Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Ephrata, WA

Nice spacious sites. Lots of privacy between sites. No dog park. Great view of the lake from your door. We took a 4 mile, one-way, bike ride to the town of Vantage and then to the Ginkgo Petrified Forest. The town of vantage is very small with a lot of closed shops. Has a gas station and convenience store. That’s about it. Very scenic area and quiet and relaxing.

I love to camp at steamboat! It’s great for tent or RVs. There’s some awesome hikes near by. Right on the lake and a great play ground. Great for bike riding. Great for pets!

If I could give everyone at Ephrata RV Park more than 5 stars I would! 

We stayed at the campground last weekend for a weekend-long concert at the Gorge Amphitheater. The campground was so clean, everyone we interacted with was lovely, and I’m incredibly glad we chose to stay here. 

First off, the campground hosts were so accommodating. We checked in on a Friday and spoke with them about going to a show at the Gorge. They swung by our campsite the next morning and gave us a big umbrella to take with us for shade at the Gorge! They often swung by to see how things went, and were so friendly when we popped into the front office as well. 

Here’s the really amazing part- we left a set of our car keys at the campsite when we left for home. We were in a rush to leave, and unfortunately didn’t do a final sweep of the site. We spent a whole day after getting home looking for these keys. I called Ephrata the next day and they said they’d be on the lookout. One day later, I get a call back, and they found them! They shipped them off to us in the mail with no second thought, which was SO incredibly kind. We’re originally from California and this is not something we would ever expect someone to do for us! It’s amazing to know that there are kind people in the world still! 

The amenities were great as well. The campground is super clean! Clean bathrooms, free showers(!!), clean campsites, and quiet to boot. They have a great little front store that you can grab necessities from, and you can rent stuff for activities around the campground as well. They have a pool, a dog run at the front, tennis court, and more. 

We stayed in tent camping site 17. It was the first row of sites, and had some lovely trees with shade. The campsites were all on grass which was nice. The site got nice shade in the morning and late afternoon to keep out of the heat. 

It was such a great relief to be able to come here after a long day at the Gorge and enjoy the peace and quiet. We love live music but not the crowd that comes with it so being here was wonderful. 

We will 10000% be back here for our next concert at the Gorge, and will recommend anyone we know passing through to stay here as well. This is such a great gem of an RV Park. 

Thank you, Ephrata, for the wonderful service and support. You are amazing people and are doing an incredible job!!

Stayed here with my dog. Beach and swimming area are NOT dog friendly. There are areas to play in the water but it’s not as accessible. Staff was pleasant. Like any other place follow all posted rules.

This is my favorite place to be, but only in the summer. I‘m not a fan during the Spring due to mud, foxtails, and mosquitos, though I did find a frog and that’s pretty neat. As soon as it heats up for summer it’s perfect. The landscape is gorgeous, there’s a sand dune right around the corner, and the sunsets are breathtaking. Be careful with dogs around the cliffs—there are rabbits and marmots around and your dog should be contained.

There is not a lot of room for big rigs so I would not suggest staying here If you're 20 + feet long. Plenty of car camping and is a popular spot for rock climbing. There's a trail down to the waterfall and one toilet but no tp so be prepared. Dog friendly and there's a boat launch at the very end of the drive.

Hard packed sandy road takes you out here. We arrived way after dark. Beware of soft sand on the shoulders but overall 40+ foot rigs can make it as the road is very wide. Head back 2-3 miles and you’ll see tons of other people. We just parked right off the road for the least risk of getting stuck in the sand. Woke up to an amazing sun rise and were able to let the dogs hang off leash before everyone started getting on their ATVs. For sure a cool place to just drink coffee and people watch in the sand!

OK. Some friends and I arrived the day before the first of 2 shows by Dead& Company. We had Big Rig Gold camping tickets. First off they searched every vehicle for guns(I get it) but the dogs would alert if there were any, right? So why do they have some 20 something enter my RV afterward and search it while I'm being FRISKED! Here again wouldn't the dogs work for this. Second it wasn't an organized ordeal getting in at all. You have all these big motorhomes and travel trailers you know are coming so they water the grass? Yes alot of people got stuck in mud and had to be towed out. There was a paved road(for the staff) right next to where we had to enter. I guess they count and we didn't. Personally I think whoever was in charge of Big Rig Camping entrance should be fired. I sounds harsh but it was a complete cluster F%#k! Ok then we get in and it's a beautiful campground with a staff that didnt seem to have the slightest clue of where peoples awnings would be in relation to the sun in 90+ degree weather or how to park vehicles accordingly. I had to argue with the kid to park so we wouldn't fry in the sun for 3 days. He kept telling me"So you can get out easy". I finally told him"I know how to drive" and after 5 or 10 minutes he FINALLY gave up and I parked correctly for the weather. So finally all is well(I thought) LOL. 5 in our party with 3 vehicles and three disabled ADA customers. Day 2 time to go in. The regular ADA gate as shown on their website map is closed off and we have to cross several lines of people(At least the other customers were helpful-to the extreme) to get to the ADA entrance into the venue. Finally got there and all went well. Day 3 the same thing crossing through all the other people in line to get to our entrance(ADA gate on map still not open) Then someone obviously decided all the disabled people had to be searched AGAIN after the front gate fiasco. I felt like I was being punished for being disabled. The search relulted in all the cripples baking in the sun with no shade and warm water to drink(That is if you brought your own). All in all another Cluster F%#k. LiveNation obviously doesn't care about their customers since they practically have a monopoly on large venues. Tickets were grossly oversold. I went in 2019 and there was no problem finding a place to sit on the grassy hill to watch the show then. This time it was standing room only and still hundreds and hundreds of people kept coming in until it was so crowded it got very uncomfortable with no real air circulation due to it being so crowded and 90+ degrees. Before LiveNation they used to have misting stations for people that overheated. So crowded my wife fainted(I've been with her 22 years and have NEVER seen her faint or wilt in the heat in the slightest. She's always lived in central Washington and is used to the heat. Thank God there was a nurse behind us that took charge and helped her. Kudos to the medical staff that did get there once a customer dialed for help. 911 I think. Once they arrived they acted in a very efficient and kind manner and checked ALL her vitals right down to blood sugar levels at the medical tent. They gave her 2 IV's of saline and the Doctor made sure she was OK before releasing her. They then gave us a ride back to our campsite. The medical staff was amazing! The rest of the personel NAH. LiveNation ruined yet another venue. I will NEVER EVER go to another LiveNation venue, I'm done! For the prices they charge, what you get in return is pathetic.

Pros:: The park itself is pretty and green. The bathrooms are clean and well kept with free showers. The campsite are spacious but there is no privacy. The kids loved the playground and there are community volleyball nets that are nice. There’s a nice hiking trail nearby although be cautious of snakes, we came across a very large gopher snake on the trail.

Cons:: we thought the kids would be able to swim but there’s not really any good place to do it here. Definitely caters more to the fishing and boating crowd.

There was also a large group of maybe 100+ people having an annual gathering that had personal volleyball nets up in the middle of fields throughout the park and they would assemble to play right behind our site and leave trash all over the place. When we were asked by the ranger to turn our music off at 8:59pm we mentioned it and he told us they come every year and he knows they will pick it up before they leave. Then they were extremely loud and disruptive all night.

And last but not least, beware of TICKS. We found a lot on our dogs and even some crawling on us. Apparently it’s common on that side of the Cascades but I wasn’t aware so come prepared for those.

the campground was nice and tidy, but you're basically sleeping on hard ground littered with a bunch of rocks and little prickly balls (that fell off trees). those little prickly things pierced through my flip flops which was not fun. the wind was brutal and nearly blew away half of our party's tents. the ground is super dry which made getting tent stakes in very challenging. we used our vehicles to try to shield our site from the wind. you are better off renting a cabin or bring your RV! despite all that i actually liked our camping experience since there was so much to see and do. you could go try and golf but the gusts were super strong so i think it would be pointless. banks lake is super close by with a bunch of primitive fee-free boat launches. just don't forget your discovery pass! the fishing at deep lake was phenomenal! fresh caught kokanee pan fried in butter! yum! dry falls are a quick drive up the road and you could even go see grand coulee damn if you wanted to. would i tent camp here again? probably not. would i come back and rent a cabin or van camp? most definitely! would i bring the dogs? not unless they raked up all those prickly things off of the ground. i think it would be complete torture for them.

This beautiful campground has everything you want and need: water, trails, scenic views, ample campsites, clean bathrooms and easy access. 

The campground is just outside Wenatchee so you are close to many amenities and only a half hour or so from the lovely Bavarian town of Leavenworth nestled in the Cascade Mountains. 

The Apple capital of Washington, this is the fruit basket of the Pacific Northwest. Go in late summer or early fall to stock up on wonderful fruit or take in a wine tasting. 

At the campground there are boat launches for kayaking or motorboats and jet skis, with miles of water to explore. And fishing galore! 

Search out the park’s namesake Abe Lincoln, found outlined in the craggy mountain rocks. One of the premier campgrounds of Washington.

This place is close to home for anyone in central Washington, the sites are giant and the views are amazing. Site 49 in particular has enough room for our RV, a giant tent in the grass, a picnic table and separate section to grill at. And the layout is such that it’s still pretty secluded from other campers. We absolutely love this place.