Back in WA for a wedding and the kids and I HAVE to visit La Wis Wis!! We moved to NC in 2018 and…read moreNOTHING comes close to the beauty of this campground!

In August 2019, our family stopped by La Wis Wis Campground, which is about 4 miles east of…read morePackwood, WA on U.S. Route 12. We were searching for the Blue Hole Swimming Area, based on a spectacular picture I found in a Washington state travel magazine. Inside La Wis Wis Campground, the blue swimming hole has a cliff where bold teenagers can jump into the deep, glacially cold water below. The campground is somewhat difficult to find, but once you enter the complex, it's best to ask campers where the Blue Hole Swimming Area is located. When we arrived, the rocky area on the beach felt a bit painful on the feet - if you have water slippers, it might be more comfortable. The river is pristine but frigid (the water comes from a glacier) and has a pretty indigo (light aqua color) from above. My 14 year old son and 12 year old son jumped from the cliff into the blue swimming hole and were cheered by.a crowd of families on the opposite shore! This is a fun and memorable activity if you're visiting Mt. Rainier National Park and would like to do something fun on a hot afternoon with teenage kids. But it's not for the faint of heart. We stayed for about 45 minutes before continuing on to Packwood.

What a great family friendly campground. Water and electric hookups only, but the onsite bathrooms…read moreand showers were nice and well kept. They are located in a remote area, so there is no cell service, and wifi is only available right by the office, but they do have a great selection of loaner DVDs, which kept my hubby . They have a gathering space with movies and popcorn, an onsite store. They even had a great DJ on Saturday night.

Admittedly, we have not done a lot of camping at campgrounds like this one, in fact we haven't done…read morea lot of camping at all. That said, this is the sort of place that we want to go camping all the time now! We're definitely not go out in the woods and sleep on a camping pad under the stars type people. We're more camp where we can see the car and have a bathroom around type people. This definitely trends towards the latter. This little campground is about 17 miles past Bron Yr Aur in Naches and is an absolute gem of a spot. Upon checking in, you find they have a small store with plenty of food and beverage options. They have spots for tent camping, cabins with beds, and plenty of RV parking. We went up here for a friends birthday weekend and opted for one of the small cabins. It was named "mamas place "and was lovely. The cabins are newly renovated and have small kitchenette's, a nice TV, And most importantly were warm! The two that we saw in so I did not have bathrooms, but there is a shared central bathroom and shower house that's close to everything, and is also heated! On the grounds, they have a small beach area where the kids could go throw rocks in the River and during the summertime everyone is able to get into the water to cool off. They have tons of play equipment for kids to run around and play on, some awesome area for people to ride 4 x 4's if they brought them, and they even have a meadow type area where they hold weddings. It's incredibly picturesque with the river in the background and the cliffs behind it. Go out there at night and check out what they called the fire flies - a bunch of lights set up in the meadow the dance on the trees. It's pretty awesome! You are just close enough to be able to run into town for something you forgot, but also far enough away that your cell phone isn't going off all the time because the reception is bad. This is actually about as close to perfect spot as we've been, and we're really excited to go back!

Absolutely loved this campground and are so happy we made this our home base for the trip!…read more These campsites are decently big (we just had a two-person tent and a compact car), and the area was relatively quiet outside of quiet hours. The entire time just felt calm and peaceful. The surrounding forest is beautiful, and there are some good trails to be found here. The Ohanapecosh Visitor Center is also here, so you'll have access to rangers and free WiFi to plan your day and get your maps sorted. Check ahead of time to see if they are allowing campfires - there is currently a campfire ban, so we made sure to bring our portable stove to cook. Some sites are first come-first serve, others can be reserved in advance. Definitely plan ahead and check out their website. Clean bathrooms, but there are no showers at this campground. Great choice for a campsite in Mt Rainier!

One of the best campsites I've stayed at. I love this place so much. I prefer it over cougar rock…read more Lots of trees and so green and pretty with a river right next to you and an amazing hike. We plan to come back next year and stay at this campground

Great quiet place. There's a lot of things around walking distance (all within a couple min walk)…read more Also has great showers bathrooms and laundry ($1.75 per load). Tent lot was $10 per person per night. There's so much to do here and so many hikes and beautiful views. Highly recommend. Coffee/breakfast near by Brewery across the campsite Gas station Grocery store Gift shop Visitors center

We were RV newbies in a 29 ft motorhome. Staff was friendly, restrooms were clean, spot was level &…read morehad a fire-pit, full working hook-ups at a reasonable price. We arrived just as the annual flea market/fair thingy was ending, and were told that it was an occasion that many plan for each year. Really, I loved the little town. We took a walk and saw some elk wandering the neighborhood, circled back and stopped for yummy pizza, woke up in the morning and walked 5 minutes over to an excellent coffee shop with free wi-fi. Rumor has it you can see Mt Rainier on a clear day. I'm planning to go back and stay longer!

There are a few key things I love about this campground:…read more-First, it's only about an hour away from Seattle, making for a nice easy and quick drive to go from the city to beautiful PNW forest -It's literally RIGHT at the trailhead to the Franklin Falls hike, which is a gorgeous and easy hike following falls and river the whole way up to an incredible set of falls at the end! -the campsite has river access and nice tree cover, so even on a stifling summer day, you will stay cooler and have access to swimming My only knocks against it: -you can hear freeway noise from the campsites, so it's not silent at night -bathrooms are kinda gross, but probably expected for park bathroom. They are lit and better than just a porta-potti We will continue to book this campsite year-after-year for its convenience and proximity to gorgeous pnw rivers for swimming in summer. Def recommend for busy families who want to go camping but a crazy long drive is too much.

First time camping here for 2 nights, and we were at site #33. It's an easy camp site outside of…read moreSeattle, really easy to get to from the freeway too. Camp host was friendly and easy to check in; they also sell firewood. The grounds have a mix of "first come, first serve" camp sites as well as sites that you can reserve as well. Our campsite was nice with a place to pitch your tent, an electrical hook up, a picnic table, park BBQ grills, and a fire ring. The fire ring even had a metal grill on it that you could swing above the fire, in case you wanted to try cooking anything on it. We were even next to the potable drinking water. I recommend checking the website or asking about the different amenities of the camp site, because not all of them had BBQ grills or electric hook ups from what I saw. Even in the hot summers in Seattle, it still gets chilly at night so recommend layering up once the sun goes down! The best part of the campsite is that you don't have to fight for parking to access some of the best trails in North Bend. One goes to Franklin Falls and is an easy hike to get up close to the falls. There are stops along the way to explore the creek. The other goes to the Denny Creek with a smaller water falls, but they also have natural rock water slides that kids like to go down on. Both hikes are easily accessible from the camp site, so there's quite a bit to do in the area if you're just doing a 1 or 2 night trip. There are a few cons - I do wish folks would pick up after their dogs though... or at least move the poop with a stick to the side. When I first inspected the area around the camp site, I noticed a lot of dog poop that I had to move to the side with a stick. Overall bathrooms were clean and are flush toilets. No showers though, but if you're camping overnight it shouldn't be a big deal. NO SOAP - we brought our own. I did get annoyed because some folks would leave the bathroom door open at night, but this would cause lots of moths to drop dead around the sink from hitting the light. It was really gross walking in the morning after and seeing dead moths around the sink. My biggest gripe with the campsite is the freeway noise... it's surprisingly loud at night! My idea of camping is to just hear the wilderness - I really underestimated how loud the highway can be. If you can get a camp site closer to the creek or one of the group campsites, I think the creek will wash out some of the highway noise. Overall I'd give it 3.5 stars, but bumping it to 4 stars because the accessibility to hikes and overall convenience is a big plus.

Merrill Lake Campground is a pretty awesome spot. Awesome enough that I honestly hemmed and hawed…read moreover whether to even add it to Yelp. Although my better Yelp humanitarian judgment has won out here, I still hope you read this, enjoy it, and camp somewhere else. Why? This little campground only has about 9 sites. It's free but you need a discovery pass. There is a camp host and there are surprisingly clean pit toilets on-site, but no potable water. The sites fill up fast in the summer time, but have a 3-day limit that's enforced by the friendly but vigilant camp host. I don't want it to fill up even faster now that I'm sharing this, since I do plan to hit this spot at least one more time before summer is over. There are no reservations (first-come, first-served) and the campsites are designed to work for larger groups - some of them could easily fit 7-10 tents. Each site is spaced decently well away from the others, and offers a picnic table, fire ring and places to pitch. The sites don't really offer views of the lake, they're set back in the trees, but there's plenty of shade Not too dusty, but some sites are heavy with gravel. While it's car camping, you don't drive right in to your site but park in a common lot, then walk in (the farthest you'll have to walk is about 50 yards). So no car noise up close to your site. This little campground sits just by Merrill Lake, a nice smaller lake that does not (thankfully) allow motorized boats and fishing is restricted to fly only, catch + release. For these reasons the water is calmer, cleaner, and dotted with fly fishermen and specific times of the day. At the mid-July mark the lake was warm and clear... perfect for swimming and canoeing. There are some excellent trout holes around the edges of the lake, however I'm not a fly fisherman and don't believe in torturing anything I'm not able to then eat (so catch + release is not for me). However I can see how this would be an attractive spot for a fly fisherman. This campsite is a great place to get away from PDX. Only about 1h 35m in no traffic, and the drive (especially if you come up the 503) is a nice one. Very pastoral, windy road. Get out of your house this summer and sleep under the stars. Just do it at some other campsite since this one is mine.

We stayed for two nights-three days last weekend for my niece's birthday. We usually stay at a…read morecampsite at Lake Berryessa in California, but most of my family now lives in Vancouver so we opted for somewhere near there. Plus, the lakes in California don't even amount to the lakes in Washington/Oregon. My parents went to Merrill Lake Campground on Thursday to secure us a spot which was first come first serve. They managed to get a campsite (#4) that had a direct path to the lake (not the day use where most of the guests would walk to)! It was really big, the only downside was the hill which isn't ideal with little kiddos. Also, that we couldn't have a campfire due to Washington's high alert for fires. It just wasn't the same. You do need a discovery pass which we got at a store that was twelve minutes from the campsite- Lakeside Deli. It was $11 for a day use. The scenery was amazing. It wasn't hot at all where the campsite was. It was surrounded by trees. The water was so clear and clean. The weather was perfect once we made it out of the campsite, through the trail, and to shore. Oh god, and the drive. The drive up the mountain was the scariest I've ever seen. It was beautiful, but so scary. It was a great stay (for free at that!). I recommend this lake!

My coworkers have been raving about this campground for years and I was never able to snag a…read morereservation. Even when we went camping at Lake Easton State Park nearby, we tried to come visit the common area at the beach but every time we tried, this place was full and we could not even enter the campground. Lake Kachess has always been an unobtainable dream for us for years, partly because of my lack of planning as online reservation system is available for this site, although I am telling my kids that it is only because this place is so popular that we had not been able to check it out. So, for the past two years, we had been coming to Lake Kachess, getting rejected at the front gate, and still parking near the beach about 0.5 miles before reaching the front gate. We would go stand up paddle-boarding for a couple of hours and we would go to Lake Easton State Park to go to the bathroom and finish our day there. We loved paddle boarding in Lake Kachess so much that I promised my kids we will camp here someday. In this past summer in 2022, I was finally able to snag a reservation for 2 nights. Our camping spot was close to the non-motorized boat launch area. The campsite was spacious, clean, and well-maintained. It was also close to the vault toilets. We have traditionally and intentionally been camping at state parks for their toilet and shower facilities. However, we were aware that Lake Kachess campground was not part of the state park system and does not have nice toilets and showers. So, our expectation of the toilet facilities was expectedly low. Our challenge, however, was dealing with the waste management truck sucking or removing the waste from the vault toilets every morning around 0700. It was very loud and the resulting aroma seemed to have filled the entire Washington state. It was pretty awful but when my kids and I talked about it, we accepted it as part of this camping experience and being in the wilderness. We came here mostly for stand up paddle boarding so with every chance we got, we headed to the beach. We used the non-motorized boat launch area and it was wonderful. In the morning when there are no boats around in the lake, the water was crystal clear and we could see a lot of fish. It was absolutely beautiful. The green trees everywhere contrast really well with the blue sky and everything was serene and breathtaking. The water was cold but we still went into the water to escape the summer heat. It was refreshing and we felt like we became part of the beautiful scenery. Absolutely loved paddle boarding here.

very nice and beautiful. Last year 2024 water was very dry, but still found a spot across the way…read moreto enjoy the water with families.

It was very beautiful however I'm onto you people up there.... There is some weird stuff going on…read moreup towards there. Things that are off about activities people were doing. And a SINGLE footstep larger then a humans step heard outside my tent and a bunch of little things moving outside at night.... I was dying inside as a single mom out there alone! Freakin scary as hell. It's very beautiful there but something also gave me the feeling like someone was watching.

This was our first camping experience!…read more We had heard there were some spots where you could just drive in and see if there was some camping space available, but since this was our first time we didn't really want to risk it and reseved spot 044 online through recreation.gov. When we got there our spot was ready to go! It was a great area right next to the creek so we had some amazing soothing sounds at night, the very clean restrooms were just a 3 minute walk away, and we had some lovely neighbors. One of the main things for us was: we needed working toilets, water, and a dog-friendly space. Salmon la Sac was a great fit in all of these areas. The one thing I'll say is our spot (044) was hit HARD by the sun most of the day, and since we went there in early August it got real hot real fast. The guys who were camping right next to us (I believe they must've been either 042 or 046) had literally the best spot since it still had the creek right in front of them, but they also were in a shaded area, so if you go there, try to get that one!

Very nice facilities and staff is very friendly and informative. I will definitely recommend and…read morereturn for another visit i just need to choose a day when the weather co-operates better.it was a little chilly and over cast

Nude Campground in Issiqiah WA, hiking trails, BBQs, nude dancing, swinging and nude camping events…read moreand activities this Summer!!

If you're a tree enthusiast such as myself, you will probably have the Patriarchs on your list of…read morestops while visiting Rainier. We couldn't get to it when visiting, as the road over from the SW entrance was closed already. So we actually went out and around to the SE entrance to take in the Grove and Silver Falls...worth it. Not far past the entrance you'll come to the Grove parking lot, restrooms included. I didn't have much time, so I went at quite a clip down the path, and a pretty cool path it was. You get to walk under the canopy of the beautiful forest along the river for a while...then you come to a verrrry wobbly suspension bridge to cross the river and enter the realm of the Patriarchs. It was pretty muddy when I was there, so I had to bob and weave from the bridge until I reached the boardwalk. From there you just let the boardwalk lead you as you wind through the Patriarchs, with lots of signs along the way to educate you as you take them in. A beautiful and short hike...I'm glad I went out of the way to see the big guys in person.

Eh, well, Grove of the Patriarchs was my least favorite activity while exploring Mount Rainier…read moreNational Park. I figured walking around and being surrounded by majestically tall trees would be worthwhile, but for me...this area fell flat. But...it could just be the fact that I have visited Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks featuring some of the tallest trees in the world over there in California even including Redwood National Park and some statuesque trees there also. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this Grove of the Patriarchs didn't impress me so much. Some details I'd like to mention about Grove of the Patriarchs for those tourists possibly considering this a spot to include within Mount Rainier... - It's a very simple 1.5 mile round trip walk with zero elevation gain. So...it'll basically take you no time to explore and browse through the forest. Maybe I needed an hour while I was there. - It's just fine for families as you walk along a boardwalk throughout. - The trailhead is located right in between the two main sections and most popular areas of Mount Rainier. It sits about 35 miles from the Paradise section and about 35 miles from the Sunrise section. That's why I figured this trail could be worthwhile as it'd give me an opportunity to break up the drive between Paradise and Sunrise. And for those who care...I explored all of Paradise, came here to Grove of the Patriarchs in early morning and then continued onto Sunrise. One thing...when I came here in early morning, the sun was yet to fully rise and there were plenty of dark shadows and overall a dim atmosphere which made my photography not the greatest. I believe you'd be better served to come here (if you choose to) in midday. Another disappointing aspect about this Grove of the Patriarchs is that it's very hidden along the road. Granted it's a simple roadside stop, but there was no sign stating "Grove of the Patriarchs"! I ended up passing it by while driving and had to ask a Park Ranger at an entrance station where the trailhead was. I ultimately I had to turn around and backtrack. Now...the real sign for Grove of the Patriarchs from the road will say....Eastside Trail! Yes this Eastside Trail is the alter name for Grove of the Patriarchs. Keep that in mind as I have no clue why it's called Eastside Trail. Only makes it confusing for tourists. While getting started on the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail you'll first encounter a small suspension bridge which adds a little fun element to the trek as you enter the heart of the forest. Also along the way there'll be a posted sign describing the trail including a small map of the path. After crossing over the suspension bridge, there'll be a sign saying Loop Trail. Since the boardwalk circles around in a loop...you can head in either direction left or right. It makes no difference. In the end you'll finish where you started. Finally, my biggest issue was just the Patriarchs or giant trees or whatever you may call them...they weren't so impressive to me. I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt that this trail would be scenic enough and special for me. But unfortunately I left unfulfilled after completing the 1.5 miles. I believe my real issue or key to being here at Mount Rainier is of course....Mount Rainier itself. Obviously it's the focal point for everything you do. The second most exciting part about Mount Rainier are the waterfalls. There's some incredible, and I mean incredible hikes and roadside stops to witness some of the best waterfalls around, including my favorite...Comet Falls! Yes Comet Falls was unlike anything I had seen until I encountered Multnomah Falls on the Oregon/Washington border, lol. But here at Grove of the Patriarchs I figured having a chance to walk around some massive trees would add a different element to my Mount Rainier experience. Getting to immerse myself in a unique setting and terrain sounded pretty amazing. But I never truly connected to it overall. Still...with all the incredible hiking opportunities at the Paradise and Sunrise sections of Mount Rainier...you can't go wrong with almost anything you do at this Top 10 national park (in my opinion). Of course...how typical is it that here I am writing about my least impressive attraction during my 4 day visit. It's okay I just wanted to give anyone out there a suggestion that if you come here to Grove of the Patriarchs Trail...maybe just temper your expectations.