Best Cabin Camping near White Swan, WA

I’m not normally the type of person that does reviews, however I feel compelled to do so this time because of the absolutely ridiculous experience I had here. This place is great - for people who have never been camping a day in their lives.

From the pictures in the gallery on their site, elk meadow appears to be a relatively small campground with some RV space and cabins. In reality: Elk Meadow is simply a large dirt lot with 0 shade or tree coverage. The tent “spots” are simply the borders around the lot which is filled by RV’s in the center. You’d literally be setting up a tent less than two feet away from strangers on either side. The cabins are also a similar story. The lack of shade makes it so intensely hot in the cabins such that we found guests cooling themselves on porches of the vacant cabins because the ones they rented were unbearable.

My father and I were so displeased we cancelled our stay, but low and behold: there are NO REFUNDS HERE. I repeat: NO REFUNDS HERE. Even after finding this out, we still left.

I don't believe that Cory from Colorado was at this resort as his description does not reflect what I saw when there the middle of August 2020. Very private RV spots with thick trees around. Wonderful people working/owning this place. The cabin we also rented was just right. We'll be back!!

We stayed for three nights. Our campsite was right on the water side which made swimming and playing in the water so easy. The camp also has boats to rent. So we rented one to get a Geocache that was on an island on the lake. The lake is five miles long with lots of camping spots along the lake. They also have cabins you can rent.

This is one of the larger KOAs I have been to.  Plenty of room for RVs, trailers, and tents.  They also have a few cabins to stay in.  Our site was near the playground which was central to the camp ground. There is a TV/ play room that my littlesloved but not as much as the heated pool, yes, they have a heated pool! 

This site lies on the banks of the Yakima River.  My dad was able to go fly fishing and my littles were able to search for rocks and fish in the shallow areas. 

The general store has all your basic needs, but a difference from other KOAs was that they sell bee and wine! 

The hosts are great but are pretty strict with quiet hours (which I prefer with littles).

Camping right on the Lake. Boat rentals. Camp Store. Always windy and temps drop at night even after warm days so dress accordingly.

This is one of the best kept secrets in western WA, great forest, lots of hiking, water. This place is a great get away.

Packwood which is a small little town next to White Pass is a great place to visit if you want to get away in Washington and be outdoors. The campground was great, although we didn’t spend too much time here. We rode our mountain bikes up to Packwood lake one morning, which is 10 miles round trip. It’s a great biking trail, but can also be used as a hiking trail if you are looking for a longer day hike. The lake is gorgeous but the bugs were definitely out in full effect. Bring bug spray or you will get eaten alive. You can camp here at the lake, but make sure to comply with all LNT rules and read the signs on where you can camp. The RV campground was good, but busy. We only stayed a few nights, and then made our way down the road to White Pass. The views of Mt. Rainier are gorgeous. Bring your own water because there wasn’t any water hookups that we saw. We also did some hiking in the Packwood/white pass area.

General: 20 RV sites, nine cabins, and open space for tent sites. 

Site Quality: Sites 1-13 are located closer to the road while 14-20 are tucked further back closer to the river and we did not hear any road noise in Site 15. All are level. Minimal separation/privacy. Campsites are dirt. RV sites have water and electric. 

Bath/Shower house: One single bathroom each for men and women as well as one shower each for men and women. The shower was warm but as a short person, I was not able to adjust the handheld shower nozzle, making my shower just a bit challenging. Showers and bathrooms were clean although the fan in the women’s room had accumulated quite a bit of dirt/dust so I turned it off. 

Activities/Amenities: Many games (giant chess, corn hole, etc.) sprinkled throughout the property but otherwise there was not much in the campground itself. Nearby there are hiking/mountain biking trails. Fly-fishing on the river. Recreational water activities on nearby Bumping Lake. A kids' playground within walking distance from the campground is located at Jim Sprick Community Park. There was a full kitchen with a sink, dishwashing soap, stove, fridge, and microwave. I only took advantage of the dishwashing sink. 

Be aware there are several cats roaming the property; they were not a nuisance as we like cats (they only came within view and no closer). This is also a wedding venue and a wedding was held the weekend before we arrived. We were the ONLY ones in the entire campground; the store/office was closed when arrived shortly before 6 p.m. on a Sunday after Labor Day (since our site was not assigned when we reserved, a note was left on the door) and we left before it opened the next morning. 

This kitschy old western-themed campground would be fun for a wedding or family gathering/reunion, but for us, it was a one-night stop along our route. There was zero cell coverage (Verizon) if that is important to you.

This is right off I90 very convenient but close to freeway so some road noise. I90 is the main east west freeway in Washington. It is right on the river and there's a pool. Rafting and fishing the Yakima river are great reasons to stay here. If you're looking for a wilderness experience this isn't the place. But for a place to stay while rafting or fishing it's great.

We camped on site #42 and it was perfect location. We didn't want to be right on the water as our dogs would be in it 24/7. This site you could still see the water and hear it. We found many paths down to the water, even some places to soak if we wanted. The bathrooms (glorified outhouse) were always clean and had toilet paper. There is no running water, so we brought our own. Everyone was pretty quiet and the hosts were wonderful. We will definitely come back again. We drove into Yakima to check out WilRidge winery and go pick cherries.

We found a site right by the river. Some shaded sites are available too. Camp host was very friendly and helpful.

Large sites, some with access to the River. Highway noise was pretty loud in some of the upper sites. Bathrooms (pit toilets) were very clean and the camp host was lovely! Nice recreation area nearby.

This campground sits right off of hwy 12. The sites were a little over grown when we were there. The pit toilets were clean.

Photo updates 2020 prices. Nice little camp ground along the river. The site were clean and the park busy. Be prepared for road noise that drowns out the sound of the river.

Sites 9-12 are reservable, walk in and right against the river. The river was running high while we were there, so it drowned out most of the road noise. All four of these sites has room for 2 cars in the parking area. The hosts were super friendly and helpful and did a nice job keeping the grounds and bathrooms clean. It's windy and cooler along the river. Had we known about the wind, we'd have brought a different tent! Fishing seems like it must be decent given the number of people with poles and the number of flies we found. The sites each have a firepit and a picnic table.

Site 9 is huge with room for several tents and hammocks. There's little to no vegetation between it and site 10, but the river drowns out conversation and music noise, so it feels more private and the space between the sites allows you to create a natural open barrier between groups.

We were in site 10, which was also large. The best tree for tethering hammocks (or the dog) from had, unfortunately, been used as a toilet recently with lots of TP at its base. This also affected our tent placement... Nobody wants to sleep with their head in someone else's poop or pee. Beach access can be found down a steep-ish hill, but with the river running high, only allowed for a few rocks to sit on. When the river is running lower it looks like it would have a nice beach area. The top of the dirt is pretty soft, but a few inches down it becomes quite rocky. MSR Hedgehog stakes did OK given the sail that was our tent.

Site 11 is smaller with more foliage, so it seems somewhat more private, but lacks direct beach access. It sits highers than site 12 with trees and a downward sloap between the two.

Site 12 has the best privacy and easy, level beach access, with a large hill on one side and smaller one on the other. It sits lower than site 11 with the upward slope and foliage to create a screen. It also has a nice, flat walk in from the parking area.

Bathrooms are Porta-Potties. They were kept fairly clean while we were there. The outside two "filled" the fastest, the inner two have sinks with soap dispenser, running water activated with a foot pump. The hosts kept the soap, water and TP full the whole weekend. From sites 9 - 12, the walk to them was very short and easy so I'm not sure why someone felt like the tree was the better, easier option. People are disappointing that way.

There's no running water at this time so bring your own.

Dogs need to be leashed or tethered and cannot be barky. If your dog barks a lot and disturbs other people, you may be asked to leave. Ours is pretty quiet, so we did OK and our neighbors on either side didn't seem bothered by her friendly antics the few times she tried to say hi to them. Site 10 had a good place for a Knot-a-Hitch, if you have one. See pictures.

All and all, we'd stay here again as a basecamp for exploring the area, but only if we could be against the river and we'd definitely bring a better tent for the breezy conditions. Our preferred sites would be 9 or 12. Pro tip: hand sanitizer will remove pitch/sap from the pine trees. ;-)

We were lucky enough to get a walk in campsite. There is a giant substation in the middle of the camp ground which you can hear most places, but there was a decent sized hill between us and that. Neighbors were nice. Walked the whole campground and found many sites push up against the road, the ones on the river are decent, but many are too close together to feel like an escape.

Great for kids, big playground and easy walk near lake.

I loved this place. we stayed during the week, so there wasn't anybody there. we really got to take it in. beautiful place, bring your kayak. really nice people runnin the show over there. no reception until you get on the lake... great place to have an office for a minute. also I've got a crew cab long bed with a 26' trailer, little tight but had a little extra room.

We stayed a couple nights in early August. We called about a week in advance and they got us a spot in their otherwise full campgrounds. Although we were next to the road (Hwy 12) we had a decent peekaboo view of the lake. Sites 2,3 and 4 are pretty tight, but we were thankful. The owners are new, but were very responsive to our calls for updates regarding nearby wildfires and general questions. Bathrooms and showers were very clean and employee 'Shirell' was so kind that each night she would stop by to pass out dog treats. I know they're putting in the work to improve the campgrounds so we'll look to book summers for kayaking and winters for snowshoeing.

One of my favorite camping spots to visit, really clean campground.

This campground had availability when I called less than a week in advance and was not super busy when we were there, making it the perfect place for our family to group camp for mom’s birthday weekend. We were in sites 15 (20’ truck camper) and 16 (30’ Class A RV), which both have water/electric hookups. Some sites have full hookups but there are super clean bathrooms with showers and porta potties so you’re good to go even if you don’t have a full hookup site or if you’re car camping with a tent. Both of our sites had gorgeous views of the lake.

The campground has a cafe and convenience store in the main building. Firewood for sale. Dump station for those without the full hookups. It is close to hiking trails and scenic attractions. We walked the Clear Lake interpretive trail (paved and accessible for all ages and abilities) and checked out Clear Creek Falls, which was spectacular.

Couple minor drawbacks: the road noise since you’re right off hwy 12 and the sites are pretty close together. Considering the size of the campground, they did a good job with site placement. It is definitely not one of those parking lot campgrounds where rigs are lined up side by side. But if the place go busy, it would be a little cramped for our preference.

Overall, a great place and we would come back again!