Best Tent Camping near Ellensburg, WA

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Rolled in late at night on an audible after campground at Lake Wenatchee didn't work out. Great tent sites, with decent spacing between them. This place is big, but didn't feel too crowded - at least during off-season. Super clean facilities, warm bathrooms, good provisions at their on-site store. Beautiful river walk, good proximity to town.

T-mobile 5G: pulling down 80-100mbps consistently, video calls were a breeze. ATT LTE: similar.

Not reaaally a campsite per se, but there are a few spots that can be used for camping. Probably wouldn’t want to tent camp here, not a lot of flat cleared ground, but we found a small clearing that was perfect for a night. No amenities, so bring your own camp stove, tables, chairs, etc. It was very beautiful and private but it’s right off the high way so you can hear traffic all night. Ideal if you’re just looking for somewhere to crash before you get back on the road.

Runs along a creek that you can here from all sites. Perfect for tent camping. The site offers picnic tables & a triangle shaped fire pit. The fire pits have a grill grate over top of them that we cooked dinner on at night. The facility only offers vault toilets, they were decent. The trash pick up is at the entry which did not smell & was picked up on Friday’s.

We had a few small visitors including a chipmunk & a field mouse.

Going up the mountain we found a really cool meadow & lake.

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.

See my related reviews for Peninsula Camp ground for more information leading up the final camp site.

Really crowded area with limited parking. However, if you arrive early enough you could occupy one of the few tent sites on the narrow peninsula portions of this area. The facilities here needed some real attention.

Bring your kayak, boat, or fishing rod and enjoy your day. I took a couple of photos looking back at it as that was the best way view the area without walking through camp sites.

The air field had a large dumpster and was home to several RVs. There is access to a few more camping spots along the lake shore.

Was in need of a campsite Labor Day weekend. As you know, once you do the research, you realize most campgrounds around here are a first come basis. After driving 40 minutes down Icicle Road, and all campgrounds having a "Campground full", Blackpine was our last resort. We talked to a volunteer ranger, and he said tent camping is allowed, but if a trailer with horses show up and want your spot, you have to give it to them. He also said, that's never happened in over 20 years, but that's the rule.

I think it was $15 for a night, plus $8 extra for 2 cars. Campground were spacious, had decent pit toilets, drinking water, and a pretty quiet spot. Not too many sites, but since this campground is so far down Icicle Rd, it doesn't seem to fill up too fast.

Normally I don't camp at KOA's but if you are trying to camp and ALSO do some usual Leavenworth things this is the perfect spot.  It is walking and biking distance from town, right behind the Safeway, and has lots of amenities.  Great place for kids especially there's tons of activities, playground and even a pool.  There are 4 or 5 free activities daily and even a couple for 21+ which I appreciated as a visitor without kids.

We stayed in a tent site and it was small and dusty but had a private trail to the river which totally made up for the more cramped quarters.  Quiet hours were observed and the staff was ultra friendly.  Picked up our propane and filled it for us and everything!

I will definitely go back here during shoulder season and rent a cabin.