Best Dispersed Camping near Ilwaco, WA

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Ilwaco

13 Reviews of 3 Ilwaco Campgrounds

• 

  John P.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 14, 2024

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Easy Car Camp

  Relative to other options in Northwest Oregon this was an easy to find, plenty of space place to park the car. My partner and I angled our vehicle to block our tent from the road and slept like rocks.

  Not scenic (though the waterfall that is a short hike away is). My only safety concern is someone taking the corner too fast running into your car.

• 

  Mary S.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 10, 2024

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Nice view, bumpy drive!

  This spot was great for a night! Super quiet. There was some trash around the site and the road, so I picked up as much as I could. The view was misted over but beautiful anyway- however, in my little Nissan Versa, I struggled on the roads up and down. I eventually kept it around 5-10mph to avoid damaging my car, but I got there just fine and had no issues at the campsite. I've got T-Mobile and had full bars.

• 

  Kaitlin B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 26, 2024

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Views

  Excellent dispersed site next to electronic towers.

• I

  Iwa

  Traveler

  

  May. 24, 2024

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Great views, privacy, and cell service!

  Great cell service! I was able to work remotely (teams calls) for 3 days with no issues. Also beautiful views! I went all the way to the top near the cell towers.

• J

  Jaden J.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 4, 2023

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Amazing Hike!!

  This place was beautiful!! Definitely best for car camping as the spots down by the river were pretty wet and muddy this time of year. The waterfall is amazing and only a 15 minute hike down! The only reason this place got lower than a 5 star is because of all the trash near the parking lot. Too beautiful of a place to be used as a dump!! Definitely used as a party spot but aside from this it’s worth the visit!

• m

  malia

  Scout

  

  Jul. 18, 2023

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Decent place for the night

  A big pavement pull off on the ride of the road. The river is a walk down a very steep hill behind the pullout. No place to pitch a tent, best for car camping. Had some issues with people stopping and playing loud music, seems to be a hangout spot.

• 

  Renee S.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 3, 2023

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Nice place for a night

  Perfect place to stay for a night. A lot of trash left behind by others though.

• 

  Jen C.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 26, 2023

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Primative yet beautiful

  I have been coming here for 15 years had great times . Love the lakes snag and western. Stocked each spring with trout. So much fun for the kids to catch and eat them ..

• 

  Alyson M.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 29, 2022

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Beautiful Views and Great Service

  Snag Lake and Western Lake Campgrounds were both full, so we explored and went to the top of the mountain/hill near the cell towers. It had cement for parking and seemed to be a viewing point so we called it good. Not sure if this is a “legal” campsite but it sure was beautiful.

• 

  Allyson N.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 24, 2022

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Has what you need

  in a clearing for solar power, surrounded by brush had has decent cell signal. seems to be a quiet road.

• 

  Sarah J.

  Guide

  

  Feb. 27, 2022

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Beautifully muddy

  The trails are great and the waterfall is beautiful. The pulloff is muddy and hard but it's worth it.

• 

  Jeremy B.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 10, 2022

  Road to Snag Lake - Dispersed

  Great secluded spot in the woods

  Great spot because it's so secluded in the forest. There's basically zero traffic on the dirt road near the campsite. A lot of the trees around seem to be new growth. Great view of the stars at night!

  There are at least 4 other campsite off this road at different points if you keep driving. Some of them are more or less level and more or less muddy. This one was the best, but there are lots of options. All of them are commonly used because there are ashes from fires. There's a moderate amount of trash at most of them.

  Requires a Discovery Pass. I bought a day pass for $12 online since I don't need the annual pass. They tell you to write the date and order number in large print on a piece of paper and put it on your dash. No one came to check my pass though (in January, so it's the off season)

  You have to take a dirt road to reach the campsite, but it is pretty well maintained. The only difficulty I encountered were two points where a few inches of road were a bit washed out. They were small enough that I could manage them alright in a 2WD van that had normal clearance. So most cars could probably manage them.

  There's a small trail behind this spot that that leads to the creek, which is nice. Other than that, you can hike along the dirt roads, but there aren't any actual hiking trails that I found. I saw a porcupine for the first time while wandering one of the side roads! I didn't drive up to Snag Lake.

• 

  Jeremy B.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 8, 2022

  Beaver Falls Trailhead - Overnight

  Great pullout in the woods

  This is my first wildcamping/boondocking location, but I loved it. It feels like you're right in the middle of the forest! It's a wide dirt pullout with room for 7-10 cars. And although it's right alongside the road, it's not a super busy road like some highway spots, so it felt pretty secluded and quiet. Very few cars at night.

  No signs of any kind indicating "no parking." 1 bar of Verizon LTE.

  The dirt was solid -- I wasn't worried at all about getting stuck in the mud (and I'm here in the middle of winter with tons of recent rain). Plenty of room to turn around with ease.

  And you're right at a hiking trail that takes you to beautiful falls!! What more could you ask for? -- Don't make the mistake I did. The trail all the way on the left side of the parking lot takes you to the falls. The trails in the middle of the lot are super steep and muddy and don't lead to the falls.

  Only downside is it's not perfectly flat. It wasn't too bad though. I just parked with my head pointing uphill when I go to bed, of course.

  There is also another option down the road to the east about 500 feet. It's a paved pullout, but it is smaller so it doesn't have as much space to turnaround.