Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Colville National Forest

Seems much like a lot of the campgrounds in the Colville National Forest. Really quiet, there was nobody there but us! Vault toilets, picnic tables and fire rings at every site! The wildlife viewing is always nice. Bring binoculars! $9 in the off season and $18 in the regular season. So worth it depending on how many people are there in the summer.

This is a five star campground based on our criteria. Only reason we give it four stars is they are letting the only trees they have for shade die and they are creating a mess. No shade without them. Grounds are largely in disarray. Also washers are top load agitator type. There are many positives though that will bring us back. It is largely a quiet small campground. It is very reasonably priced and is very dog friendly. There are several places to walk the dogs on leash and off within either walking distance or a short drive to the Colville national forest. Management is really friendly and flexible to changing needs. And they do not require payment until you show up. This is a great spot for golfers as well as non golfers. Note the club has pickle ball courts for free use! Great little restaurant and bar on site too with very cheap drinks ($9 Moscow mule!)

This is one of the better looking campgrounds in the area. It sits right on the Pend Oreille River in the Colville National Forest, so fishing is good as well as the great views. The campground was nicely maintained and the host was very pleasurable to chat with. The campground offers drinking water, day use area, boat launch, trash removal, and vault toilets.  Firewood is also sold by the host.

The sites are spacious and well separated. Each includes a fire pit, picnic table and tent pad. The website claims that all sites are accessible for any RV but I noticed a couple that might be difficult for large RV's. 

With the beauty and maintenance comes a price and that is:

$20/single site

$40/double site 

$10/Extra vehicle

$5/Day Use

All in all this place is great but a little pricey for me. I would still highly recommend it to others though as it is a beautiful place to stay, especially iof you have a boat.

Ranger Review: Aftershokz Trekz Air at Douglas Falls Grange Park

Campground Review:

 Wow! Wow! Wow!

First off, a bit about the campground itself. It is owned by the local grange, right next to the Colville National Forest. It is free with a Discover pass. The discover pass is $10 for a day or $30 for a year and needed for a lot of parks in Washington. It is also located just outside of Colville, where you can get anything you need. There is about 8-15 sites. Why don’t I know? Well the campground loop intercepts the day use area, and what is a site, compared to the day use area, we can’t tell. On the main campground loop there is 8 sites. In the day use area, site #9 appears to be the only marked ADA accessible site, though many of the others seem just as accessible. Site #10 and #11 are a slight downhill walk from the parking area. Site 10 does not have a clear parking spot, where all of the other sites do. Site #12 is basically in the parking lot. When we arrived we drove the main loop and there were a few other campers, then we came to the day use area and site #12 had a tent pitched there.  There is a short car road that is a one way access with additional sites #13 #14 and #15, this road was closed, but may open in the future. There were black table cloths on the tables, indicating not to use. All sites have a fire ring, and picnic table. Some have a cute log bench right next to the fire.

There is no garbage service at this campground. Pack it in, pack it out, please, leave no trace. There are vault toilets supplied with plenty of toilet paper, they were very clean and have an air freshener that almost makes you forget you are in a vault toilet! There is a huge field with a backstop for baseball/softball, a covered picnic area, Horseshoes, hiking trails (with the main one being a 1.5 mile nature loop) and the highlight was a gorgeous 60 foot waterfall that you can see from the parking lot or take short walk to. There is also a pretty cool suspension bridge!

I had low expectations of this place, but I was very surprised! We took site #10 which is about 20 feet away from the upper portion of the falls. This site is a short walk from the parking lot, so you do have to walk your gear in.  The only other site in this area is #11 and it is a good distance away. From our site there is a small trail that leads to the main trail which goes to the top of the falls. If you take the main trail from the look out to the right there is access to the bottom of the falls. I listened to the waterfall all night and it was so peaceful and soothing I slept peacefully. The moon light over the falls was amazing, I wish I had my good camera! Did I mention the wildlife? Hawks, deer, super squirrels, Eagles, Chipmunks, Robins, Magpie and more! 

Over all, I hated it, you shouldn’t go there so I can have it ALL to myself! But really, this is a fantastic place to camp. It’s a beautiful piece of land, with so much to see and do. Go, have fun, and thank me later!

Product Review:

Aftershokz Trekz Air- Bone Conduction Headphones.

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, sometimes I have the opportunity to review new products in exchange for an honest review. At this campground I tested Aftershokz Trekz Air- Bone Conduction Headphones. https://aftershokz.com/collections/all/products/trekz-air

These headphones are a wave of the future. Instead of sitting in your ear like most headphones, they sit on your jawbone. They are Bluetooth, so that means wireless! They are super easy to pair and connect with your phone. As with all technology, it is really best to charge them straight out of the box. The colored light on the side of the headphone is red if it is not charged or blue if it’s fully charged. The pads that sit on your jawbone sends vibrations through the bone to your year. They come in sleek colors, and they are so lightweight and comfortable you can forget they are there. The point of these headphones is to be able to hear the outside world around you and still listen to your tunes. This keeps you attentive to other people in the office or, in my case, able to hear your music over roaring waterfalls on the trail.

I had never heard of bone conduction technology before these headphones, and I certainly will remember now. These are funky and fresh. I love them, I love that they stay on my head while on the go, no cords to untangle and get in the way, or earbuds to pop out of my ear while walking. If you are not moving, the vibrations can be a little intense at higher volumes or songs with more bass, it makes it feel a little strange. They have a six hour battery life, and only takes about an hour and a half to charge. I also wish that there was a voice control in these as well so I could continue being hands free and answer the phone, skip songs or pause, at the same time. I hear that it’s in the works though, so I’m willing to wait. Plus, the button controls are easy to use, so it’s not a deal breaker. They come with a great carrying bag, ear plugs (if you don’t want to hear the world around you, you can use the earplugs to intensify to the volume of the Trekz Air.) and a charging cord. They also have a great warranty, return and exchange policy. There also arrived super quickly, I have been able to use them for a few weeks before the review, giving me the opportunity to get used to them and form an opinion.

These are by far the best headphones I have ever had and I don’t think I can go back to earbuds. I would definitely recommend these to anyone!

The drive into this area is absolutely beautiful. Campground is large, with at least 3 loops. The campground itself is very clean. We saw rangers checking up and driving thru at least 6x through out day and evening. There are flush toilets and spigots throughout the loops. Bathrooms had toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

We stayed in loop 3, spot 61. It was smaller compared to other spots. This campground is big so there isn’t a ton of privacy and spots are close together. You can hear pretty much everyone’s conversations around you. Lots of RVs and families with kids. Lots of sites with dogs, so anytime people did walks with their dog, a symphony of barking dogs would start. Bring earplugs.

First night in, mosquitos were absolutely terrible. Literally swirling around us as we put up the tent. Neighbors were loud past midnight, and there was construction noise over night (woke us up around midnight and 2am).

Second night, still had noisy neighbors but these didn’t stay up as late as the ones from previous night. Mosquitos were not as bad. There was no overnight construction noise.

There are some nice hikes nearby, just be sure to plan accordingly as it gets quite warm.

Overall, while the lake was nice, it was not a place for me considering how busy and noisy it was. I did appreciate how well maintained it is though.

Campground Review:

https://www.seattle.gov/light/Boundary/recreation.asp

Usually I would stay away from campgrounds like Boundry Dam Campground, also known as Forebay Recreation Area. A Free Campground from the Seattle City Lights Project. This place was beautiful and I will be back. 

While I didn't realize it until after I had set up camp, site #22 is the best in the campground and also one of three ADA sites. Since there were few others camping, I now see why it was available.They are unmarked and the only thing telling you this is on a board next to the bathrooms, Site 11,13 and 22 were mentioned as ADA on the board, however the entire campground is ADA accessible except the sites 1-4 which are very close together and tent only sites.  The RV sites are also close together.

Site 22 is backed up to the forest, and the most private site in the campground, there is only 1 site next to you and both of these sites are walk in. You park and then carry your gear in. I found this strange for an ADA site. It isn't a far walk and it is very well paved. 

Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. There are large and small day use areas along the river side, unfortunately only sites 1-5 are on the water, the rest have a water view, but its more like a parking lot. 

The bathrooms are updated, very clean, flush toilets. No showers. They have water spigots close to the sites and they have a lot of power. The landscape was too commercial, I would have preferred if they left the land as it was instead of adding bark chips and planting flowers. Its going to be difficult to keep those growing and maintained. 

The fishing dock was also new, sturdy and a beautiful spot for pictures. I have heard, and if you see the reviews under this, there is a waterfall, about a mile away from the dock in the river. Unfortunately I don't have a vessel so was not able to see this first hand. The water was pretty warm, compared to other places in the area. Saw tons of kayaks head out from this point. The waterfall is accessible by water only at this point, however, they are building trailheads, with parking lots and restrooms on the Eastern ridge to provide viewpoints of the waterfall and canyon by 2020. 

Cool fact, this is in the town of Metaline Falls, Washington. The Dam and the town are a features in the Kevin Costner film, The Postman.

There is also  FREE Dam tours Thursday-Monday (so don't show up on a Tuesday like us!) They are offered at 10:30am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm and 4:00pm, I will be back very soon to take advantage of this. Its a Hydro Electric Dam and it goes through a Limestone cave! 

Just up the Road is a Gardner Caves- Crawford State Park, Garner Caves offers tours of the cave at 10:00am,12:00pm, 2:00pm and 4:00pm. This tour you need a discover pass for. Again, I showed up on Monday evening and was unable to do the cave tour this time, however, I have done Gardner caves and that is super neat! 

If you are exploring the upper side of Eastern Washington, or going to Canada, I highly recommend camping, boating and exploring this area. 

Ranger Review: Grubstick Deluxe kit

https://grubstick.com/products/deluxe-kit

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, sometimes I get awesome camping gear, in exchange for a honest review. Today I am reviewing the Grubstick. The Grubstick is a pretty neat camping cook tool. It has a long extendable handle to keep you and yours safe. It also has along several attachments, so you can become a hit with the kids and really inventive with your camp recipes. This camp trip was an adventure and to keep it easy, we roasted some hot dogs for lunch on the second day. 

First, I had the opportunity to get the starter kit and the Deluxe kit. Both pictured here. The Starter kit comes with a Handle, A grub cage (square cage for roasting smore's, fruit, or anything that will fit.) A fork to roast hotdog's and a release tool to open the cage. Its pretty basic but again, pretty great considering your options to cook on this are endless. 

The deluxe kit comes with all of that plus, an extra handle, and additional fork, a burgcage, a Grub Pocket to make bacon cups, bread bowls, etc, A Grubtube for making breadsticks, and a bacon clip! 

I feel like these are meant for quality food. The cheap hot dogs I had, split down the center seconds after exposing them to the fire, making it hard to turn the stick with out the hot dogs also turning, and trying to slide off the stick, so they were not getting evenly cooked. Again, not a testament to the Grubstick at all. I love the idea of it, it just didn't work right with the cheap hot dogs. I am super excited to try them in the future and use the other attachments. They shipped very quickly and they are made of high quality materials, They also came in great carry bags. I actually only brought the grubstick with me instead of my large bulky camp stove, while that would have been a nice idea, always bring a back up- in case there is a sudden torrential downpour that makes it so you cannot have a campfire. 

All in all, very cool tool, I can see using these on family camp trips with the kids and making smores. Brats or polish sausage would work better than hot dogs on the fork.

Very busy campground when there are fishing events. First come first serve except group camp, which is reservable. River view from almost every camp site. This campground is popular with the fisherman. There is a boat launch and a dock for your boat as well. There is also a swimming area and dogs are allowed in the river just not in the marked off swimming area. Bathrooms are well maintained with flush toilets. No shower.

Clean bathrooms, no showers, fire pits, dispersed water spigots, limited access to the water for swimming. We prefer little to no amenities for camping but a crowd of friends that meet annually were unable to get the usual spot so this was the compromise. Busy, noise did calm down by 10 but be prepared for babies crying, dogs barking and a few campers not noticing the time and enjoying themselves. I can see where many campers find this place better than we did... but we prefer no amenities to have less people around. It is well maintained and it was obvious from the regular ranger patrols and maintenance patrols rules were followed and campground well maintained.

Campsites are clean, well spaced so you aren't sitting on your neighbors lap. It's fairly spacious as far as the hiking and nature paths you can explore. Sites are limited, I think there might be a total of 17 or so, some of which are day use only, but we have FULLY enjoyed our stay both times, and our dog is a huge fan as well! The water is clean, can't really swim considering it's more of a creek, but you can get in and cool off, fish, hike the creek itself or the several beautiful paths that seem to take you into your own private nature getaway. Lol, I am packing up to go again in the next few days. And the people that take care of the park are super small town friendly!

Jake from the Dyrt here!  Brown Barrel is new to the Dyrt but they have an awesome spot in northern Washington, the trees are plentiful, and several mountains are nearby ready to explore.  Check them out and share your favorite pics of your stay!