Where to Rent a Vintage Trailer in the Pacific Northwest
Owning a vintage trailer means maintaining a structure with outdated systems and hard-to-find parts, finding a parking spot and understanding trailer hitches. Renting one, on the other hand, means instant retro vibes and no need to operate the dated latch on the water hook-up.
Washington and Oregon have a whole range of places to try out the trailer life, all in locales suited to this unique form of glamping. Note that most but not all have their own bathrooms within the trailer, and bed size can vary widely.
Sou'wester Lodge
Seaview
Though the site has been a vacation spot since 1892—a senator's second home, then a bed and breakfast—the Long Beach–area hotel added mobile home accommodations in the 1970s when the owners' artist friend asked to leave their trailer on the property. Today the lodge has more than a 30 offerings brimming with midcentury kitsch, all a short walk from the beach. This is where to go for classic wood paneling and built-in conversation nooks at a hotel with art programming and a movie theater inside a bus.
Freehand Cellars
Wapato
How does one sample wine without risking a tipsy drive home? Stay next door to the tasting room, like at the Yakima Valley's Freehand, where the parking spot of their silver bullet–style Airstream is also inches from the vineyard. Its patio and hot tub look out on Mount Adams and the rolling agricultural country of Central Washington. The tasting room has a menu of heavy snacks, and the Yakima dining scene is only a short drive away (pre-wine, of course).
The Vintages
Dayton, OR
What is it about wine and trailers? Another pairing sits just outside Oregon's wine center of McMinnville, where 36 different vehicles dot the rural countryside. Expect a cleaned up version of midcentury classics; amenities include an open-air ceramic tub in one and pour-over coffee setups in all of them. One 1958 Oasis trailer is decorated with a charming but mostly subtle cat theme. Despite the individual structures, the bikable streets and outdoor seating areas cultivate a neighborhood vibe.
Ashford Lodge
Ashford
Meet Darla. Yes, the 1955 trailer has a name, which is only fitting considering the depth of personality she fits into small square footage. Inside she has an ice box and vintage dinette, while outside the forested camping spot has a firepit and hammock, and owner Scott Armstrong added three new trailers to the property for summer 2024. Located a few miles outside the Nisqually Entrance to Mount Rainier National Park, the property boasts a real mountain feel—limited wi-fi and hardly any cell service, with hiking trails leading through the evergreens—but Rainier Basecamp Bar and Grill and its pizza ovens are also only a short stroll away.
Hart's Camp
Pacific City, OR
Each rentable trailer at this coastal resort is an Airstream, the row of silver tucked in the back of a larger RV and tent campground across the street from the beach. Pacific City is known for its remove from the busy coastal highway, its giant dune and luxury wellness hotel unbothered by the hectic traffic of other nearby towns. The Airstreams are separated by little fences, but they share amenities like cornhole boards, a putting course, firepits, and an indoor pool with the whole camp.