Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Goose Prairie, WA

So I tried booking a spot through this app, and then cashapp was pending the purchase. I ended up calling the campground and they never received my booking. So I waited about 10 min and then I seen that my money was refunded. I ended up calling the camp back and booking it through over the phone. Same price....so I don't see what discount might have done. And also this campground or the lady who answered the phone had never heard of this APP...and named a few partners they work with....this app not being one of them...so...I don't know... ANYWHO.....

Stayed one night, the site 204 was a little difficult to find. The on-site store was pretty good size, from what I saw they had camping gear and regular convenience store stuff. When we got there there was only 1 other tent/ family set up a space away. The site was In a good place, just a walk away from the river. We did have like 2 hornets make their way into our tent. I used the showers behind the dog park, which had 2 shower stalls. And was empty. Hot water instantly, cute lil set up. The campground it self was pretty big...like it was a little town...big play area for kids, lake looked big, same with dog park. Then I took a walk around on the path, and followed the river (as in picture). Quiet time at 10....woke up early and packed up...felt safe, didn't get bothered..no trouble checking In...loved it...

Eastern Washington near the water is my favorite type of landscape.  It's a hot, windy, and a true desert climate.  When you get near a body of water like you do along the Yakima River, the diversity of life expands and makes for great wildlife watching.

Umtanum Recreation Site is part of several BLM campgrounds lumped together along the Yakima River known as the Yakima River Canyon Campgrounds.  All can be reserved ahead of time via the reservation.gov website:  https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/250985.  Standard for most BLM camping in Washington, sites are very basic.  Gravel parking, pit toilets, and a picnic table.  This place does have a dumpster for trash, not all do.  There are no hook ups, no drinking water, and in our case, very little shade.  Neighbors are close and there is not a lot of privacy.  The day use area is right there too, close to camping and can be loud.  It is heavily patrolled by the wonderful BLM folks to keep everything clean and the people orderly.  They also give out tickets if you don't mind the warnings for correct passes or day use fees.

The campground itself is one little loop with six sites.  The loop is an offshoot of a very large gravel parking area for day use.  Mostly boat launching and hiking access to Umtanum Creek and Umtaum Ridge trails.   You can check the Information Board for rules on day use and camping fees, passes, and how to check to see if a site is reserved. 

We arrived on July 3rd in the afternoon.  The campground was very quiet and all the sites were reserved.  The morning of July 4th, the recreation site turned into a total madhouse.  BLM Rangers, Law Enforcement, making constant rounds to patrol the never ending hoards of people coming to park and float the river. There was a lot of noise, dust, drunk and rowdy folks.  Friday was calm again until afternoon, Saturday was not as bad as the 4th but still pretty crazy.  It was also hot!  No shade to be had in our site.  After hiking in the morning, we spent a lot of time across the bridge, in it's shadow, in the river.  

If you are using this spot as a base to do some hiking, fishing, or floating it's very convenient.  I am sure in Spring and Fall when river floating is not at it's peak, it's gorgeous and peaceful.  The raptors and songbirds are splendid.  We saw Bighorn sheep on the hill, big rock squirrels, wild turkeys with babies, and fish.  No rattlesnakes or ticks, but this is prime territory.  Hiking down the Umtanum Creek trail, over the suspension bridge, is one of my favorite hikes ever.

My father and I snowshoed to this yurt for my birthday in right before the corona virus outbreak. With several feet of deep snow, this 12.5 mile snow hike was no joke. Took us 8 hours to get to the yurt. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of daylight to get up there.

Pets are not allowed inside the yurt for consideration of other guests and their possible allergies. We just set up a tarp over the porch outside for our dog. Twenty feet away from the front door is the vault toilet. It’s in great condition and very clean. Warm fire place and plenty of furniture or ground space for sleeping arrangements. You can reserve the yurt to have it all to yourself at skimta.org once the virus restrictions are over.

I've been coming here since I was a little kid and it's still one of my favorite campgrounds (with leashed pets allowed). It's cute, wooded, with a moss covered old growth forest, fairly private camps, with one large group site available. Obviously the river spots are the prime locations but we recently had to branch out and stayed in the more wooded Loop B at site B4. We found we had plenty of space and privacy for a party of 5. At this location we had piped water between us and site B5, and we were conveniently located a short walk from restrooms and Purcell Falls. There are plenty of options to keep you busy inside the campground such as visit to one of the many rivers or creeks, the blue hole or a hike to Purcell falls.
If you choose to use the campground as a base camp your close to many other options as well; Ohanapecosh campground and amphitheater, hike naches peak loop, visit the town of Packwood or Mount Rainier National Park (no pets allowed).