Best Cabin Camping near Cle Elum, WA

This was a lovely campsite. It was smaller, yet felt large enough so you had your own privacy and space. There were clean facilities available, as well as drinking water and trash bins. Our lot was spacious with a nice picnic table, fire pit, and area for our two person tent. Everyone around us was respectful of one another and wasn't too loud late at night. There are trails behind the campsite that lead down to the river, or just a short drive away is the 'beach' and bridge overlooking the lake. It is peaceful and although the highway is close by, seeing the beauty of the area makes you think and feel you are deeper in nature. I would definitely stay here again for a longer period of time!

Quite liked this campground, a few things to note first about the site then the park.

Site: 31 Great distance between tent pad and picnic table with a few well placed trees for hammock/ clothing line Fire ring was great distance from picnic table. Great privacy (granted the people in the site next to us weren’t there) Close walk to bathroom/showers & Trash Short 5 minute walk to the lake.

Park: Showers were actually free Normally it is pretty windy, but there was no wind both days we were present Mosquitos were worse than usual, but a constant cost of DEET and a anti mosquito candle kept them at bay, still got bit up a bit There is a pretty legit store with camping stuff, espresso, and ice cream Playground near beach area By the beach there was a dude selling kayak/ paddle board rentals, he does not come on especially windy days Kind Staff, met camp hosts dog

I’ve also attached some photos of the RV sites from the north campground

Definitely will come back

I recently rented the cabin for the weekend in February. I've already made a reservation for a summer weekend, but this review is based on winter use.

The cabin comes with a stove & a battery lantern, with the expectation that you'll provide the fuel & the batteries. A previous user had left a propane canister and left the batteries in the lantern. It's a nice gesture, but come prepared with your own. I'd also brought along a propane lantern, and I'm glad I did. (Although this did violate the "no open flames in the cabin" rule - more on that later.) The interior of the cabin is very dark, and while the battery lantern provides light, it's only bright up close. Plan to bring your own lanterns, especially in the winter when the night's dark comes early. There are some board games and books in the cupboard, as well.

The bunkbeds are covered in plastic, but it's a thin cellophane so it wasn't noisy. There are provided pillows; I didn't use them. The bunks' mattresses are comfortable. Because of the way the Forest Service installed the bunkbed & the cupboards, the bunkbeds don't fully benefit from the heat of the woodstove. In the winter, you'll want a warm sleeping bag.

I broke the "no open flames in the cabin" rule because it was 16°F outside, and my meals needed to simmer. I imagine this rule is designed to protect the cabin as well as to protect visitors from CO poisoning. I placed the stove near a window and opened the window a crack, and I never turned my back on the stove. There's a CO monitor in the cabin, and truth be told, the cabin's drafty. But if you're going to break the rule, understand the risk you're taking, and for the love of all that is holy do not burn down this cabin.

The lock on the woodshed is the kind that the tumblers need to be lined up before you take the key out, but it's also a little worn so it's possible to take the key out without it being lined up. If that happens - as it did with me - it's really difficult to get the key back into the lock far enough to unlock it. (I had to heat up the lock & the key with a candle to get the tumblers "unstuck.") Be very careful with the lock, or you may find yourself having a chilly night. (Wood is only provided during winter rentals, so this doesn't apply for the summer folks.)

The toilet paper in the vault toilet is kept in a heavy plastic tote. My guess is this is to protect it from rodents. Please keep the lid on tight.

I wish I'd brought along a pair of camp shoes to keep my bed socks clean. There's a warning that you should expect every surface in the cabin has been contaminated by mouse urine & droppings. Consider that during food preparation. (I used some plastic wrap to cover the countertop to give me some clean space to work.) I didn't see any rodents while I was there, but there were droppings in a few places. There's no running water, so I'd recommend bringing hand sanitizer as well.

I was carrying more than my usual backpacking load, and I'd planned to haul things in on a sled. Unfortunately, I failed to test out my sled setup & practice pulling a sled, and on the trail it turned out to be a dismal failure. I got very lucky in that a nearby cabin owner saw me, took pity on me, and hauled my gear in & back out for me. However, his was the only one of the cabins along the road in use that weekend. If you're going to do something similar, be smarter than I was and test out your gear & your technique ahead of time.

Although the river is nearby, it has a steep bank and I wouldn't risk trying to get water out of it during the winter. I utilized the woodstove's cooktop & melted snow. It's not the tastiest, but it's fine for cooking with.

I will definitely come back, and next time I will be better prepared. I enjoyed the brief glimpse of life in a remote cabin: splitting wood & kindling, needing to keep the woodstove going through the night, et cetera. But I'm grateful someone else cut the wood and stocked the shed, and that I had access to modern winter clothing & recreation devices like lightweight snowshoes & waxless skis.

I want to start by saying that I have low expectations for hygiene and cleanliness, especially in rustic forest service buildings. But this cabin failed to meet my extremely low bar with its out of control mouse situation (see photos).

First, much of the information currently available online is incomplete or inaccurate so here's some irl deets as of August 2025:

This cabin is smaller than it looks in the pictures. It's maybe 300-400 sq feet. 

There is a flush toilet and shower inside the cabin. Shower is small. The hot water is HOT. You have to walk through the bedroom to get to the bathroom.

Lights: Don't rely on lighting being provided. As far as we could tell, the propane lights were disconnected? (There is also zero info on how to light them.) There were three LED mini lanterns, none of which had working batteries. 

Kitchen supplies:  Generally ok (the usual amount of beat up) but bring your own silverware. There were three metal spoons and a handful of plastic forks when we were there. WASH EVERYTHING BEFORE USE.

There is one bedroom with a reasonably comfortable double or queen bed. BYO bedding. The walls don't go all the way to the ceiling, so don't expect privacy.

There is a futon couch in the "living room" area. It is very beat up and extremely uncomfortable. Do not attempt to sleep on this if you value your ability to sleep or to have a functioning back. It's really, really bad. I am not exaggerating.

There is a small dining table with two chairs. There is one rocking chair.

The stove and frig (which included a freezer) worked great. 

The cabin is about 40' off of a road that is frequented by OHV enthusiasts. It has a very large parking area which is shared by the camp host for the two campgrounds down the road. He told me he is not the host for the cabin, however.

AFAIK, there was no host for the cabin and no one is regularly checking on it? There were candles (which aren't allowed) left by previous guests. 

There is a nice creek across the parking area and past the camp host site. 

The worst: MICE. And mouse poop. EVERYWHERE. 

I saw reports of mice in other reviews and wasn't too worried. Mice happen in the woods! I arrived with sanitizing wipes and snap traps. 

I would have had to work for days to clean that place up. There was mouse poop everywhere. Cabinets with pots and pans had mouse poop and torn up paper towels. Mouse poop on the counter. Mouse poop on the rocking chair. Mouse poop on the futon. 

At night, so many mouse noises. Among other areas they are living in the chimney/wood stove area. Good luck to whoever first tries to light a fire this fall! 

The worst area was under the sink. There was a hole leading to the wall space, which was packed with torn paper towels and mouse poop, pee, and some black stuff (mold?) Another hole led to an area under the cabinets, which also had a giant pile of shredded paper and mouse feces.

I killed three mice over the two nights we were there. They were definitely deer mice, aka the ones that carry hanta virus. We wore masks when sweeping. I felt bad for my friends who slept in there (I slept in my van outside.)

I expected mice, but I didn't expect there to be zero evidence of anyone trying to deal with them or ensure the basic safety of guests. It is crazy that they charge $125 /night for this and fail to do even the absolute minimum of caretaking.

If the mouse situation wasn't such a horror show, I would give this four stars. The cabin itself would be nice if anyone cared about it.

We stayed 1 night here for the maiden voyage of our recently purchased travel trailer, which was nice since it's only about an hour away from our place near Seattle. Arrived Friday early evening and it wasn't busy at all.

The check-in process was easy, even though their reservation system was down at the time. Filled up w/ some fresh water at the dump station, which was clean and well maintained.

Campsites in the RV loop were spaced out enough with vegetation between them so as to provide some privacy. Our site had a pull-through driveway, 30amp hookup, a fire ring and picnic table. Bathrooms in that loop were pretty nice... heated and very clean.

Took a walk down to the day use area by the river, which was easy for us, but some portions of the trails closer to the river were slightly overgrown w/ a few obstacles, which could be problematic for some. Didn't see any kids play structures down there, which would be nice to have for families.

We heard a couple trains while there, but the noise wasn't too loud. Never heard the fire siren that they warned us about. Overall, it was a good camping experience for a quick trip and would return!

I've stayed at several KOA's over the years and this KOA is very nice. It has a great playground for the kids, a pool, shower stations, a coffee and ice cream bar, and a great general store. The safe was super friendly and helpful. The reason we stayed here specifically was its close proximity to downtown Leavenworth. When booking my stay, it was an additional$30 dollars to select my site and for a two-night stay, I felt that was too much. I quickly found out why they can charge$30 dollars. The first site we were placed in, site 20, could not even fit my 20-foot trailer. The second site, site 22, was a little longer and I could fit my trailer and truck into the site. The sites were so tight that we could barely fit the provided picnic table next to our trailer. As our neighbors arrived, they made a joke that their site was barely a driveway. That said, there were numerous spacious sites available if you were willing to spend the extra money.

This is one of the larger KOAs I have been to.  Plenty of room for RVs, trailers, and tents.  They also have a few cabins to stay in.  Our site was near the playground which was central to the camp ground. There is a TV/ play room that my littlesloved but not as much as the heated pool, yes, they have a heated pool! 

This site lies on the banks of the Yakima River.  My dad was able to go fly fishing and my littles were able to search for rocks and fish in the shallow areas. 

The general store has all your basic needs, but a difference from other KOAs was that they sell bee and wine! 

The hosts are great but are pretty strict with quiet hours (which I prefer with littles).