Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WA

Iron Creek is a great camp site in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The river runs near the camp was a great spot for the kids and dogs to play. Camp sites were large spacious and private. I would highly recommend this campground!

Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a veritable wonderland, let's put that on the table right away. Lava flows, waterfalls, views of huge mountains and huge rivers, tons of berry picking, the Pacific Crest trail... it's ridiculous. So enter Kalama, with easy access, varied campsite sizes, space between a lot of them and a crazy - and I mean crazy - amount of trails. And if you like mushrooms... O M to the G. Check out the photos! We woke up in the morning and marched up Mt. Saint Helens. With or without horses (they couldn't fit in the trunk), with or without beer, it just doesn't get any better than this.

Great campground in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Smallish campground with about half the spots right on the river. Nice day use area slightly separated from the camping. Picnic tables and fire rings. Mostly tents when we were there, but there's also pull-through driveway type spots that could fit a trailer. At just $12 per night, price can't be beat.

Plenty of trees and grass. Most spots are slightly exposed to the turn-around road, but still feels private since there's space and trees between the spots.

Not too far from Mouton Falls, which are amazing, plus other hiking and swimming areas nearby.

This is a great base camp for exploring the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

The campground and facilities is very clean and well maintained. Most sites are in a wooded area with good shade. 

The day use area is along the river with boat ramp and dock. However, THERE ARE NO FALLS. The other reviewer's photos are not from here. There is a damn downstream which creates a slow moving river good for boating. The river is very cloudy murky green a result of ash and sediment runoff from the Mt St Helens eruption. 

Loops:

A-Loop: water & electric. A mix of shaded and open grassy sites. Outer are pull through, inner are back in. You will find the most private sites in this loop. 

B-Loop: no utilities, possibly tents only. These are the only sites which are not paved. Many are right next each other. It's like they had it laid out well but then jammed in a few more as an afterthought. 

C-Loop: Group RV water & electric. This loop is interesting. It’s a paved circle with a treed center with group tables and firepit. Circle your RVs like a wagon train.

D-Loop: water & electric. This is an RV neighborhood where everyone has a "Welcome to our campsite" sign and there's a common covered area with tables. Sites have the table to rear of site.

Campground Review

This campground is at the base of Mt Rainier National Park in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  To get to the campsite, you have to drive down into the ravine of where the Cowlitz River cuts through the campsite. There are many sites on the river, with the rest in the trees covering the expanse of the grounds. Large RV/ trailers can only be in the upper Loop H.

The road is a one way and for the most part, campers respect the speed limit, though there are some idiots who drive fast through. 

There are no hookups, so you will be dry camping if you bring an RV. This is very close to Packwood and a great place to stay during Memorial Weekend for their annual Flea Market.  There is no cell service at this site. Site claims to have flushing toilets, but those were removed a few years ago, there are only vault toilets and no showers. Depending on how the snow melt is during the spring, will dictate fishing and camping opening. 

Product Review

I had the opportunity to review a GCI Outdoor Backpack Event Chair.  This product is amazing for lugging around from campground to fishing and back. The chair has four different positions for reclining and hard arm supports for getting up and down. There is a large pocket on the back allowing for easy toting of items from car to wherever. The backpack straps make toting a breeze and the clip to close keeps the chair in place. It is very light and easy to transport and has a weight limit of 250, but my very large cousin (300+) was able to sit with no problem. 

https://www.gcioutdoor.com/camping-chairs/backpack-event-chair/

This area of Gifford Pinchot National Forest has lots of dispersed camping spots but this area was a gem. To access it, as you are driving on NF 65 you will see a small road to the right just a bit before you see the parking for Panther Creek Falls also on the right. If you are at the parking area for Panther Creek Falls and look up you will see a huge wall of rock…the area is up there and you need to turn on the road before the parking area to access it. There are actually 3 areas where you could camp: As you drive up the small road, you will notice the first, pretty large area for camping straight ahead. It looks like a road continues up toward the right but that is actually blocked. If you go to the left you will see the road continues (and you might not think there is anything up there) and you will see one more spot straight ahead and then if you continue up toward the right (hitting some branches along the way) you will come up to a large, wide open area with tons of space for camping. We were pretty excited when we saw it!

We spent one night in that huge open area and it was beautiful - the stars were amazing. During the day we would go peek over the edge and could see people parking to go to the falls. You could hear a tiny bit of road noise from up there but it was very light. You can also hear the noise of the waterfall from up on the ridge. The only downfall about this spot is that there is no shade and it was very hot, so hot that we couldn't have a fire. The second night we spent in the spot just down a tad so that we could have some shade and a fire.

The hike down to Panther Creek Falls is literally right across the road and I think these falls may be the most beautiful falls I've seen in OR or WA. It's a short mile or so hike but really pretty scenery.

The Mayfield Lake is the main attraction. Be sure to visit the day use area across the road for lake access with swimming, picnic, and a dog park on the water.

Very good privacy for the standard campsite loop. Standard campsites are either pull through or back in.

There's a trail around the edge of the lake in campsite loop. Find the point, you wont be disappointed.

Clean Friendly Pet friendly

Views of Adams, Helens, Hood, Jefferson. Highest camp in Washington. Nice solar toilets. The hike up is quite difficult.

Loved this campgrounds! Lots of trails to hike, pet friendly, and the river is a sight to see. Beautiful. Go during Memorial or Labor Day weekend and you can also check out the NW largest flea market in Packwood WA about 15 mins away.

Pros: Good lake to swim in, smaller state park so not too busy, kayaks you can rent, small playground if you have kids, pet frIendly cabIn I stayed In was faIrly secluded Cons: because it’s smaller, kids on bikes were on the road often so you have to be aware, only one shower stall in the restrooms

I always stay in cabins at Ike Kinswa and more than once gear I left outside of the cabin was urine sprayed by a cat. Gear had to be thrown away as that smell does not come out. I asked the campground staff and they confirmed there is/are wild cats living in the park that spray mark their territory in the campground. Was my favorite WA state park but I won't be back.

No wifi, 1 shower, washer and dryers broken, garbage everywhere, 300 cats

This campground is easily one of the most remote yet accessible and quiet that I have ever come across. Site staff on hand if needed but honestly the primitive sites are exactly what you are looking for: remote, spacious, quiet, fire and pet friendly and great views. The fact that this campsite is only 30 minutes from the 5, you couldn’t honestly tell. Open year around and on site water if needed, no amenities, but honestly, who cares? Perfectly spaced north of Portland and south of Tacoma/Seattle, easy access to both or in between but be warned, park access closes at dusk, and they do mean dusk. In the off season was one of maybe 10 groups in the whole park. Definitely will come again.

Came here as a last minute decision heading south to Mount St. Helens. Although there was plenty of spaces here, the campground seems very popular and only a few last minute spots available. Got a tent spot (#205) next to the restrooms, facilities were clean and there is a camp sink at each restroom. With that being said there isn’t much for privacy and we had pretty noisy neighbors who had a cat!!! that wandered into our campsite and tent. The lake was beautiful for being a reservoir but if your looking for solitude look further south into the woods for it.

Wonderful stay! Gracious, welcoming hosts! Privacy! Turn key camping! Farm Animals! Clean! Proximity to Portland! This place is great!

The Details: This was our first glamping trip and we booked via Tentrr. Our site had a large canvas tent with all the comforts of home: queen bed, heater, water, seating, a desk, WiFi, and even a front porch with two Adirondack chairs. We also added a second tent (large dome tent) for our friends and their two kids to stay in.

There is an awesome, covered kitchen area with three burner propane stove, kitchen sink, prep station, picnic table, food storage bin, soap and hand sanitizer, and more. We brought our camping supplies for cooking, and didn’t need most of them.

The fire area was one of our favorite areas. Lots of seating, bev holders, firewood and tools (Hatcher, fire starter etc), and even a citronella plant. We didn’t see a single mosquito while we were there.

The Loo is amazing! SUPER clean and creative. It has a clean and non-smelly compostable toilet, hand washing area, and very creative/useful shower. The shower worked so well and was unexpected!

For kids: you’re basically camping next to a pet zoo! We had a farm tour by our wonderful hosts (Lisa and Bonnie). The kids got to feed alpacas, goats, ducks, and even Jack-Jack the donkey! This was the highlight for the kids! The kids also loved the playground on site too.

We got some great hiking in on the Lewis River too. About 15 minutes for our site are Moultain, Lucia, and Yacolt Creek Falls.

This was truly “turn key” camping. We appreciated the less time setting up and more time enjoying the outdoors that this place offers.

Definitely stay here! You’ll love it!