Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Winthrop, WA

This is a small, free campground (with pit toilet), picnic tables and fire pits. It's a long drive on bumpy backroads to get here from Winthrop. Four wheel drive isn't necessary, but if you can air down your tires, you'll enjoy the drive much more.

The campground is a the trailhead for Tiffany Lake. I think it's about a mile hike to the lake, without much elevation change. The lake is very pretty and had a nice bench to sit on and eat my lunch.

No bugs in May, but also pretty chilly at night because of the high altitude.

Definitely no cell signal out here!

This ia a beautiful camping location, but we have encountered fires, rattlesnakes, and torrential rains - including flooded camp gear. Fun spot, but have woken up to snakes sleeping under tents - probably not the best spot for kids or curious pets

pet friendly (on 6’ leash), quiet, shaded. Clean bathrooms, but no showers. Fire ring, table, and bear proof cabinets at each site. surrounded by forest and on Diablo Lake! water is cold, but stunningly beautiful. some really nice hikes

This is a very busy park/campground so it’s kinda noisy when you wanting to get away! However we still had a great time hanging out at the lakeside beach area, it’s dog friendly, hot weather, and close to downtown Winthrop for great shopping and food!

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.

We came to this little gem of a campground from 6/22-25/2107. Based off our research, Black Pine CG had more use than we expected but we found a nice site (#23) away from the cluster of activity with a beautiful view of the mountains and lake. Even though the CG was almost full on the weekend, it was quiet (no loud or hooligan activity). There are two sections to the CG, upper and lower. We would have liked site #3 in the upper section if it had been available. There was quite a bit of day use activity at the lake with cars going in and of the campground beginning around 12:00 noon (weekdays and weekends).

The CG hosts were lovey. Lynn and Sherry keep the place spotless. Cleanest bathrooms ever! The camp supplied drinking water and there is plenty of firewood to be found. The pets on leash rule is strictly enforced.

Of course there were mosquitos but were only really bothersome at the usual morning and dusk time. It was not windy and overall was a beautiful and quiet CG.

We ventured down to the lake on day 2 and walked the short interpretive trail that goes about 1/2 way around the lake. Nice little trail and handicapped accessible. We only saw a couple of other folks on our walk.

There is active use for fishing from docks, kayaks, canoes, and rowboats. No motors allowed except for trolling motors but we never saw one. Discouraging site was the large brown trout in the garbage. Want and waste. Unfortunate.

In summary, Black Pine is a beautiful, peaceful, gem to enjoy and relax with easy access to trail heads in the area. We probably won't return because it was busier than we prefer. We're typically dispersed site campers but wanted to try out Black Pine Lake CG with our pop-up camper on this trip. It was an enjoyable location as we explore our new home state of Washington (transplants from Oregon).

There are less trees in this area but it’s still a great place to stay. Great access to Winthrop. Fun little town.

When the North Cascades are completely booked/full and you can't find a spot anywhere... They will make a spot for you here! Nice lake, close to Winthrop, and friendly!

Park setting, not rustic camping at all. Lake is wonderful, beach area, showers, fishing, boat launch, jet skis....all the amenities. Beautiful grounds, close to Winthrop for outings, and other Methow activities!

We used a tent site which was in excellent shape. The views from our site were of the North Cascades. Only a short block walk into the heart of Winthrop which has all amenities, restaurants, micro brews, shopping etc. Very clean restrooms, ( $1.00 for a 2 minute shower) laundry available

This 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.

I stay here at least twice a year for a week at a time. The lake is very refreshing on a 100 degree day. The old western town of Winthrop is only a couple miles away. There’s around a dozen campsites right on the lake with your very own private beach access. No hook ups on the beachfront sites, but plenty of full hook ups available away from the water.

Needed a campground with easy access as we were just passing through for the night. Lots of privacy, clean facilities, and plenty of sites for either tents or small RV’s. Easy access to trails, river, and the towns of Mazama and Winthrop which are known for great hiking, climbing, mountain biking, etc. Very quiet, family oriented campground with clean, well-kept facilities. Definitely worth the $12 per night.

Spent 2 nights and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery of this quaint campground. Easy access to trails, river, and the towns of Mazama and Winthrop which are known for great hiking, climbing, mountain biking, etc. Very quiet, family oriented campground with clean, well-kept facilities. Not fancy, but had plenty of privacy, ADA accessible pit toilets, and drinking water. Campsite #19 is the best! Awesome for the price of $12 per night!

The Winthrop KOA is similar and on par with most other KOA campgrounds, as far amenities go. The campground is right on the Methow River which is great, however, early in the camping season the current is so swift, you would not be able to swim in it. The campground itself has a western vibe, with old wagons that you can actually rent to sleep in, log cabins, and western-style artifacts throughout. The campground is right off of the highway, so there is a little car noise during the day. At night, we didn't really notice it. With the location of the campground in Methow Valley, it can get really windy. One of the nights we were there, we had to douse our campfire because embers were flying everywhere. We had site 18 which was at the end of one of the rows and it was very spacious with a big grass area and a few trees.

We liked the location because it was close to Winthrop and many of the outdoor activities available in the area such as hiking trails, off-road tracks, fishing, kayaking, etc. The area is beautiful and has much to offer in the scenery department, even for folks that are car-bound.

Winthrop/ 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.

We camped here while trying to find climbing and skiing in the North Cascades, which are sublime, but challenging when as hot as it was. The towns of Mazama and Winthrop are figuratively but not literally cool, and with temperatures rising over 110 during the record heatwave of July 2021, the lake was a lovely place to cool down. It was much milder in temperature than the still frigid but fantastic Methow River, and perfect for casual swimming at sunset. Many families and campers but still found a spot and slept well for the first night in may hot ones.

It’s a ways from anywhere unless you happen to live in the middle of nowhere. It’s a great place for big groups. Get a few sites together and bring your bikes. Many sites are in full sun which is not awesome, but there are some really cool lakeside sites. It’s cool for tow behind tubing, a little morning fishing, daytime swimming in the swim area. If you need a day trip there’s plenty of hiking and the town of Winthrop is pretty cool even though it’s pretty touristy, once we took a day trip horseback riding, too. It’s awesome, totally relaxing and gorgeous. Be advised that it is like all high altitude areas really hot in the day and reallly cold at night. Bring shorts and sweats.

Visited 7/26-7/31 2020 Loop 1 site 22 Pros- clean facilities, great day use area, some campsites (loop 3) are on the water. The lake is cool and clear. Nice staff. Kayak and paddle board rentals (not this summer due to covid). Close to Winthrop and Chelan.

Cons- extensive fire damage in 2014 has downed many trees and most campsites have zero or little shade. Sites are very close together, little privacy and weekends at lake are busy. My main issue was the out of date campsite photos. Our site showed 6 trees but we had zero (cut down I’m guessing due to fire). We knew it would be hot but we also thought there would be shade.

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.

We were scheduled to camp for 2 nights but ended up leaving after 1 night. We camped at the West Campground, it’s right after the private resort. We arrived early and they were watering our site so we drove around and checked out the East Campground. Seems likes the East was more popular with campers. There were maybe a total of 5 campers on the West side in the middle of the week on a Wednesday. This campground is a short distance to Winthrop and Twisp. Our site was great, fished on the back part of our site and there was enough room for our pop up camper and truck. It was very windy while we were there and the mosquitoes were everywhere. We drove in to town to get additional mosquito repellents and nothing worked. We decided to leave a day early because of rain in the forecast and I was getting eaten by mosquitoes. If it wasn’t for the rain and mosquitoes we would have stayed! Wing

Stayed here with my dog. Beach and swimming area are NOT dog friendly. There are areas to play in the water but it’s not as accessible. Staff was pleasant. Like any other place follow all posted rules.