Kelso is an ideal place for camping adventures of all kinds. Aside from great camping spots, you'll find hiking and many more outdoor experiences. Thinking of traveling with kids? You're in luck—Kelso is surrounded by family-friendly activities. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.
Far in the Northwestern corner of the United States lies a world of magic, splendor, and mystical beauty. Perched atop the historical Mount St. Helens, Seaquest State Park is the home-base for thousands of volcanic visitors year round. Most notable for its proximity to the Mount St. Helens Visitors Center, this park is the home base for hikers, explorers, tourists, and adventures alike. It’s not just the volcanic aftermath that makes this area so special. Even before the eruption, Gifford-Pinchot National Forest has always been known for its dense foliage, as well as its beautiful lakes, tributaries, and waterfalls.
When it comes to nearby attractions, the area is packed with them. Miles and miles of trails fork and wind throughout the park. Beyond the confines of the park’s boundaries are numerous additional trailheads, all offering something unique to those seeking it. Perhaps the most popular trail nearby is the Monitor Ridge trail. This 10 miles round trip excursion will have you climbing 2,000 vertical ft. through grassy meadows and winding forest paths. The last 1,000 feet are especially difficult due to the volcanic debris and soot that cakes your clothes. However when you finally reach the domed summit, you’ll be pleased with your efforts. Massive and expansive, the St. Helens dome is unlike any other scenic viewpoint in the US. Nowhere else can you see the true force and impact of Mother Nature’s wrath.
Nearby, the Mount St. Helens Ape Caves give visitors a chance to traverse through the labyrinth of volcanic caves left behind by magma runs during the the eruption. Today, the caves are a popular attraction for families and explorers. There’s two separate options, one which is well-lit and suited for families. The other option will send you through a pitch black adventure trekking the depths of the craggy, drippy tunnels. If planning to visit, be sure to bring a strong flashlight or kerosene lantern, as you’ll be unable to enter otherwise.
Camping in Seaquest State Park is relatively painless thanks to the 52 standard campsites, 18 partial-hookup sites, and 15 full-service sites. RVers, tent campers, van travelers, and anyone else with a form of shelter should have no issues finding somewhere to stay here. Aside from standard camping accommodations, there are also full-service Yurts available for rental, complete with heaters to stay warm if you’re visiting in the chilly months.
Toutle River RV Resort is located in Castle Rock, WA at the apex of the Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers and is one of the largest RV resorts in the Northwest. Our resort has the only private access to the confluence of the Toutle and Cowlitz River that offers access to the public (resort guests). The confluence of these two rivers is widely revered as one of the finest fishing holes in the state.
For The Explorer
Our resort is a fantastic base camp for the explorer, family vacation, or long-term guest. We offer 306 full hookup RV sites many offering 6,000 sq ft or more and up to 100 feet long. Masonry fire pits and BBQ's are located through out the park and all of our premium sites feature a fire pit, BBQ and park style picnic tables. These are truly beautiful sites. We offer the largest RV sites you are likely to find anywhere.
Other park amenities include our 20,000 square foot pavilion, pickle ball, pool, spa, disk golf, club house, store and much more (see attached list). We are located eight miles from the visitor center for Mt St Helens National Monument and hundreds of other activities on the resort grounds are very close. Both Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier are our neighbors and the Oregon Coast, Astoria, Long Beach, WA (the world's longest beach) Lewis & Clark National Park, and much more all less than two hours drive. The Tent Circle also has family style restrooms each with shower, ADA restroom and shower, volleyball court, multiple BBQ's, horse shoes, dishwashing station and more. All tent campers have full access to all resort facilities. This is a family vacation that is affordable and fun.
Other more intimate areas include Hot Dog Heaven and the Burger Hut. Both are covered areas for group BBQ's. These picnic shelters will accommodate groups up to 30 people. An additional shelter Camp Tales Movie Pavilion also features BBQ facilities and will accommodate groups up to 50 people. For groups from 20 to 3000 covered and we mean covered!
This 280-acre secluded, forested site is a favorite among youth organizations and other groups. It's easy to get back to nature at this beautiful park, with 24 Adirondacks (3-sided camp shelters), numerous tent sites, and a rustic day lodge complete with cooking facilities to accommodate groups of up to 250 people. Take a big step up from a tent and check out our rustic two-room cabins. Bring your horse, ride the trails and camp in a horse corral tent site. Camp Wilkerson is located 16 miles northwest of Scappoose, Oregon.
Tucked into a serene wooded hillside on the Columbia River in beautiful South West Washington, along the mighty Columbia River halfway between Longview and the Pacific Ocean lies Vista Park. Vista Park is a 75 acre year-round paradise that has been a part of the local community since 1981. We have partial and full RV hook-ups, with forest and river views. We also have dedicated tent sites, and hillside Yurts. Shipwatching, fushing, tennis, basketball, kayaking, boating, and hiking all await you!
$35 - $55 / night
$12 - $45 / night
We were treated in a discriminatory manner by the upper management. We felt extremely let down by how they behaved, since the main office worker, Jackie, had been very nice & professional.
Miranda, on the other hand,.. I do not recommend doing business with her. She looked down her nose at our RV, even though it is in great shape, only requiring a couple of easy updates that we had already explained how we were planning on dates to accomplish said updates.
Especially since, as you peruse the park, you see Multiple campers in violation of posted park rules, and much older & crummier looking RVs than we own, in much worse disrepair. Also, when Miranda called to deny us the spot, she began our phone call in a deceitful way, in fact lining me up to level the blow of rejection. Miranda is not kind at all, and treated my husband & I unfairly. We do Not recommend staying here.
Good price with shower . Accueil sympathique et très bon prix vu les prestations offertes je recommande
Beautiful and private campground, we'll be back for sure. Honey hole type toilets and lots of water spigots around. We didn't hike but there seemed to be lots of hiking trails, plus the beautiful river! Despite there being a total burn ban (propane stoves only) there were SEVERAL fires happening all weekend which was disappointing.
Most sites are really private which we loved. We walked through the three loops that were open and made note of the sites that looked most private/flat-ish for a tent/good location. In our opinion these were the best sites we could see: Loop B 24, 52, 47, 44, 39, 38, 36, 31. Loop C 56, 57, 60, 69. Loop D 78, 80, 84 (this one seemed to have an awesome trail leading right down the river!). No cell service so plan accordingly!
It’s a great, fairly secluded spot, large sites, beautiful to be in. Don’t forget to reserve your site in advance and get your Discover Pass!
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.
Primitive campsites. Free campsites. Quiet.
Excellent dispersed site next to electronic towers.
I gave this park a high rating primarily because of its location. It is a great place to launch your Mount Saint Helens exploration, with a Washington State Visitor Center you can walk to from the campground. We had hookups but our site was very close to the site next to us and we had no privacy there. If you don’t need hookups, I would recommend the loop that has 32 - 54. These were much more private and actually had better Wi-Fi than our location. Bathrooms are convenient and have free showers. There was better hot water at the bathroom on the loop with sites 32 - 54.
Seaquest has something for everyone. My campsite was not close to the road , but I stayed when Johnston Ridge was closed, so maybe road noise would be a factor at other times.
Some pluses here include: some private sites, lots of trees, bathroom / showers, playground, open areas, close to other points of interest. And for those who can’t live without it: WiFi.
Although bathrooms were clean, I believe they could use an upgrade. Showers in particular.
A very nice campground, close to Portland. Well maintained, bathrooms were the cleanest I’ve seen at a campground.
Had an amazing time as always. Bring your kayak, paddle board or boat. The water is awesome. Fishing is good for trout out on the water. All camp sites are clean and ready when you arrive.showers are clean if needed
My grandson loves coming here with us the two ponds they stock with fish. The second time here the only drawback is some of the vegetation is overgrown and could use some trimming
We put the size of our RV in the state website and it gave us site 50. We arrived and it was IMPOSSIBLE to get our rig in that site due to the trees. We couldn't even continue out the secondary loop because it was so narrow and had trees on the inside of turns. Not to mention cars sticking out into the roads. The site map is not accurate at all! Luckily the sites before 50 were unoccupied so I was able to back into those and turn around and go out back to the main loop. What a disappointment. NOWHERE on the parks website has a maximum RV length. What a disaster to bring the whole family out only have to turn around and go back home. Oh, and also the water access was completely closed off.
Quiet with beautiful views. Best camp playground I’ve ever seen!
Fantastic place. Long trailers might have trouble
Mossyrock Park is one of 4 day use/campground parks run by Tacoma Power. This one sits on the southwest side of Riffe Lake just above the Mossyrock Dam. It's a really lovely park. Lots of open space, playground, disc golf, dog park, beach area, concession stand, boat ramp, and several camping loops. The campground varied greatly in types of spaces and could accommodate tents up to fairly large RVs. We had a space in the Main campground that had 30 amp and water. The spot was paved with a picnic table and fire ring with a BBQ grate and a view of the lake through the trees. It was not very level though. We have an older 5th wheel that doesn't have a fancy auto leveling system so it took quite a bit of time to get everything level side to side and front to back. At one point, we had to hook back up to our truck to raise the front landing gear and add some blocks because we couldn't get the trailer low enough in the front. The spot really was nice though with plenty of space between spots. I do think we lucked out though because this was not the case in some of the other loops. Their spaces were a bit closer together. All in all, we did enjoy our time there. Our kiddo really liked the playground and getting ice cream at the concession stand after dinner. This park is family, dog, and fishing friendly. Many folks brought their boats right along with their trailers. We would camp here again sometime.
Very nice campground. Large, clean sites. Lots of hiking and mountain biking trails within the park and a regional rail to trail runs through it.
I really appreciated other Dyrt reviews that said the shadier, more private sites are numbered below 40. We were in 38.
The walk in sites in Dairy Loop surround a meadow, so less private. The other walk in sites on the other side of the visitor center are very sweet. Just little sites carved out of the woods. They are a longer walk from the car and have a pit toilet instead of flush. But very sweet.
I very much liked the facilities, camp host, campsite.
I’m a light sleeper though, and could hear cars and trucks driving till 1am. I was in a tent though, if you have a camper I’m sure it is far less noticeable.
The sites are quite private, and the campground was quiet. Our site was a nice size, but we got a double site, and it said it could fit 12 peeps. It had room for 1, maybe 2 tents. So We had 1 small RV and a tent. Other tent campers were going to join, and they would not have fit on this site 34 B. We could have fit a second small RV. The campground is like fairy wonderland with so much moss and greenery. All of the vualt toilets were spotless and smelled fine. It was quiet, and everyone was respectful and leashed their dogs, and managed their kiddos. The river is amazing, and there is a trail loop that is not fully open now, but you can walk along the river. The river was moving very fast in early June, and we would not have felt safe being beginning kayakers. The river was moving quite fast and seemed turbulent. We have At & T cell service. We had no service at all. It Was nice to be unplugged. We did bring two dogs, and it seemed dog friendly. We loved it and can not wait to go back!
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.
this was so awesome.. we used the walk-in camp sites that had been closed till the moment we asked after closing due to a tree falling in one of the bathrooms.. so me and my friend were the only ones out there.. but the walk in and out is nothing but a hill. but that was a small price for the beautiful seclusion. I doubt it will ever be the same when I go back..
Beautiful spot to camp no well keep nice and quite
I love bringing my family out here to camp every summer. This camping spot has easy water access and I never find that it is too busy. The camping is on gravel so make sure to bring THICK pads if sleeping on the ground. This is definitely the place to use a cot or car camp. Bathrooms were clean and the hosts were always sweet.
Boy Howdy!
What a treat! This is a great campground for young kids. Lots of trees to tie up a hammock and a great shallow river for wading and playing. Additionally, the airport next store is a lovely field for frisbee or soccer. Watch out for the planes! There were plenty of sites on a busy holiday weekend when there was nothing else available. Proximity to Vernonia was great as the town is lovely. There are good parks, a swimming hole and a rails to trails trail.
Had a great time inside V4. Campground is nice clean restrooms and right on the beach. Lots of boat traffic to watch. Great hiking.
Showed up in the dark & rain, no reservations in February. Lots of room at each site, very clean, nice bathrooms, quiet. Easy onsite reservation/payment.
That noise. It's not the river. It's I-5 which is right in your back yard. And it goes on all night long. "Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" It was fine.
Camping near Kelso, Washington, offers a mix of beautiful scenery and fun activities for everyone. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or an adventure-filled getaway, there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near Kelso, Washington, has something for everyone, from families to solo adventurers. Just remember to check the specifics of each campground to make the most of your trip!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Kelso, WA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Kelso, WA is Seaquest State Park Campground with a 4.1-star rating from 44 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Kelso, WA?
TheDyrt.com has all 40 glamping camping locations near Kelso, WA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
