Searching for a tent campsite near North Cascades National Park? The Dyrt can help you find the best tent campsites for your next trip. Would you prefer a quiet dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities? Either way, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
Along Thunder Creek Trail, the first open view is from a 1970 burn at about 4.5 miles (7.2 km). Here an emerging forest of young Douglas-fir and a profusion of seed bearing herbs and shrubs attract birds, rodents and their predators. Across the valley, note a newer burn from lightning strikes in 1990. Rock cliffs and McAllister Glacier provide natural fire breaks and a splendid backdrop for this evolving forest scene. The next backcountry camps, McAllister hiker and stock, are located at mile 6.7 (10.8 km) and are a popular overnight destination. Pass the stock camp first, with a view from a high cliff down Thunder Creek. This view was created in the massive floods of 2003, when the river below shifted course significantly and carved into the cliff, suddenly bringing trail and hiker into much closer proximity to the creek! Hikers continue a short distance and cross the roaring creek on a log bridge to access the spacious and green creek-side hiker camp. The far site is a group site. Smaller Tricouni Camp lies 1.3 miles (2.1 km) beyond McAllister, in a more open salal forest, just after crossing Fisher Creek on a bridge. From Tricouni, the trail begins its first real climb: a relentless 2.2 miles (3.5 km) gains over 1000 feet (305 m) to reach Junction Camps (hiker and stock) and a major trail junction. From the high ridge of the hiker camp, enjoy an expansive view of Boston Glacier and Tricouni Peak. From here, one may either take the Fisher Creek Trail 14.8 miles (23.8 km) over Easy Pass to SR 20, or continue on the Thunder Creek Trail to Park Creek Pass. Both ways lead to grand trail experiences.
Sahale Glacier Camp is a collection of flat spots ringed with rocks piled up against the wind. Camping in the Sahale Glacier Camp requires a backcountry permit, available on a first-come, first-served basis at the ranger station in Marblemount.
Just to the east of the pass, the Sahale Arm Trail veers steeply north towards Sahale Peak. The views from Sahale Arm are breathtaking as the trail ascends through sublpine meadows and over steep rock scree, before ending at the toe of the Sahale Glacier and a designated campsite.
From Cascade Pass, you can also head east and downward towards campsites at Pelton Basin and a popular side-trip to Horseshoe Basin-a spectacular steep walled cirque with waterfalls, wildflowers, and an historic mining site.
Great views. Alpine meadows. This forested campground is located in the Hart's Pass Area, near the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. No trailers allowed on Forest Road 5400 to Hart's Pass (very narrow road).
Permit Details: https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/permits.htm
There are countless backcountry routes and possibilities in this wild land. The diversity of climate and geography creates very different habitats on the west and east side of the crest, as well as fostering a great array of plants and animals.
Cascading water is fed by over 300 glaciers and countless snowfields. Lakes are abundant. Almost 400 miles (644 km) of trails, mostly in major drainages and over high passes, traverse this tremendous landscape.
Your path may follow a route used for many centuries by people who have long crossed these mountains or sought food and resources here, or you may venture to an area so wild it feels as if you are the first explorer.
Along the way, the Bridge Creek Trail provides access to the McAlester Lake, Dagger Lake, Rainbow Lake, and North Fork trails. At Bridge Creek Camp, which makes an excellent base for exploration, trails radiate east and west and link up to many more options.
Backcountry Camping: A backcountry permit is required for all overnight stays. Permits are limited. There are numerous campsites along this trail, at most five miles apart. Some of the camps, such as Two Mile or Thunder Basin are small and do not hold larger groups. Designated stock camps are located at McAllister, Junction, and Thunder Basin, as well as at Five Mile along the Park Creek Trail. The main trail winds through some exceptionally large old cedar and fir trees, with periodic views of the creek. Woodland flowers abound in season. This is the home of many birds, including owls, woodpeckers, and osprey near the creek. Look for deer and other animal tracks in the sandy soil and mud. At around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) the trail crosses Thunder Creek on a large wooden bridge. Thunder Camp lies just on the other side, and is a wonderful destination for families or for a first backpack. Many day hikers also enjoy bird watching from the bridge or exploring the nearby gravel bars. A quarter mile past the bridge and camp, the Fourth of July Trail junction is on the left. Following this trail up 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of switchbacks to Fourth of July Pass provides beautiful mountain views, particularly from the backcountry camp. Neve Camp is a quarter mile beyond this junction, and is another lovely forested camp set well off the trail alongside the thunderous waters of the creek--which looks and sounds more like a small river at this point.
Campgrounds in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area are walk-in sites located in the Stehekin Valley at the head of Lake Chelan. Purple Point Campground is an approximatly eight minute walk from the boat dock at Stehekin Landing along a paved road. Most sites are located very near the road. Stehekin is a remote community with limited facilities and is only accessible by foot, boat, or plane.
Visitors can access several trails from near the campground, such the Imus Trail, the Purple Creek Trail, and the Lakeshore Trail. Other trails trails further up the valley can be reached by via foot, bike, or shuttle bus. Many of the trails from Stehekin provide the opportunity for longer wilderness backpacks. A backcountry permit is required for overnight stays in the backcountry. Visitors can boat, fish, and swim (although the water is a chilly 45 degrees) in Lake Chelan. Bears do inhabit the area, so care should be taken when hiking, picnicking, or camping.
For facility specific information, please call (360) 854-7200.
Stehekin is a gateway into the east side of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Many short to multi-day backpacking trips begin in the Stehekin area. Other attractions in the area are the historic Buckner Orchard, where visitors can pick apples in the fall, and Rainbow Falls, a 312-foot waterfall near the Stehekin Valley Road.
Great views. Alpine meadows. Access to Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. This campground is located in the Hart's Pass Area. No trailers allowed on Forest Road 5400 (very narrow road). Guard station at Hart's Pass.
Traveler
The campground is surrounded by mountains and is located along Early Winters Creek. It’s a great home base to hike the many trails throughout the North Cascades National Park. After a long day, cool off in the creek. There are tent only and RV sites, dirt pads, paved roads, and plenty of shade.
Guide
Spacious sites with beautiful Mountain View’s. RV sites equipped with water & electric hookup. Nice clean gravel sites with fire ring & picnic tables.
20 miles to North Cascades National Park.
LegendThis campground is right alongside a sweet and fenced neighborhood playground, on the banks of the river. Pretty, tranquil spots and camp hosts on site. There isn’t much here, but a diner nearby has great reviews and it’s a good spot to jump off into the North Cascades National Park.
Legend
This is by far the nicest campground in North Cascades National Park that one can drive to. If you are lucky to be able to reserve beach side spots on Diablo Lake you will also have lots of privacy and incredible views of this amazing turquoise blue lake and maybe even your own water access/beach. If not, the dock and beach are only a few steps away. Bathrooms are pretty basic, no showers. Cell reception is non-existent. Amazing access to the lake and incredible hikes from your campsite!
Legend
Sweet little spot on the Skagit River, just west of Newhalem, run by the National Park Service. Water spigots, picnic area, boat launch for kayaks/rafts, and pit toilets (a bit stinky, but cleanish). Very wooded with private sites. Some spots are close enough to Hwy 20 to hear the road, but others that are deeper into the campground are quieter. Close to the North Cascades National Park Visitor’s Center and some easy hiking trails. A few spots for larger trailers/campers. Cost=$16. First come, first served, iron ranger.
Scout
Came in mid October on a Saturday. First come first serve and no fee in the off season, despite being October, it was busy. Got a spot after driving a few loops around the campground and asked someone if they were leaving. Was able to put chairs in the site before they left to secure the spot. Nice picnic area along the river we hung out at while waiting for the site to open up. Safe enough to dip in the river. Very close to multiple hikes in North Cascades National Park. Pit toilets, picnic tables and fire rings available. No water in the off season. Had 3 bars of Verizon service. Lots of options for tents, trailers, or vans. Would definitely come back for off season camping.
Legend
Gorgeous backcountry campground, complete with firepits and privy -- makes roughing it even easier. Water is easy access from Thunder Creek, which is just down the hill. This site is about 10 miles south of the Colonial Creek Campground, a great basecamp option for this trek, as you start the hike through old growth forest. This is the perfect site for a large group, but it also has quite a few smaller “tucked away” spots for individuals, couples, etc. The views of Boston Glacier (currently the largest glacier in the North Cascades National Park) and multiple waterfalls are fantastic. Bear canisters are required, as the predominant fir trees in the area are not conducive to hanging food. Cost=free! Permit required from NOCA Visitor Center.
Guide
Has tent camping and bathhouse
Guide
Tent camped here by myself with 3 kids. It was super easy, nice showers, very close to town!
Legend
Half way along the mountain loop highway you encounter numerous spacious tent sites with fire rings and gorgeous river & Mountain View camp grounds.
LegendThe 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!!!
GuideI actually did a solo overnight backpack up the trail from colonial to fourth of July pass. Unfortunately the backcountry campground I stayed at is not on this site yet. Diablo lake is gorgeous, but because of the accessibility of colonial campground via the main road it is very popular. The amenities are all there and well maintained. The ranger working the gate told me I had to pay to park when the main station had informed me that I didn't because I would be in the back country, so that was a time-consuming little mix up but besides that the Rangers are knowledgeable and willing to help out. My hike to fourth of July pass was nice, 4 mIles with around 2000 feet of elevation gain. I got great views of Diablo lake, ragged ridge, and a glacier across the valley. North Cascades National park is kind of out of the way so it is much less known than its counterparts Rainier or Olympic, and therefore I highly recommend checking it out if you have the opportunity. It has been dubbed the American Alps due to its severe peaks.
Legend
Primitive tent camping at its best. Water available in campground along with latrines. Heavily wooded and lots of entry level trails to hike. Easy terrain and lots to see. Also did some geocaching along the trails here! Was here with group of Boy Scouts and they loved it.
TravelerWe 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
Scout
Arrived around 4pm on a Friday and there were a few spots left. Pit toilets, fire rings, and picnic tables available. No water. Got a spot with lake and Mountain View’s. Very small, quiet, stunning campground. Felt safe. We have a rooftop tent, not many sites with large enough spots to park trailers or vans. Mostly tent sites that are walk in. Mostly open, some sites in the forest. Had one bar of Verizon service. Would stay again!
LegendWe 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.
GuideI generally enjoyed this location in North Cascades National Park. It is a beautiful area with hikes nearby and chilly swimming. Mosquitos weren’t bad which was a relief. However, sites at this campground are close together and not very private. It feels a bit like a carnival at times instead of camping in the woods.
We found ourselves in the middle of the Pace family reunion while visiting. Apparently all the adults coordinated and rented sites by each other for this event instead of renting a group site. The adults yelled across our site to each other, their children ran through our site to adjacent ones, and they were up and noisy by 6 AM. We also were treated to dirty looks, I’m guessing because it was their “usual spot”? They said they camped there for over 30 years so they clearly feel like it’s their private park at this point. This certainly impacted our enjoyment, and ability to relax.
In the future, we will consider a site away from the water for more privacy.
Despite the presence of bears, there was also a pretty cavalier attitude to bear safety and adherence to those rules. There were a lot of kids and adults day drinking so they just weren’t as alert as they should be. This can put those around them at greater risk for a bear encounter. A fed bear is a dead bear, so this was frustrating to witness.
LegendI’m not from here, so the scenery around every turn was AWESOME! There are so many roadside campgrounds all through this area and several of, not all are first come sites. Which can be frustrating during the busy season. If you like tent camping and know how to camp in wildlife areas YOU WILL LOVE this area. So many trails and things to see. Find a spot, take care of your fee and then go explore. Check out Manzana down the road. Stores , food and trailhead.
GuideWhat 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.
Guide
There are multiple campground areas within the recreation area ranging from RV camping to hike in areas within the National Forest. The tent camping areas offer a great amount of seclusion while making it easy to move around the recreation area. There are multiple rivers and large lakes for activities or to lull you to sleep as the snow melts fill the river beds. We got incredibly lucky finding this place and will be back. Would recommend waiting until June for camping as it can be quite cold.
Guide
There are a few tent sites at this location. We chose to stay at one that had more exposure but was closer to the fire lookout, with the hopes that we could stay in the fire lookout the next night. It was fairly windy but gorgeous with a great view of the sunset. There is a bathroom. We easily found an area to pump water. It's an easy hike to the lookout and to nearby ponds and crests.
Ranger
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.
Legend
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.
RangerDisclaimer - 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.
LegendHoward 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.
ScoutLocated 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!
Guide
This is a small campground so you don't have to worry about too many people disturbing you. There are 12 sites available at this campground and each has a fire ring. Several of the sites are located along the creek. It's so peaceful to sit next to your campfire and hear both the crackling of the fire and the bubbling flow of the creek. Definitely some nice sounds to fall asleep to! There are also picnic tables at the site, so don't worry about bringing camp chairs unless that's your style.
I believe there is some RV access but I much prefer to tent camp so that's generally all that I pay attention to.
There are vault/pit toilets here which is a plus considering you're so far in the middle of nowhere. Great hiking is right outside your tent!
Tent camping near North Cascades National Park offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in stunning natural beauty, with a variety of campgrounds catering to outdoor enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near North Cascades National Park is Junction Camp — North Cascades National Park with a 5-star rating from 3 reviews.
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