Best Tent Camping near Cle Elum, WA

Tent camped here on a last minute whim. When the weather is not the greatest on the west side, we head to Cle Elum! This is all first come, first served camping. Nothing fancy, vault toilets, tables, fire ring. I would imagine if it was busy, it would be pretty loud and dusty. There is a small dirt bike track the starts here, so if you are looking for pristine quiet, this is not your place. If you come out to the woods to ride bikes, it would be awesome!

The weekend we were there, it was pretty quiet. Played in the creek. I would go back.

Has tent camping and bathhouse

Good sites for tent camping but the sites aren't great for an RV.

We’ve camped here a number of times and love it. 4 kids and a dog. We’ve tent camped, stayed in the cabins and our class C RV. We’ve been in a variety of spots around the campground. Our favorite were tent camping over the river and being close to the playground & dog park on the RV. The store is the best I’ve come across at a campsite. Great kid craft activities, nice playground, yummy pancake breakfast, great access for swimming in the river. We walk to town. It’s awesome.

A friend told me to check out Leavenworth. It was cute, but every bit the touristy type of thing I’m not a fan of. The real jewel of the area are these Wenatchee National Forest campgrounds. This one is right on the river. I think I paid $22. for a walk-in tent site (but we camped in the parking lot in our rooftop tent). The best walk in tent site is right on the river. Very relaxing. Beautifully wooded sites. Beware of bear activity.

Walk in spots for tent camping you have to walk a half mile to camp from your car. Rv spots are nice but close to other ppl.

Nice spots but size limits trailer length unless you get pick of spots. Van or tent camping everywhere! Tables, rings, outhouses. Great hiking trail up Mad River trail and great bike riding up Tyee road

One of the best campgrounds in cle elum area. All walk in sites. Not to far from parking. Not allot of privacy between sites. Gets packed. Fishing is excellent. Road has some pot holes, but otherwise easy for small vehicles.

Pro: Great campground for convenience. Walkable to main town strip. Hot showers. Toilet paper stocked

Cons: Hours of pool/hot tub are narrow. Cost is a little high for a tent site.

nice park, close spots, very friendly host, swimming pool, fhu, fire pits, creek on back side of park. was very busy with a large group and kids riding bikes like crazy! plenty of tent sites too. $45/nite

2020 prices in the photo. Clean camp with multiple water points. There's 4 or 5 spots large enough for an RV away from the river. Several flat tent camping spots along the river.

We found the location a little noisy because HWY12 run along the north side of the park.

It’s a nice KOA but my tent site was right next to the playground so I had kids running through my site and touching my truck. But they had a dollar rib night so that was great and the staff was really nice the whole time.

Cabins with A.C. in the shade, works well for groups, but very close to each other, and for the cost, go stay at a nice hotel.

Tent camping in the field is horrible. 1 foot between our tent and neighbors. 103 degrees and not a single tree for shade.

Two of our three nights had issues with thieves taking bikes and coolers in the middle of the night.

THe river was the best place to hang for the day.

Has tents site to camp at

I love this little campground for shoulder season. Some sites, like ours, are wooded and private. Others are open with tree cover. Lake access is best via the great boat launch. Also a nice picnic area when the lake level exposes the access road. My favorite part of this location is access to explore the nearby forest service roads. Roslyn and Cle Elum are not too far away for a bite or beverage.

Great little campground. Along a little river but not right at campsites. Crawdad along banks at night. Lots of bats at night. Right off of highway. Restroom with fresh water access. No electricity, no on site manager/ranger. No cell reception for t-mobile customers. Burn bans in effect typically in the late spring to early fall dependant of course on the amount of annual moisture in the region. Sold out prebooked for most major holidays. Good idea to book ahead of time by calling the local ranger station. High cougar population so keeping an eye on pet's and smaller children a must especially around dusk and after dark. Also bear area. But our family has never had any problems nor seen any large predators when we do our annual family camping trip there. Also be sure to do any last min. Shopping in cle elum because there is nothing as far as retail grocery stores past this point and it's about a 45 min drive each ways to cle elum. There is a final gas station about 10 mins drive from the campground that has basic camp supplies and ice. High prices for the convenience. And they close at 9pm if my memory serves me correctly. Beautiful area. Very peaceful.

Wonderful place to camp during autumn. Beautiful colors. Arrived for the last weekend before gates were closed (Closed noon Monday 10/11) A lot of no show reservations, recommend coming Saturday morning and taking the pick of the crop. Very close to amazing hikes and Leavenworth. Camp hosts were helpful, bathrooms were clean and comfortable. Fires were permitted, cold at night this time of year but many sites were still tent camping.

Mountain River Trails is a private members owned campground.  Located ont he river in South Cle Elum it is on leased Native land.  You must purchase a membership to camp here and with that you have your own private site.  

Most of the sites are passed down for generations or purchased after being invited by other friends.  This is a camping community as well as the perfect getaway for kids, adults, dogs and everything in between.