Elsie, you’ll find the rare sight of ancient, giant logging equipment with strange names like steam donkey, double-bitted bandsaw, and a railroad skeleton log car. Camp 18 boasts that its 85-foot ridgepole is the largest in the United States.
Sprawled amongst these strange creatures is a beautiful log cabin, although cabin isn’t exactly the right word for this two-story restaurant complete with event room capable of hosting 150 people. Camp 18 displays a huge elk antler chandelier, life size chainsaw-carved bear and other critters, and a stuffed mountain lion. You can even sit at a dining room table made from a single transverse stump cut. The table is gorgeous and shinned to perfection. Camp 18 has been rightly featured in travel magazines. Camp 18 Logging Museum & Restaurant and is a fun pit stop to or from the beach.
So, is the food any good? Well, the restaurant serves interesting menu items, such as a rainbow trout dinner for $12.99, stuffed pork chop with sage and smothered in gravy for $17.99. Their signature steak is called the Lumberjack steak and is a huge 18-oz choice porterhouse steak seasoned with mesquite, charbroiled, and topped with sautéed mushrooms. It will run you $23.99, which sounds like a lot, but remember it’s an 18-oz steak. That’s huge!
Their lunch menu offers a variety of burgers and sandwiches, including corned beef and sauerkraut for $7.99. Their buns are so big you can’t see the lettuce, pickles, cheese, meat, and onions hiding underneath. During my visit, I had the cheeseburger, which came with big fat steak fries. The presentation was good, and the burger was all right, but nothing special. I was super excited to try the golden brown steak fries. As a French fry connoisseur, I am always searching for excellent fries. Unfortunately, the search continues. These fries were cold and a limp. They looked pretty, but that is were the appeal ended.
I wish I had been there for breakfast instead of lunch. Camp 18 is famous for their homemade cinnamon rolls. A single roll is $4.79 and is super big. Huge, even! I mean they almost fill up a whole dinner plate. Click on the link below and check out the picture at the bottom of Camp 18's website. Despite the bad fries, I was so full after the big burger (again—huge portions) I was not able to try their famous Marion berry cobbler or deep-dish apple crisp for only $3.99. I should have gotten dessert to go. What was I thinking? It’s too far to travel to lay up.
Camp 18 Logging Museum & Restaurant is located at 42362 Highway 26, Elsie, Oregon 97138. The toll free number is (800) 874-1810 and their website is:
http://www.camp18restaurant.com/. Thanks and bon appetit.
