Best Campgrounds near Bonney Lake, WA

I don’t know where on 52 people are finding sites with views, but we drove the entire length of it and didn’t see one spot worth stopping at. I suppose if you don’t mind sleeping five feet from a busy paved road, fine, but these sites are mostly glorified gravel shoulders on the side of the road with no views whatsoever. The one spot that looked ok had a haul trailer and was strewn with laundry and garbage. We tried few other FS roads and gave up and got a nps first come first served site in the park. I’ve found some decent FS sites over the years, but the homeless hobo class seems to have f’d everything up for everyone, and some of these reviews seem like BS. I wouldn’t bother with FS 52 unless your standards for campsites are Walmart parking lots.

No restroom for lower sites close to water. You have to walk up the campground road which is too far when you "have to go". We thought there was a shortcut trail but it didn't go through to the lower road - it ends in a private campsite.

The most challenging part of this Campground is trying to fit more than one tent in a site. There are designated tent camping pads, likely because it's a rocky area that they've had to clear for tents. You can pretty much squeeze two tents in there together for single campers but if you're a family or there are three or more friends in your group you're not going to be able to fit your tents without getting two sites. Since this is the first come first serve Campground, which we absolutely need more of in this state, it's up to the luck of the drive whether you'll find two sites together. If I had to ask for improvements I would say at a restroom to the lower loop by the Waterfront sites and try to increase the flat ground area in each site to be able to add everyone's tents.

Now with that out of the way, I camp here every year and have had varying experiences from Super peaceful amazing weekends with lots of wildlife sightings to full-on middle of the night domestic abuse happening in the campground with no police or host intervention. For 2025 I would say we had the best and friendliest host who made sure to come over and introduce us and let us know what was up in the area and which weeds to watch out for that were either toxic to human or dogs. The sites were really in great shape, cleared of obnoxious weeds & trash and probably the cleanest I've ever seen the bathrooms at this at this campground.

- Scrappy, scraggly rustic campground not in great shape. Felt like pitching a tent in a dirt lot.

- No showers (expected at National Parks)

- QR codes on park entrances, signs, and materials but no signal to access them. Wifi is at Paradise but there's not enough parking there for visitor demand.

- No nearby swimming or wading

- Only one water spigot per loop at the bathroom

- RR stalls too small for bigger people to get in and be able to close the door

- Old poop stains soaked into toilet seats

- Some sites barely room for one tent, how could you camp with friends? Reservation system too difficult to get side-by-side sites

- Not all sites have food storage lockers

- Site E001- No shade at most sites in Loop E

- Nowhere for hammock

- Campground road on 3 sides of this site so headlights and flashlights shining into your tent

- Tons of dead trees and no understory so there's no privacy between sites or road

- Did not enjoy spending time at the site which was my goal this trip. If you're looking to just have a place to sleep while you spend all day elsewhere on the mountain, it's probably OK.

Absolutely beautiful! Very welcoming and queer friendly! The yurt was lovely but it’s definitely meant for the cooler months. However, the celestial yurt had electricity and a little fan that kept it cool even on the hottest week of the summer. Hot tub is wonderful but is clothing optional, so maybe not great for families. But it’sperfect for couples! The camp is about an hour from the north side of the mountain but still pretty close to some great hiking trails! Only thing is there’s not a lot of of privacy in between sites and construction is going on most of the day and is very loud.