Best Tent Camping near Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, WA

What else can I say than we truly loved Chelan! We fell in love with this campsite last summer and already have our reservation confirmed for this summer!

This RV and tent campground is huge and we got a spot right on the lake, which was unforgettable! We made fires by the lake and had a very private tent site. The restrooms were quiet and clean, and there is so much to do in the nearby surrounding area! Highly highly recommend!

Half way along the mountain loop highway you encounter numerous spacious tent sites with fire rings and gorgeous river & Mountain View camp grounds.

The tent sites are all walk in on a big lawn by the river. Sites are nicely spaced between one another. Each site has a fire pit and picnic table. There are some nice trees spaced in the lawn so you get shade.

It's one of my favorite spots because of the fishing access. The tent sites are right on the waterfront behind a row of foliage. The Skagit is a fishable river and spectacular when the salmon pinks run every other year. You can hear them jumping and splashing from your camp site. It's amazing.

And on your way home you have to stop by the 4B's Cafe in Concrete. Is a from scratch bakery and amazing!!!

We had a tent site up on the hill that was semi-private with beautiful views. Plenty of birds to wake you with the sunrise. I could see how the lake could be busy in peak months but it wasn’t while we were here.

We used a tent site which was in excellent shape. The views from our site were of the North Cascades. Only a short block walk into the heart of Winthrop which has all amenities, restaurants, micro brews, shopping etc. Very clean restrooms, ( $1.00 for a 2 minute shower) laundry available

We stayed in a tiny house at this campsite, and had a great time exploring the local area. The campground also offers plenty of RV and tent sites. There are quite a few amenities as well including a pool and WiFi.

About 30 minutes from Leavenworth, this campground is a great launchpad for some unforgettable adventures. We look forward to coming back to explore even more!

We were surprisingly pleased with this campground. Our site was was a tent site only. The sites are spread out and do offer a little privacy. The sites have a picnic table, fire pit and a bear box. The restrooms a bit dated and you could defiantly tell they need to be updated. Diablo lake is beautiful and plenty of hiking trails to keep you busy. We will be back.

This is one of the most amazing campgrounds I’ve ever visited. It doesn’t look like much but it boasts waterfront tent camping and the showers and bathrooms are always clean and stocked. Sites are relatively small but big enough for two tents, their picnic table, fire pit, and some camping chairs. With two docks for fishing and floating as well as the adjascent boat launch, you’ll be able to play with all your water toys on Wapato Lake! I would highly recommend staying here if you want to visit the Chelan area without camping in downtown proper.

What can I say that others haven't!? Some of the best car camping in the Cascades. The lake is shockingly blue and COLD, but after a sweaty day of hiking is the ultimate in refreshment! Camp sites are close but feel secluded enough. If you walk into the tent sites on the north side of the campground you have some better options if you want to lug all of your gear with you.

Neve Camp is another far off adventure that is totally worth taking; located in the North Cascades not too deep off the thickly forested Thunder Creek Trail.

When planning our trip, we read reviews on other sites where folks thought the trail was boring, but we disagree. It is thickly forested but we were still able to glimpse the icy blue creek through the trees here and there and there was so much more to see! We found snails, mushrooms, wild flowers, all kinds of edible wild berries, trees large enough to stand inside, a rock cave in the hillside, and, of course, the sweet wooden foot bridge leading across Thunder Creek right into the first camp of the trail, Thunder Creek Camp . We bypassed this camp for two main reasons; 1) it’s located uncomfortably close to the trail, and 2) it’s only 1.5 miles into the trail (though not a bad spot if you got a late start and wanted to skip spending the night at Colonial Creek campground at the trail-head) and we wanted to see what lay ahead. We trekked another easy 1 mile before finding signs to Neve Camp. We wandered the nicely spread out campsites until settling on the dope site with the awesome river views from the fire pit/cook area. The tent sites for this camp are located on a small side trail up the hill a bit. They even have a nice pit toilet which isn’t enclosed so you can enjoy the surrounding forest while there. We had originally planned to head out the next morning, heading further up the trail but at breakfast our group of four decided we weren’t going anywhere as we were all in love with Neve Camp! We had an amazing view and sounds of the river to help lull us to sleep at night. During the day we watched all kinds of birds use the river as a freeway to head up or downstream. We saw many osprey, herons, a few formations of Canadian geese, a family of woodpeckers and more small birds we didn’t have names for. Did I mention the berries? The boys wandered the forest collecting all kinds of berries; blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, salal berry, salmon berry, and strawberry. We assume all those berries is why we found fresh bear scat on the trail, and spotted a black bear across the creek from us on our last morning in camp.

This location could be used as a mini base camp to hike up or down the trail a bit more. Neve Camp is also located very near the trail fork leading to Fourth of July Pass.

Really the only remotely negative thing I can say about this spot was that the tent sites were a bit small. We rock a Marmot Limelight 2P and we hardly had enough room to set up our tent! Once we jammed it in the tent site, however, we were good to go and the tent site size no longer mattered.

Alta Lake is a nice, clean park with decent tent sites. We had a site in Loop 2 on the right (on the lake side). It was away from the main area, parking lots, boat launch or store, so pretty quiet. Our site was sweet, it had a trail down to a small open sandy stretch of beach that was basically our own private beach. Took the cooler and a pop up tent and enjoyed the beach all day. We went in August and it was hot, the lake was super refreshing! (photo from WA State Parks & Rec commission)

We stayed at Lake Chelan State Patk and had a wonderful experience. We rode our bicycles, but admittedly not a lot of options away from the road. However, we did a lot of kayaking early and later in the day and had a wonderful time. The water was calm like glass and so clear. We stayed in a tent site which was perfect for our campervan. Although we were next to the boat trailer parking lot, really didn't notice the traffic. Friendly staff and clean restrooms.

General: A variety of different campsites in two sections ranging from economy to basic to popular, with and without hookups, and priced according to peak or non-peak season. There are also three cabins and two group camp areas. 

Site Quality: We are happy we were able to book a basic tent site with our campervan (there were more than a few others with RVs in these sites). Parking was on grass and not completely level, but we made it work. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring (although there was a fire ban in effect when we were there). The sites with utilities had paved camper pads. 

Bath/Shower house: Clean with soap and air dryers. The showers are free but you are asked to not use more than three button pushes. My shower in the afternoon was completely COLD and I am not sure if it was the time of day, the particular shower, or user error. My husband’s shower got hot midway through. 

Activities/Amenities: All things water-based including jet skis, water skiing, kayaking, SUP, and fishing. There is also a boat wash. There are also numerous trails used for hiking, running, and mountain biking. Other activities include volleyball and horseshoes.

Despite my cold shower and the fact that state parks are becoming increasingly pricy (with reservation and out-of-state fees, we paid $ 77 for two nights for a tent site), we enjoyed our stay here.

Stopped to check out Goose Creek Campground which was pretty much empty when we got there, but had loads of trash left behind by previous campers. The waterfront sites were awesome and you had your pick between tent sites right at the creek's edge or some more spacious sites that could accommodate RVs and trailers up higher overlooking the water. IMO the creekside sites are the better ones if you can score them since passing cars would kick up the fine dust in the dirt lot RV/trailer sites.

Nestled along a creek, close to popular Lake Wenatchee, this is a great place to camp if you want to spend time at the Lake, but do not want to deal with the "loop crowds".

Sites have picnic tables, firepits, and grills.

Tip: Tent Sites 52-56 are the best (along the creek, a little spaced out) 50-51 are close to each other. Half of the campsites are now reservation and half are first come first serve. It is also a seasonal campground, so check before you go to make sure it's open.

Disclaimer - I never camped here, but we visit the park all the time during the day whenever we are in the area to let our dog swim and just enjoy the lake.

This place is BUSY. There is no real privacy as most of the sites are clumped together on loops in a grass field by the lake.

The lake is fun - people are always boating (there is a boat slip) and floating and swimming. So if you want to be around a large community, (and don't mind no privacy) then this could be the place for you.

If you are tent camping, there are MUCH better campgrounds in the area that offer more privacy.

a short 3 hours from seattle on beautiful lake chelan is the Lake chelan state park at First Creek. This park is about 10 miles from town and has tent sites that are right on the lake, its amazing. There is a boat launch and large swimming area. because chelan is such a lake tourist town in the summer, do not expect that this is a quiet serene camping experience. But if you are looking to come to chelan book your site early. Also the fourth of july fireworks show is directly across the lake from the state park.

Located directly in front of the North Cascades Visitor Center. The campground is as described. We tent camped in loop A near the hike-in sites. Of course it was rainy but we were still very happy with this campground. The bathrooms were clean and had one electric outlet. The water spigot was in front of the restrooms. The bear box was excellent and there were plenty of trees for privacy. There is one general store nearby but no restaurants so I’d recommend coming prepared. The NP Rangers are lovely and pointed us in the right direction for hikes. We drove into Newhalem to hike the Ladder Creek Falls Trail behind the Gorge Powerhouse. It is beautiful! Then we drove up Lake Diablo - Gorgeous!

Howard Miller Steelhead is luxury camping. Lots of spots for RV's, but not a lot of trees. Paved roads everywhere. There are only a few tent sites, but they are right along a beautiful river. Again, no trees between sites though. When looking for a site in the dark, I definitely stumbled across a few other people's spots. I'm more of a rustic person, so this campsite wasn't for me. But it's location is great - it's right along the North Cascades Highway. The backdrop of the mountains is beautiful. Sorry no pictures. I was on my way to a rustic backpacking trip before sunrise.