Best Glamping near North Cascades National Park

Talk about an incredible place to visit. Washington is the definition of amazing hiking. The mountains are gorgeous, and the hiking views are hard to beat. The "North Cascades" is a little piece of heaven. The drive in it of itself was like no other drive we have ever done. I was in awe the entire time. The hiking here is beyond amazing. We did Blue Lake and I wanted to do it again the next day because of how amazing it was. Diablo Lake was incredible as well. The water was crystal ice blue. The pictures dont do it justice. The campgrounds on North Cascades were BOOKED! thankfully we reserved our spots ahead of time, reading other reviews that said to do this. There were no campsites available the weekend we went, it was crazy. We had to hike super early to beat the crowds, for sure. I definitely want to come back and do Hidden Lake Lookout, but we had our dog and someone said that wasnt the best hike to do with a young puppy. Maybe when our dog is older! The weather was perfect when we went as well. Clear blue skies!

Washington Rolling down the road on the Cascade Loop I took in all the scenery and enjoyed every moment. But something I noticed along the way was that cell signal was minimal and with that it made it a bit harder to find locations to stop for the night. Typically I enjoy a more remote site or a good forest camp, however along the loop, though there are many forest service roads, most certainly with camping available, being so remote without cell signal and roads looking more questionable in some areas, I feared going to far off the beaten path into the unknown in my small car. 

This brought me to the Riverbend RV Park, a Good Sam park along the loop which actually allocates some of their spaces to tent campers. Privately owned the features were a bit more expansive than many of the sites I had visited along the way including running water and full hook ups for those in RVs. Additionally they had a propane refill station which was quite nice for a small charge without having to wander into town to find supplies. 

The layout of the location was nice as it formed a large loop easy to access even by the largest of rigs. The office welcomed you as your drove in and made it easy to stop, pay for your site and find out all the information you needed to know not only about the campsite but also the surrounding area. A few brochures inside noted area attractions and information about the loop itself. This office also housed a small general store which had a few items you might need while at camp and some general items which could be nice in way of snack and food. Nothing large, but certainly helpful for those who were weary from the road and all the traveling excitement. 

This park welcomes families but also their pets, with a large pet area for them to run free and enjoy stretching their legs. Otherwise throughout camp they do ask you keep your pets on a leash, which seemed more than fair considering the large space they were given to enjoy free of burden. 

The kiddos were also welcome with their own play area that was well maintained and away from the other campers just enough to not disrupt the silence of the camp. This area had its own water fountain to assure hours of safe and hydrated play. 

The sites themselves were typical of an RV park, a standard picnic table and enough room to move around a little but still somewhat closer to your neighbors than you would be at many forest campsites. I found that the camping area I checked out for myself had a little more distance between the sites which was nice but there was no tree coverage so it is a bit of a trade off for space or shade. 

On premise is an activity room and also a restroom area. Restrooms offer showers and warmth on the cold days and night and the activity room is a large room with plenty of space to enjoy a game night or some time watching television in a more social setting. There is also a laundry facility at this building which was super helpful for catching up along the loop after several weeks of travel. 

All in all though this was privately run and thus a bit more expensive, around $30 a night, the benefits of the stay at this location were vast. Though it wasn’t my style of camping for every night a stop here was a nice way to check out some of the many amenities which contrast some of the other camps along the way. Definitely worth a stop if you are in an RV or if you want to have a place with a lot of benefits.

TIPS: 

• If you are a larger unit this is a great place to stay for amenities and size of spaces you will easily be able to pull in and get comfortable with your slides at this location.

• Location of this campsite is key as it is close to town but also along the loop within driving distance of the North Cascades Park and also some of the Washington State Parks.   If you can detach and use this as a home base it will work well with your travels.

This campground is off Cascade River Road near-ish Marblemount. 

Marble Creek campground takes reservations. We tried our luck with no reservations and we were able to score a spot for three nights. There were several sites available when we stayed there, but it was during the week. 

We stayed in site 3, which was great because it was along the river and the camp host told us it was the only spot with direct river access. There was a place to park our car, a picnic area, a slightly elevated platform for our tent, river access down an embankment, and trees where we set up our hammock. It was a fantastic site. 

The campground has toilets and dumpsters, but no showers. There were two separate toilets close to us. The closest looked more run down but I found it to be clean and not smelly. 

There is also public river access, so we went for a cold dip both at our site and in the public area. 

We were able to gather lots of firewood in the surrounding woods, so had a nice fire. 

There are a couple of hikes nearby. We did Hidden Lake, which is a short drive to the 4 mile gravel road to the trailhead. The hike is incredible and you can actually see the whole mountainside you hike from the public access beach in the campground, which was pretty cool. 

I really liked the campground. The camp host was super nice and the spot was one of my favorites. I will definitely be returning.

I stayed at this campground during a visit from the east coast, and I have to say it's hands down one of the finest places I've ever stayed. My cousin and I stayed two nights and used Marble Creek as a jumping off point for a couple of day hikes that I'd absolutely recommend (assuming no wild fires to impact visibility and a healthy appetite for switchbacks). If you stay here and you haven't considered it already, take look at hiking Hidden Lake or Cascade Pass. 

Now, for the campground. I stayed at site 003, which had direct access to Marble Creek. I spent one morning just sitting in the creek (which was still cold in August) sipping a local brew. The site was flat with a tent pad, fire ring, picnic table, and parking space to accommodate an F-150 King Ranch edition. Located further down the road from our site was a vault toilet (very clean, and not close enough to smell) and dumpsters for trash. I'd also note that I typically avoid campgrounds because I don't enjoy a lot of noise. It was pretty quiet here and there seemed to be a decent amount of space between each site.

Of note, and this might impact how others feel about the campground, but there's no potable water on site (bring your own). We saw plenty of fire wood for sale on the side of the road on the way in.