Best Tent Camping near Waitsburg, WA

Like the title says quite and nice. Bathroom were really clean too my wife really like that lol. I can’t wait to go back. The tent sites are nice and there is A lot of privacy between tent site

The campground is somewhat primitive. There are flushing toilets on the lower loop, vault toilets on the upper loop. no showers, but you can refresh in the lake. The nights get chilly, so be prepared with warm socks and a beenie, especially if you’re tent camping.

There are no power boats allowed on the lake, so it is raft, kayak paddle board friendly.

The path around the lake is an easy walk, just don’t expect to sit on a bench and enjoy the view of the lake, the trees have grown up.

Chief Timothy is a great campground not far from clarkston that provides all he ammenties any camper would want. They have rv and tent sites available. Great atmosphere very well kept grounds makes this a great place to take your family! Pull thru sites for rvs makes it easy to come and go as you please. They have a designated swimming area and a boat launch if you have a boat. My family always loves camping here.

We visited this KOA for several years on 4th of July to visit a concert in Walla Walla. In the early days this KOA was nothing more than dirt tent sites. Since then, it has developed into a nice campground with mature trees for shade and grass at each site. The river is easy access for launching motor boats and it is across the bridge from Palouse Falls and Lyons Ferry park for kayaking, swimming and a good picnic spot.

A group of friends and I went and tent camped in spot 14 for a couple days and had a great time. The site was fairly trashed when we got there so we did some cleanup but besides that it’s surrounded by a beautiful forest and even on a 95 degree day the shade is perfect and the water was refreshing to swim in. I liked the spot we stayed in, it was spacious enough for 3 tents (10 person, 5 person, and 2 person tents) it was shaded and fairly spaced out from other spots. The lake was pretty busy and there were lots of people but it’s easy to find places on the water to have to yourself. There was also an awesome rope swing maybe half a mile from the camp site, super fun!

We tent camped for the weekend in mid-July. The plan was to camp at Jubilee Lake, but it was full when we arrived Friday evening. Target Meadows is just a short drive from the lake, but there were plenty of sites available. The campground is heavily wooded with beautiful evergreens. Sites are private and well spaced. This is a rustic campground, so there is no water or power. Amenities include (very clean!) pit toilets, picnic tables, and fire pits with cooking grates. There is a lot of dry timber on the ground, so it is easy to collect your own firewood. There is easy access to hiking, including Burnt Cabin trailhead. Most campsites are trailer friendly, including a few with drive-through access. We really enjoyed the area and will be back again!

The actual location and grounds are amazing. Right on the Snake river. So much walking and fishing. And swimming. Kayaking. Even cat fishing. The tents sites are very crammed next to each other though. The cabins are cute and small. No bathrooms in them but there are Public bathrooms and showers. Very busy on major holidays in the summer.

General: 41 RV sites with water and electric plus 11 tent sites in a grassy common area.

Site Quality: Reasonable separation between the sites. The back-in sites are wide enough to comfortably fit a TT, 5th wheel or RV and your toad or other vehicle side-by-side. The pull-through sites are very large. All sites have gravel camper pads and most appeared very level or had a level area. Our site, along with several others, had a nice view of Lake Sacajawea. 

Bath/Shower house: Clean even if a little dated. Didn’t use the shower so cannot comment on that except that the hooks are located outside of the shower stalls so even though there is a swinging door to the shower area, privacy is compromised a bit by this design. 

Activities: Unless you have a boat (there is a boat launch and dock), not too much to do here except relax. There is a small swimming area but no beach to speak of (grassy and pebbly area). There is a playground and horseshoe pits but no hiking trails that I could see. 

To get to this campground, you drive past many miles of apple orchards and then suddenly, you see the lake and campground. There are quite a few trees for shade. Surprisingly good cell (Verizon) given the remoteness of the campground. Be aware there are train tracks nearby and you will hear an occasional loud train. It was very quiet on the Wednesday before Labor Day, but we were told it would be completely full on the weekend.

Good experience camping here. Really loved watching the sunset over the water while taking a stroll by the shore. Metal fire pit made perfect for dinner, and the ground was mostly even for our tent.

Not a large campground, spaces are fairly close, enough to hear neighbors conversations….but generally everyone was quiet and considerate. The spot we lucked up on didn’t have much tent room, so it’s perfect for our camper van, but understandable why it was the only one left. Bathrooms are fairly clean with 1 pay shower with privacy door.

We were there in mid March, the only ones there at the time. There are seven campsites total, three can be accessed with an RV, we did ok with a 27' travel trailer, but I wouldn't recommend going there with anything larger. the rest of the sites would be tent only. There is a clean outhouse, no water or garbage service.  We will stay there again.

I have been going here for 20 years it's very nice clean and friendly people that run it. Great for tents or RVs. Full facilities with showers. You can watch the river traffic has a small marina by it that you can get gas at for your boat if you have those. Very busy Campground hard to get into at times.

We do an annual trip here every Father’s Day weekend. Close to the river, plenty of fishing and swimming. The trees are nice. This is an Army Corp of Engineers campground so some federal rules apply: no firearms, no alcohol(at least not openly)

The only issue we have is the sprinklers come on Friday nights and wash the tents for us. it’s good and bad.

Love this campground and will come back. My husband and I usually pull our ‘68 Aristocrat Lo-Liner but on this trip we were “roughing it” with a tent and a small SUV. I was happy that not only did we get a spot on the river, but there were free, clean hot showers centrally located. The back in spots were not too close together. Some spots offer shade, others are full on sun. And the catfish were biting!

Our tire shredded on our CRV and my husband was nervous to carry our heavy load on a dummy tire so we stopped here which was the closest town. We were the only tent as this is an RV park but had an okay grass patch. One tiny tree. You can tell that there are several long-term residents due to the skirting around so many of the rv's. We were able to get a used tire from the nearby tire shop in the morning and be on our way. Thankful for this place in a time of need. 🙂

My husband and I love this State Park. It was definitely a good, long drive to get to, but was so worth it (about 5 or so hours from Walla Walla). The campsite was close to showers and water, and not too close to others. Both tent and RV camping is allowed. The hiking trail was long and absolutely amazing, and we ended up near a fire cabin used during the winter and summer. There was a night where coyotes came very close to the campground, and the rangers took care to ensure they didn't get too close. Everyone we came into contact with was friendly and helpful. We saw so much wildlife since it's located far away from cities and people. So worth it!