Camping at Columbia Airport
Columbia airport has a beautiful camping site, on the property, just for pilots. For a low nightly fee, ($10 in 2021), You may tie down your plane and camp at the airport. The campgrounds have a really nice building with both toilet and shower facilities. The campground is located in a rolling meadow surrounded by trees. It is really nice.
Flying In
If you are flying in, the campsite is on the North side of the turf runway 11/29. It is about a 10 minute walk from the transient parking area in front of the terminal building and is next to the clubhouse which we will be using for the seminars, the Saturday night dinner and the movie.
You may taxi to the site beside the grass runway 11/29, but the taxiway is rough with a random distribution of large boulders (big enough to be easily seen). If you have an aircraft with sturdy landing gear (most certified aircraft), then it is not a problem. Most canard drivers prefer leaving their aircraft on the pavement, in the canard display area, near the terminal building. Having said that, there have been a couple of canard drivers that tied down near the campsite without damaging their nose gear.
If you park in the display area for canards or in the transient parking area in front of the terminal building (non-canards), there are usually people around that can drive you and your gear to the campsite.
Driving In
If you are driving to the Fly-in, here are directions to the camp site:
- When exiting the airport parking lot, turn left onto Parrots Ferry Rd.
- Stay on the Parrots Ferry Rd through Columbia.
- After going through the town, take the 3rd road on the left (N airport Rd).
- Take the 4th Rd. on left (Chile Gulch Rd).
- Enter the gate on left which takes you to campground. It is on the north side of the grass runway 11/29.
Map to campsite. Parrots Ferry Road (E18) is the North/South road which intersects with Columbia airport East/West road.
Earth view of Columbia airport area.