Cabin camping is an amazing way to experience Winthrop, while still enjoying a little rustic luxury. Finding a place to cabin camp near Winthrop is easier than ever. From secluded to easy-to-reach, these Washington cabin rentals are perfect for any adventurer.
Put your wheels up in one of the RV Sites with options for every camper, including KOA Patio sites, Pull-Thru, and Back In sites. Looking for your home away from home, try one of our Deluxe Cabins complete with linens, kitchen, and bathroom, or if you prefer a more rustic experience, Camping Cabins off shelter from the elements while still allowing you to connect with nature. For a truly unique experience, a Covered Wagon is the way to go. These units sleep six, and linens are provided. Tent campers are also welcome with Tent Sites along the river, deluxe tent sites with hookups, and primitive sites.
Fun Things to do on and off our Winthrop Campground
Take a dip in the heated pool or go for a bike ride around the campground with plenty of onsite amenities; kiddos and parents will stay busy. Less than 2 miles from the campground is downtown, Winthrop. Step back in time at the Shafer Historical Museum, visit the North Cascades National Park, paddle the Methow River or hike to Falls Creek Falls. Head back to the campground at night for s'mores and campfire stories. Our camp store offers all the essentials to make your experience great.
Colonial Creek South Campground in North Cascades National Park is a remote, yet bustling campground nestled in old -growth forest. Located on the south side of State Route 20 near milepost 130, there are 94 campsites that are surrounded by forest and located on Diablo Lake. Colonial Creek South Campground can accommodate a variety of camping, whether its drive-in camping, or walk-in tent camping. The campsites vary in size from small to medium. Most of the campsites do not accommodate large trailers or RVs.
Campers can access the Thunder Creek Trailhead from the South Loop. The Thunder Knob Trailhead is on the north loop across State Route 20. Fishing is allowed in Diablo Lake with a Washington State Fishing license, the nearest location to purchase a license is in the town of Marblemount, WA. Follow Washington State Fishing Regulations when recreating. Black bears are active in this campground and the surrounding trails. Be aware of your surroundings while hiking, picnicking, and camping. Use the provided bear boxes in your campsite to store coolers, cookware, and other odorants when not in use. If you encounter a bear around the campground or on a trail, inform campground staff or go to the North Cascades Visitor Center and fill out a bear report.
Colonial Creek South Campground is surrounded by a forest of western redcedar, western hemlock, Douglas-fir, red huckleberries, and other native vegetation. The campground has easy access to Diablo Lake for recreating.
Traveling west on State Route 20: The North Cascades Visitor Center is 11 miles (18 km) west on State Route 20 from Colonial Creek South Campground, operating seasonally, typically from May to September. Campers can find the passport stamps, exhibits, park film, park store, and much more. Traveling east on State Route 20: Diablo Lake Overlook is 1.5 miles (2 km) east on State Route 20. the turquoise lake can be viewed safely from this area and there is ample day use parking and vault toilets. Ross Lake Overlook is 5 miles (8 km) east on State Route 20, this is a less developed vista point. There are two pull off areas with interpretive way sides and with views of the Ross Dam and Ross Lake.
For facility specific information, please call (360) 854-7200.
$16 - $24 / night
$36 / night
This forested campground, surrounded by nearby mountains, is located along Early Winters Creek on Highway 20. This campground has beautiful mountain views, access to Lone Fir Trail 535 and is near Cuttthroat Creek Trail 483. Good overnight spot for bicyclists. Next campground westbound is located at Diablo Lake.
$12 / night
A Discover Pass or Vehicle Access Pass is required to camp on Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) Lands.
Whether you're a hiker, mountain biker or cross-country skier, the Rolling Huts, located in Washington's Methow Valley, are the perfect accommodation. Designed as a modern alternative to camping by Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig Architects in Seattle, the six huts are grouped as a herd, each with views of the mountains.
Each hut comes equipped with a small refrigerator, microwave, fireplace and Wi-Fi. There is a sleeping platform perfect for two, and modular furniture in the living area that can be reconfigured to sleep two more. Each hut has an adjacent portable toilet. Full bathrooms and showers are housed in the centrally located barn a short distance away.
Scout
Our camp spots were close to the lake. The cedar trees gave great cover from the rain. The trails around camp were well maintained.
Legend
Nice park beside very slow river adjacent to busy road. No dogs on grass. Garbage. Picnic tables. Shaded. Stay 72 hours. Warm shower. Flush toilet. $10/night/vehicle or tent
TravelerBeautiful campground with many large shaded sites along Lake Diablo. Absolutely gorgeous. Each site has its.own bear boxes and the bathrooms were pretty clean.
Guide
Don't have much of a review, we found a spot here last second after signing up to run the Sun Mountain 25k last minute. Barely spent any time at the campground. I know the location was good for being able to just walk into town. The camp spots were just shared space in a grassy area. Nothing spectacular.
Guide
We took the opportunity to secure one of the “private” lots. Site S9 comes with a private fenced area, with fire pit, hot tub, seating and fully ready propane Weber. Staff is immediate and attentive. Free WiFi and only 1 hour from the National Park.
LegendLovely but busy spot in North Cascades NP. We were fortunate with really good weather. You can swim in the lake, there is a boat launch and there is a hiking trail across the street. Super convenient. Thunder knob trail.
Bathrooms were clean. Sites a little close. Lots of people come into the park on the weekends from Seattle though it is the least visited of the three Washington Parks. Lovely scenery, turquoise lake.
You need to be prepared when you arrive. Closest camp store is about 25 minutes with limited supplies, but can get you by.. there are restaurants and gas stations in Marblemount, but that is all from what we could tell.
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.
ScoutCurrently, there is a 72-hour camping limit and is a city park, which means they don't accept any type of pass or discount such as the Discover Pass. The fee is $10/night (72 hours maximum). But you can still hang out here during the day-use hours until then, if you don't have the money.
I like this area very much. Nothing spectacular, but free showers, free WiFi, bathrooms, water faucet, and water spigot is hard to beat.
You can call them and ask any questions. The number is 509-422-3600
Scout
I really enjoyed my stay here. The staff was very friendly and helpful. I went to make my freeze dried meal and noticed I forgot to pack my camp spork and one of the other campers there helped me out.
I had a "lake front" site, which was really nice but still a good 100 yards from the lake. But I was happy with an unobstructed view.
The other campers were all very nice about not making too much noise after sundown which I really appreciated after a long and hot day riding in the area.
The really neat town of Winthrop is about 5 minutes away. AT&T had good enough cell phone signal for me to be able to facetime with my wife and kids.
Next time I make this trip I plan on staying here again.
ScoutGreat place if you’re just looking for a spot to spend the night or take a shower. The park is sandwiched between a busy city street and the river. Bathrooms are old but clean. Possibly open all night. There are no individual spots it’s just a long parking lot with a grass area for tents.
TravelerGreat summer escape
ScoutWent two years in a row on Memorial Day weekend. Crazy busy but 100% worth it if you plan accordingly. Swimming in the lake is an absolute must if after a long day outdoors if you can brave the cold!
Legend
We camped here in early October so there was no fee. The vault toilet was clean but there is no maintenance until the late spring.
We camped in space 23 by one of the vault toilets. We had views of the surrounding craggy mountains. Ours was a drive through site and very spacious. We also could only see 2 other campers as there was some nice spacing between us. I just love their huge planked picnic tables made of 4”x12” fir.
There was some highway noise but it quieted down after dark as our campsite was close to the highway. As always, be bear aware and do not leave food out.
ScoutWe were super excited to camp at Colonial Creek. I've read so many reviews saying this is the best place to camp in the N Cascades. I imagine your experience will be different on any given night based on the community camping at the time. But, boy would I ever think twice about camping here on a summer weekend again. It seemed like every site was over capacity with many cars and tents and huge groups of people jammed in everywhere. The result is complete chaos of barking dogs and screaming children and parties going late into the night. On the weekend we were here it seemed like a group of 50 or so folks had rented several sites and would gather to sing & talk lake into the night each night. Because there were SO many people at each site there were often lines at the bathrooms. That said, bathrooms were clean.
We were in site 163 which is huge with a huge tent pad. That said, it is almost a twin site with 162 and tons of traffic. Like, you could almost stand between cars parked in both driveways and touch them. The sites on the lake side of the inner loop (like 157, 159, etc) seemed more private and away from the ruckus.
If you are a rooftop tenter it's probably worth noting that the parking spots for even the drive-up lake-side camp spots are basically in a parking lot/on the road and most of the campsite itself is a bit of a walk to the lake.
ScoutGreat RV Park
TravelerColonial creek south #80 is our favorite site. It's a double site so there's room for a couple of tents, close to water and toilets. The sites close to the water are packed tight, often one on top of another. No privacy. We had screaming kids at all sites around us, so it was hard to relax. Still a great campground. We saw bald eagles, hawks and deer. There were bears sited within the campground, so the rangers were being very vigilant.
TravelerBeautiful site! Try to get a reservation if you can, this campground can get really busy! Nice tent pads, and food storage lockers which is great. Like others mentioned, lots of winding trails nearby and the lake is amazing!
ScoutWe always have a great time camping in new places and this little lake and campground were another one we tried: it was very beautiful and we were lucky to have a front spot to have more privacy. Negatives were the right camping spaces and the lake was so murky, swimming and fishing were not activities we got to enjoy. We probably won’t stay here again, tho we did take advantage of the firewood for sale and fire pits!
ScoutLove it here!!
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.
LegendThis 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!
TravelerThis KOA is a great campground, it's clean, it's centrally located to the town of Winthrop and there are close by amenities for groceries, etc. A very kid friendly place to stay as well. They even have some sites that are fenced for privacy and these sites have a hot tub and grill.
Guide
An absolutely fantastic little campground for all sizes, from tents to big RVs!! Jacob the manager was a great help the entire stay. It is popular with ATVrs, but they were very polite and drive appropriately.
LegendColonial Creek South was SO busy when we visited but still so awesome!!
Finding parking can be the first challenge. Due to the boat ramp and hiking trailheads there are A LOT of people/ vehicles. Getting a reservation can be a challenge, good luck. There are walk up sites also, however the system they use can be a little frustrating. Time of year and day of the week I’m sure factors in.
Once you are in though it is deep cedar/pine forest camping. Several walk in sites are right by Diablo Lake which is beautiful. There’s bear boxes at each site , picnic tables and areas to set up. Water activities galore and hiking trailheads in the area. So much to do. I want to go back!
LegendWinthrop/ N Cascades NP KOA
Nice KOA! The sites are HUGE for a KOA and very well maintained. Sorta a western vibe which goes along with Winthrop City. Nice little town but somewhat tourist trappy. Not horribly so and a cool boardwalk to walk along. If you take away all the traffic and replace it with horses, etc you would almost be in an old west town. The river that meanders along the back of the campground is the stopping point for tube rentals. The river is very rocky so not enjoyable to walk along but apparently good for fishing. There are two very cool wagons that are rentable to stay in, as well as cabins. The campground was very quiet (except for the playground straight across from my site) and not busy on the weekdays we visited. On the side of the playground was a nice camp kitchen with tables and large sinks. The laundry room and shower house are in the same building. The one strange thing is the dump sites location. You have to go to the far right side near the back of the park and then drive all the way back to the front. A lot to do and it would be easy to occupy your vacation time.
GuideSkoolie friendly, nice and quiet. Very friendly staff. Good for travellers as you can rent just a shower.
Only downside is wifi is sketchy and 4g is sub par.
ScoutI’m not by any means a pro fisherman but this camp gives great access to any fish that stray away from the lake in to the inlet. The sites are pretty spread out compared to other camp sites in western Washington for sure. Everything is pretty open and there is a nice trail at the end you could take to go backpacking or just a day hike
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular cabin campsite near Winthrop, WA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular cabin campground near Winthrop, WA is Winthrop/N. Cascades National Park KOA Holiday with a 4.2-star rating from 9 reviews.
What is the best site to find cabin camping near Winthrop, WA?
TheDyrt.com has all 16 cabin camping locations near Winthrop, WA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
