Best Tent Camping near Spokane Valley, WA

Tent camping options near Spokane Valley, Washington include several established campgrounds with walk-in tent sites and primitive backcountry areas. Nine Mile Recreation Area in Riverside State Park offers tent-only camping with waterfront access, clean facilities, and hiking trails covered with wildflowers during spring and summer months. The Lil Red Barn provides 11 tent campsites with amenities including drinking water, fire rings, and picnic tables. For those seeking more seclusion, Breakwater Campground across the Idaho border offers primitive tent camping along a tributary of the Coeur d'Alene River.

Most tent campgrounds in the region operate seasonally, with Nine Mile Recreation Area open from May through September. Sites are typically set on a mix of grass, dirt, or gravel surfaces with varying levels of shade. Campers should verify seasonal closures before traveling, as several visitors reported finding gates locked upon arrival. Many primitive tent sites require self-sufficiency, with one camper noting, "It's just a place to pitch a tent and have a fire. And it costs nothing." Cell service is limited or nonexistent at most backcountry tent camping locations, particularly at Breakwater Campground and Lakes Divide Road.

Tent campers frequently mention the peaceful atmosphere as a highlight of the region. According to reviews, Nine Mile Recreation Area provides "an amazing view of the sunset" and access to "a nearby walking path through the woods covered in wildflowers." The sites at Mica Bay Boater Park are described as "flat and quiet," though access requires either hiking in or arriving by boat. Lakes Divide Road offers dispersed tent camping opportunities along a "steep but well-maintained forest road" with pull-offs that provide privacy. Fall camping is particularly rewarding, with one visitor reporting that in September they had "the whole campground to ourselves" at a nearby DNR site, making it ideal for backcountry tent camping experiences.

Best Tent Sites Near Spokane Valley, Washington (20)

    1. Nine Mile Recreation Area — Riverside State Park

    7 Reviews
    Nine Mile Falls, WA
    18 miles
    Website

    "The campsite is butted up to the lake, which makes it great for sunsets and sunrises. There is hardly any shade at the campsite. The RV/camper sites have full or partial hook-ups. All back in."

    "We stayed here for one night and were absolutely thrilled at how peaceful and quiet the space was. You’re right off the water and the get an amazing view of the sunset."

    2. Amongst The Pines

    1 Review
    Mead, WA
    12 miles
    Website
    +1 (206) 484-3948

    $35 / night

    "Robin was unbelievably accommodating with our situation and even introduced my daughters to all the farm animals."

    3. Mica Bay Boater Park Camping

    2 Reviews
    Coeur d'Alene, ID
    18 miles

    "NOTE: Campground is NOT a Drive-in. You can Boat in, Park on road, or Hke in only. The sites are flat and quiet. A secret gem for sure."

    4. Extraordinary Camping 🏕

    1 Review
    Harrison, ID
    23 miles
    +1 (760) 975-7335

    $50 - $70 / night

    "it is a very nice place to camp, since there probably won’t be any people outside your own group.  the owner was very responsive to texts and was helpful with all of my questions.  "

    5. The Lil Red Barn

    1 Review
    Tumtum, WA
    26 miles
    +1 (509) 724-6184

    $20 - $30 / night

    "We're excited to have this new listing on our platform. Check them out and leave them some love."

    6. Killarney Lake Picnic Site

    1 Review
    Medimont, ID
    33 miles
    +1 (208) 769-5000

    "It has restroom access. It would not be nice to travel here in the snow though due to the gravel roads. I did see some campground nearby but they were really small and did not look very nice."

    7. Lakes Divide Road

    2 Reviews
    Medimont, ID
    33 miles

    8. Camp Gifford at Deer Lake

    1 Review
    Loon Lake, WA
    36 miles
    Website
    +1 (509) 233-2511

    9. Breakwater Campground

    3 Reviews
    Cataldo, ID
    41 miles

    "Great tent camping. Also, it's a great starting point to some really good dirt bike trails. Be prepared for no cell service. 0 amenities. it's just a place to pitch a tent and have a fire."

    "This campground stretches along a tributary of the CdA river, and there is great tent camping and fly fishing. Downside is that there is limited vehicle access to most spots."

    10. Skookum Creek Campground

    3 Reviews
    Usk, WA
    44 miles
    Website

    "However, each site has a nice fire ring, large picnic table, and loads of elbow room. The vault toilets are relatively new and well maintained."

    "It's a relatively small loop campground along a creek, close to the Pend Oreille River. Gravel road, ideal for tent camping."

Show More
Showing results 1-10 of 20 campgrounds

2025 Detourist Giveaway

Presented byToyota Trucks

Review Campgrounds. Win Prizes.

Enter to Win


Recent Tent Camping Photos near Spokane Valley, WA

16 Photos of 20 Spokane Valley Campgrounds


Tent Camping Reviews near Spokane Valley, WA

679 Reviews of 20 Spokane Valley Campgrounds


  • Cathy E.The Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 11, 2023

    Bald Knob Campground — Mount Spokane State Park

    Quiet, Clean, and Beautiful

    What a gem! Small state park campground at about a 3000 ft elevation with only 8 sites. Dry Camping only, no dump station, but clean flushable toilets(no showers) and potable water available. Two beautiful trails are accessible from the campground and lots more are within a 10 minute drive with plenty of parking at trailheads. Local foliage is wonderful, views are fantastic from the trails. Quiet hours are enforced and observed- very quiet and relaxing. The camp host, Linda, does such a wonderful job of keeping everything neat and tidy and checking in with campers to see if they have what they need. Sites are small- only one was a pull through. I wouldn't attempt with anything longer than 23 feet. Each site has a bear box, really nice and large picnic table, firepit and tent pads that are nicely cushioned with pea gravel. Our site,#3, was centrally located without a ton of privacy, but it was still a nice site and folks were respectful and quiet. Decent cell service in the campground. I am absolutely coming back.

  • Nicole B.
    Jul. 5, 2023

    Hawleys Landing Campground — Heyburn State Park

    Great Campground but loud maintenance

    We stayed at Chatcolet campground for two nights in late June. The campground is really nice with lovely hosts and clean flushable toilets. We booked site 128 and didn’t realise it was a tent only site with a short walk from where you park to the picnic table, fire ring and tent pad. We have a rooftop tent so we parked and set up our tent and then just carried our chairs, food and wood down to the picnic table. Privacy on these sites isn’t the best, I would recommend booking this site along with 129 as a group site to give yourself good privacy.

    Overall this campground was great, the toilets were clean, they are porcelain, flushing toilets inside a hut. There was drinking water and some nice walks to the lake, if you have bicycles there is a really nice cycle that you can do. The reason for rating this 3 out of 5 is that there was very noisy and intrusive maintenance going on from 7am to 5pm in the sites next to us which was very disruptive. No warning had been given about maintenance in the campground, notice was only given regarding roadworks leading into the campground.

  • JThe Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 12, 2025

    Bumblebee Campground

    Not much to praise

    Coeur d’Alene River Road has SO many places to boondocks and camp, I wouldn’t waste our money on this campground again. The pit toilets were clean and the fire rings and picnic tables were in good shape, hence the two stars. Lots of wasps. No water. Nothing to do within walking distance. Find a boondock spot and save the $28.00

  • Clifford F.
    Jun. 22, 2021

    Camp Coeur D Alene

    Nice campground

    We’ve stayed here a couple times now. It is a nice place. It is a little run down though. The car, tent camping is great. You have your own plot under trees. If you tent camp is the rest of the camp ground you will need a pad under your tent. I ground is pretty course gravel with up to 1.25” sharp stones. Firewood is free though.

  • Lee D.The Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 10, 2023

    Riley Creek Campground

    Beautiful CoE campground with many activity options

    General: 67-site US Army Corps of Engineers campground in two loops along the Pend Oreille River. All sites are water and electric and have gravel driveways. 

    Site Quality: All sites were nicely wooded, level and spacious. The roads are paved but the sites themselves are gravel. A BBQ grill/fire pit and large picnic table complete each site. 

    Bath/shower house: There is one ADA-accessible all-in-one bath/shower plus regular restrooms. Clean if a little dated. I don’t take long showers but in the middle of mine, the water turned ice cold for the remainder of my shower, however, hubby did not have the same experience! 

    Activities/Amenities: Water activities including boating, fishing, and swimming. Non-water activities include paths, including one around the campground that is approximately 1.4 miles, nice for walking, running, or biking. Partially paved and partially gravel. Other activities include two playgrounds (one for younger children, one for older), volleyball, horseshoes, sport court, and a “doggie island” (pet area). Between the restrooms are two dishwashing sinks with hot water, a nice amenity. There is also a dump station. 

    We were still setting up when the host came by to give us a map, remind us there was a fire ban, and see if we had any questions or concerns. We stay at many CoE campgrounds and this one certainly measures up!

  • U
    Sep. 8, 2021

    Rainy Hill Campground

    Okay in a pinch, a bit sketchy for a solo camper

    I found this free spot on another free campsites app. It’s right next to a National Forest boat launch, where there are 2 pit toilets. The campgrounds themselves are dispersed, with already human made fire rings. Some sites are next to the water (those were taken), I ended up driving to see what’s open and settled on top of a hill. There was another camper who must have been there for a while, set up a little tarp village, he looked like he was moved in there… and then a bear up pickup truck drove by few times - something about it felt sketchy to me. I explored a bit more the next day - there are several walk-in sites which looked great - but you can’t drive into those - some up on a hill, some at the bottom of a hill past big boulders.

  • Freddie Faith M.
    Jun. 30, 2024

    Camp Coeur D Alene

    Great little private campground in the Wolf Lodge Bay.

    This is a great little private campground in the Wolf Lodge Bay, and their added free amenities made this campground a really fun alternative to the usual state park/national forest campsites I go to more often. The swimming pool was well kept, and we really enjoyed using the free canoes. They had a lot of decent looking free firewood, but we were camping during a fire ban and weren't able to use it. (This, of course, is no fault of the campground. But if we camp there again it will be nice to have free firewood!)

    We originally booked tent site 3, which I cannot recommend as it had no shade or privacy, but the attendant was very kind and let us switch to a shadier site for free. I think this was tent site 4 or 5, which were much better. Tent site seven looked really nice as well and I would recommend that one. But if we go back we will definitely be booking the island tent site 201, it looked to be the best one of all.

  • Judy T.The Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 2, 2023

    Iron Mountain Campground — Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park

    Free camping with 2 state view

    We drove in from the Washington side on a narrow unimproved road but only met one vehicle. Our views were into undulating hills of the Palouse farming region of Washington. We camped at the first campground in this Idaho state park close to the Washington border called Iron Mountain. There were two sites with a vault toilet. We chose site number two but both were very spacious. The road was right by our site but only one vehicle drove by, a dirt bike. It was so quiet there. You could see into both the forested hills of Idaho and the Palouse of Washington.

  • brett I.The Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 29, 2024

    Redtail Campground — Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park

    A hidden gem

    Take a night or two to visit this nearly unused campground. What a wonder. You are on the Ridgeline between two valleys with views of the horizons of 50 miles or more. To the east ot is very much like the views in the Smokey mountains. Not a lot of shade at this campground. Great for solar and Skylink. ATT and Verizon were 3 plus. Make certain the chores are done and the drinks are made before the light show begins at sundown. Vault toilets, picnic tables and fire rings. Sites at this campground are reasonably flat and deep but not a lot of room for pop-ups.

    Camping here is free.

    My only criticism is the distance between signs on a very small road. A few more signs would be reassuring. For this campground, head generally south on Skyline Drive until you think you should be there, then go 2 more miles.

    Central potable water by the privy.


Guide to Spokane Valley

Dispersed camping opportunities near Spokane Valley, Washington extend throughout surrounding national forests and public lands. The region features a mix of primitive campsites and established campgrounds with tent sites typically situated at elevations between 1,500-2,500 feet. Most dispersed areas require self-contained camping with no facilities, while developed campgrounds provide varying levels of amenities including fire rings and vault toilets.

What to do

Fishing access: Breakwater Campground provides direct access to a tributary of the Coeur d'Alene River where anglers can enjoy fly fishing. "This campground stretches along a tributary of the CdA river, and there is great tent camping and fly fishing," notes one Breakwater Campground visitor.

Trail exploration: Lakes Divide Road offers multiple entry points to surrounding forest trails. "It is a steep but well maintained forest road. Found a blocked entrance to a forest road about a mile in. Wasn't flat but not bad and off the road a bit with a place to walk the dog," reports a camper at Lakes Divide Road.

Fruit picking: Campers near Amongst The Pines can combine their camping trip with seasonal fruit picking at nearby orchards. One visitor mentioned, "We got there early and were able to check out the nearby brewery/fruit picking spot which made for a pretty ideal road tripping night."

What campers like

Privacy and solitude: Dispersed sites along forest roads provide significant separation between campers. A visitor to Extraordinary Camping noted, "It is a very nice place to camp, since there probably won't be any people outside your own group. This has been one of my favorite camping locations so far."

Waterfront sunsets: Several campgrounds offer prime waterfront real estate for evening views. Campers at Mica Bay Boater Park enjoy "big long docks for fishing or sunbathing" with one visitor highlighting "sleeping on the boat, campfires and watching the sun sets" as their favorite experience.

Wildlife viewing: The region's lakes and waterways support diverse bird populations. Mica Bay visitors report "bald eagles and Osprey fighting for fish" as a common sight during summer months.

What you should know

Cell service limitations: Most dispersed camping areas have no connectivity. At Breakwater Campground, campers should "be prepared for no cell service. 0 amenities. It's just a place to pitch a tent and have a fire. And it cost nothing."

Seasonal closures: Many sites close during winter months or have unannounced closures. Visitors to Nine Mile Recreation Area have reported finding "the park was closed" after driving up winding access roads.

Access challenges: Several of the best tent camping near Spokane Valley requires advanced planning for access. At Skookum Creek Campground, visitors note "it's a gravel road, ideal for tent camping" while Mica Bay Boater Park requires alternate access methods as one camper clarified: "NOTE: Campground is NOT a Drive-in. You can Boat in, Park on road, or Hike in only."

Tips for camping with families

Animal encounters: Farms and wildlife viewing opportunities appeal to younger campers. At Amongst The Pines, one visitor shared, "Robin was unbelievably accommodating with our situation and even introduced my daughters to all the farm animals. On top of that, the space was perfect for a couple young kids to run around and explore."

Recreation facilities: Look for campgrounds with built-in activities. Mica Bay offers "swing sets and slide for youngsters, horseshoe pit (when camp host is present), for older kids, large grass field for frisbee or football."

Shoulder season advantages: Fall camping provides more availability and quieter experiences. At Skookum Creek, September campers reported having "the whole campground to ourselves" with 9 empty sites out of 11 total.

Tips from RVers

Limited hookup options: Most tent camping sites near Spokane Valley accommodate small RVs but with minimal amenities. The Lil Red Barn offers 11 tent sites that include drinking water, electric hookups, and thirty-amp service for smaller rigs.

Navigation challenges: Forest roads leading to prime camping spots can present difficulties. Campers heading to Nine Mile Recreation Area noted, "The drive out was beautiful amongst the tall trees" but experienced "difficulties with the waypoint" getting there.

Site selection: When camping with RVs, arrive early to secure level spots. Skookum Creek Campground offers "grassy sites with fire rings and tables" that are "spaced quite far apart" making them suitable for smaller recreational vehicles seeking more distance from neighbors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Spokane Valley, WA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Spokane Valley, WA is Nine Mile Recreation Area — Riverside State Park with a 3.3-star rating from 7 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Spokane Valley, WA?

TheDyrt.com has all 20 tent camping locations near Spokane Valley, WA, with real photos and reviews from campers.