Best Tent Camping near Naches, WA

Not what I was expecting. Not ideal for tent camping, and the river was nowhere to be found.

Beautiful campground USFS several RV Sites, tent sites on the lake water no hookups vaulted toilets very clean. camp host Mike was very helpful with local information

We stayed in the tent camping area. RV section looks very nice too. Had a great time, but next visit will select a site in the lower loop, further away from the interstate noise. Lots of trails for walking/biking and a swim area. Access to the upper stretch of the Yakima River. Clean restrooms and varied site size.

Great place to camp during Rodeo. Need to book a year in advance. Super nice sites on the Yakima river. My parents rented a cabin and we're wowwed! Nice folks and awesome scenery. Power and water to tent site. Good cell service and wifi. Hope to stay again soon

Short jaunt to the lake which is a popular fishing spot for those willing to carry a boat. Ample room for RVs; no tent camping unless you like sleeping on gravel. Toilet is clean and maintained. Some noise from the off-road vehicle recreation area across the road, but quieter at night. No tree cover for shade but I visited in the springtime and the weather was pleasantly cool.

Stayed here while in the area to do a trail run. The campground is super well maintained, with plenty of parking at every spot. If you are tent camping, they have ~16' gravel pads for a tent at each site. 

You will likely be surrounded by moderately high-end RVs. We definitely felt like the hillbillies of the park rolling up in Leif the Adventure Van. 

Not a lot of food choices close by, with a pizza place and the clubhouse up the road being your only choices unless you want to drive into Quincy.

This is the largest site in the lower Yakima Canyon and has mostly campsites for RVs, etc, but a couple of walk in tent sites. BLMused to let camping be free during the off season but now charges $15 per night, no matter the site type. And if your a tent camper like me, then you also get the short end of the stick because the walk in sites do not have any shade while most of the RV sites do. Additionally, 90+% are reservable from ~Memorial Day to Labor Day, so don't plan on trying to get lucky unless on a first come first serve sure unless you can get there before 5 pm on a Friday. There is no water here.

Came last minute during father's day weekend looking for a tent site. The booth host was very helpful letting us know that there was only two spots left and answering many more questions. We were able to find a perfect site for my family of 4. Clean raised tent bed with pea-gravel raked evenly good for 6-7 person tent . Fire pit is decently sized approximately 3x2 with a flip top grill that covers half of it. Paved road gravel parking space big enough for a trailer/camper . Dumpster and water spicket as well as a bathroom with pay to use shower's . ¢50-1 token = 3 minute shower. Small playground with a basketball court by the bathrooms. Lovely river walk trail follows the Yakima River . Activities for children such as the Jr. Ranger program. Gas station is close just cross the highway sells firewood as well . Overall great first time at the campground friendly staff will be coming back.

Beautiful campsite. We tent camped at site 36 - and it was great! We were able to reserve the spot online months in advance which was nice. It was a spacious site and we only had one other camp site next to us and there was lots of space and privacy between us and the other sides were forest and river. The nearest restroom to site 36 is a vault toilet (which was very clean and filled with air fresheners!) but the nicer restrooms with flush toilets and warm running water is just a short walk away. I was surprised we could hear some traffic from our site with being so close to the river but it wasn’t that bad. The park hosts were very friendly and helpful - always driving around with firewood for sale and keeping the bathrooms clean and stocked. As we drove through the campground I did feel that the other sites that weren’t on the river were very small and close together with little privacy - the ones along the river are definitely the ones to try and grab! The river was beautiful and the feeling of being nestled in the mountains and trees was very relaxing. We would definitely recommend this campground.

So my partner and I had chosen to stay here for a few nights, we didn't reserve online, when we got there the ranger allowed us to go see which spot we liked, because there was a lot open. We chose spot 64 the one way in the back for tent campsites. When we got there, there was 3 others tents up in the area, spread apart of course a good length too. I read that there was a "Homeless" problem, but I didn't see one homeless our whole stay...besides myself lol I bought a power station and had to charge it at a RV spot #15. There I charged my phone and laptop. I did leave my shampoo and conditioner in the showers and those were taken, who can blame em, they were good ones. Lol my own fault. Anywho...bring some shower sandals because the showers are dirty...but they are FREE. Bathrooms are nice and clean. We didn't get bothered once, we got left alone, and even though we looked like the crazy tweaker tent there, cuz we had tarps over our tent....but it was raining. Lol A skunk did cross our path and ran behind our tent...but that's all the action. During this time it was $25 a night for tents. It was close to town but not TOO close....BIG park. For dogs and kids...good park

Pretty good reviews here but I'd add a couple things. There are two campgrounds on either side of the park. One has at least two loops of tent sites (no hookups) with water, flush toilets and showers. This site is below the dam that creates Lake Easton. There's a nice river walk tail along the Yakima River but no lake view. There is also a very busy rail line immediately on the other side of the river. Many campers have mentioned the freeway traffic noise in this park but I was bothered much more by the rail noise. There's a small switching yard only about a mile away from the site in the town of Easton. The horns and start up of these huge trains at 3 AM sound like the end of the world!

The site on the opposite side of the park (NW) has one loop of full hookups, asphalt parking pads for RV's and is on a bluff overlooking the lake. The views will take your breath away! While you are well away from the rail noise, this campground is much closer to the freeway. Depending of the time of day (and the number of motorcycles going by) it can be a little difficult to hear conversation.

Both spots are very pretty but you have to "pick your poison" when it comes to the noise.

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

Awesome campsite, good host. Little Naches is just across the road with some beautiful native trout. Spacious site with plenty of room for parking, large tent, fire, hammock, picnic table.

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.