Best Dispersed Camping near Coulee City, WA

Dispersed Camping Reviews near Coulee City, WA

33 Reviews of 15 Coulee City Campgrounds

• 

  Alex R.

  Guide

  Sep. 8, 2025

  Long Lake

  Beautiful, but not convenient

  I stayed here for a night on my way through the area. This is a very beautiful reserve to explore and spend time in. The birds are abundant and the whole area is very serene. However, BOY was the road rough. No 4wd or high clearance needed, but you will be absolutely shaken and rattled on the way out to the lake. Also, this area is not free!! A Discover Pass is required (either annual for $35 or day for $11.50). I spotted a few toilets on my way in, but they were too far from most of the sites to conveniently use. The site I ended up in was scattered with cigarette butts, beer trash, and bits of glass. I am not a very picky camper, but unfortunately the positives didn’t outweigh the negatives here for me personally. All of that being said, this place probably really floats some people’s boats!! Crazy beautiful!!

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• 

  Emma A.

  Legend

  Apr. 30, 2021

  Ancient & Dusty Lake Trailhead

  Great dispersed camping on the East side of the Cascades

  Camped here in February and November and in generally recommend it for fall and spring. Avoid summer when it gets too hot and ticks and rattlesnakes are around. It gets cold at night so come prepared.

  There are several established sites near Ancient Lakes and Dusty Lakes that can be accessed from the lower trailhead hiking or biking in.

  Ancient Lakes sites are only 2 miles from the trailhead on flat terrain which makes it for an ideal first backpacking experience.

  Only catch is that the lakes are polluted with agricultural runoff so that water should not be used for drinking not even if filtered. Pack all the water you will need.

  No facilities at the lakes. Port-a-potty at the trailhead.

  Need Discover Pass to park here.

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• R

  Robert

  Traveler

  Oct. 20, 2018

  Jameson Lake

  Great Fishing

  RV and tent camping. Can be windy during season change. Boat accessible. Gravel and dirt. Very beautiful night, great for star gazing. Great fishing spot, has split season and is only open during fishing season. There is a private camping location close by with restaurant and store for supplies. Lots of trout, caught limit every time. Witnessed someone pull a 18" trout last visit.

• L

  Luke B.

  Traveler

  Sep. 11, 2024

  Chelan Lookout - NF 8410 Dispersed

  Awesome View from the Top of the Ridge

  Great campsite with an awesome view. Sandy dirt camping site near the USGS sensor station. No fires today due to high fire danger, but there was a pit in the camp. Tent right on the ridge. Dirt road was 12 miles up the mountain. Lots of switchbacks, but passible in a sedan. Takes 45 mins to get up. Take shady pass road to the top.

• 

  Dawn G.

  Ranger

  Dec. 1, 2019

  Jameson Lake

  Kayaking Fun!

  We arrived here on a Sunday night in May and the place was empty...... only one other camper and it was really far away. It is very remote, no services around and a little odd to get to, in that you have to wind past a lakeside"resort" with a little store and campsites that didn't look really very nice, yet there were people everywhere, it looked totally booked. Then you cross over the line into the campground where a$30 annual pass is required, yet the per night cost is$0 as of 2017, and there was nobody around! The campground is like a big open parking area with a boat launch and toilets and then there is also a little more dispersed sites where random fire pits have been built. We had our choice of sites so we picked one that sat away from others and was right above the water making the launch of the kayaks pretty easy.

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• b

  billie J.

  Traveler

  Aug. 9, 2025

  Trail Lake Dispersed

  Nice Lake, bugs are very friendly 😁

  Enjoyed our time here. The entrance is not marked that I can see. Follow the directions to a Bob wire fence where you turn in. There is a turn off not too far in on the right. I assume there are more campsites. Unfortunately, when we went, there was a sizable mud puddle that I didn't feel like driving through. I'll explore that next time. But further ahead it opens up to the beautiful lake. The campsite(s) are surrounded by the lake. Kinda like a peninsula. It's a large area with room for a good size group or maybe up to 5 individual sites. There were remnants of a few fire rings. Only one other small family camping when we were there. The water is nice and cool. Good for cooling down on a hot day. Saw a few people fishing from small boats. There are no trees for shade. But there are lots of very friendly bugs that want to say hi. When we first arrived, it was pretty breezy. As soon as it died down the welcoming community came out in full effect. Which just happened to correspond with when we were making dinner for the night. They, of course, invited themselves. It got so bad that as soon as we were done cooking, we each took our plates, and scurried away to our tents to eat and turn in for the night. There was a good variety of bugs. Mosquitoes, small flies, no see'ems. They probably wouldn't bother you too much if you had a fire going and maybe some bug repellent. But bugs are to be expected when you're next to water. And since there were lots of bugs there were also lots of birds to watch. As far as the actual camping, it's kind of a chore to set up tents just because the ground is so rocky. But if you have a good mallet and sharp tent steaks as well as some patients you'll be fine. It got pretty cool during the evening, even chilly overnight. So it was pretty comfortable overall. There is a noise factor to deal with though there are some roads nearby so you do hear cars throughout the night. But overall, it's a pretty nice place with a beautiful lake. The cell reception for T-Mobile was great. It seems to be a first come camp. I believe it is free. We have a Discovery Pass. But we saw zero signs to say either way and there was no pay station. We would definitely come back. Just with better bug protection and floaties for the lake😁

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• 

  Zach A.

  Legend

  Aug. 3, 2017

  Ancient & Dusty Lake Trailhead

  Hidden Gem

  This place is where I go when I want to disconnect and get away from the stress of school in Ellensburg. I've been here a handful of times and there's never been more than a dozen people spread out over the entire coulee valley. The previous directions are good and the one on WTA will take you right to the parking lot where it's an easy 1.5 mile hike down into the coulee. I've heard other people say they walked in from ancient lakes road and it took three times as long to make it to the camping spots.

  The lakes are safe for swimming in my opinion (there's even a rock to jump off on the closest lake!) But do carry your own water in, it is irrigation runoff and has plenty of yummy pesticides that you cannot filter out. Other than that enjoy the lakes, waterfalls and killer sunsets that happen on a nightly basis out here!

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• 

  Dakota T.

  Scout

  Sep. 11, 2021

  Long Lake

  Pretty decent if it's not busy

  I love heading here to tent camp out of my car, I own a sedan and it's easy to get to on gravel roads, they have outhouses nearby that are regularly stocked and you can camp feet from long lake and enjoy the open air. during some months their is cattle in the area and they come down to the lake in the morning and greet you, I've been here 3 times as of this post, love it

• 

  Judy T.

  Legend

  Oct. 17, 2021

  Jameson Lake

  Free dispersed campsites on a fishing lake

  We camped here because my grandparents used to fish here long ago. The camping is free and dispersed. There is a large gravel parking lot suitable for large RVs plus those towing a trailer or boat. We chose to find a more secluded site away from the strong winds. The views of the lake were beautiful especially in the fall.

  Below the gravel area was a large paved area for boat trailers. A discover pass is needed ($30/year) but we always get one and use it extensively.

  You access this area via long wide well graded gravel road. There are no site numbers; you just find a spot and stay.