Campsite Review: This campground is really in a nice area of the old growth forest but it's camping amongst crowds when we went in the high season, the entire 188 sites were filled. There were very few walk-up sites and the rest of the campsites themselves are a decent size but not spaced far enough away from other campers and there is no underbrush to separate you from each other at all. We stayed at site 54 in loop A and had people constantly walking through/by both sides of our campsite to get to the toilets which were located on the next level higher than us. People literally walked right by our fire ring and through our chairs at one point to then hike up the hill instead of traversing around to the right for some stairs. If you can go off season by all means try and do it, but avoid this particular site at all costs…

The toilet facilities weren’t the nicest ones I’ve been to and could have used a little TLC. The facilities right by us were dirty and a bit rusty. They also had no soap or hand drying instrument what-so-ever (neither paper towels or hand dryer). Thankfully we had these things ourselves, but usually in NP campgrounds you don’t have to bring them yourself to the restroom.

Amenities: not sure if every site had one, but lots of bear boxes (you’re in bear and cougar (mountain lion) territory), your standard picnic tables, fire rings, plus flush toilets, potable water, & dump station for you RVers |Prohibited: pets off-leash, & firewood gathering (The camp host drives around selling wood if you haven’t already gotten some at a store) we came right during a fire ban, but as soon as it was removed they drove around letting everyone know. There then seemed to be a truck driving around with firewood for sale, I wasn’t able to confirm though as we were headed off to Paradise and then the Olympic peninsula.

Nearby Hikes: Grove of the Patriarchs, & Silver Falls and not too far from Paradise which is a must do if you happen to come in wild flower season

Gear Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt I sometimes get the opportunity to test out products and the saving grace for this particular camp site was my testing of the Leatherman Signal (Designed for adventure!!). This is a truly fantastic Leatherman and even if you’ve had them for years you should really check out the newer lines of specialized gear. I had an old PST (pocket survival tool) as a boy scout and had upgraded to the original WAVE, but hadn’t checked them out in years as I still have them and thought what could be better than what I already have. I was wrong. This tool and many of the other lines (skateboarding, surfing, skiing, hunting) are also really worth checking out.

• This is designed specifically with camping in mind.
• Really impressed with the new ability to change out components from this and other tools are you wear them down.
• The hammer is great for knocking in tent stakes into some stubborn ground or breaking up that giant block of ice into some manageable pieces.
• Great locking functions on the blade, saw and hammer section - nothing comes loose as you’re cutting/hammering away
• It’s really all the little touches that make this an awesome tool. Like having a sharpener, a built-in fire starter and emergency whistle. These are things that might end up saving your life if you happen to get stranded while out in the woods.

I give the Leatherman Signal 4.5/5 Stars!

This campground is in Mount Rainier N.P. on the Ohanapecosh River. There were only 3 loops open for the season when we went in 2013. It was packed and on a self-serve type of system for reserving. You find an open spot with no tag on it and go to a kiosk to pay for it. Then you hang your paid tag on the post so everyone knows it is taken. A very cool idea except most of the large spots that RVs could fit it were occupied by tents. We squeezed into a place in Loop C by the restrooms and set up camp for a few days. The sites don't have hookups but do come with a picnic table and fire ring. There is a dump station. There are bathrooms but no showers. Max RV length is 32 ft. Sites are a little tight from our experience. The river was very powerful and you could hear the swift water running through the campground. A large area of trees on the mountain were missing from a landslide that happened in 2006. They had record rainfall in 2 days that caused flooding in the park. The roads were under water and there was a lot of damage from the rains/flooding. we joined several other families in a hike called Silver Falls which was about 3 miles. The plants along the path were mostly ferns with very little flowers. Once we reached the falls area, everyone sat for some snacks and a little rest. The men thought it would be fun to jump in the water which registered around 45 degrees. That started a line up of kids who wanted to do the same. No women were crazy enough to follow suit. Later that evening, we did some repelling by the bridge. We had smores and sat by the campfire till late. One of our boys got his junior ranger badge before leaving the campground the next day. We drove to Paradise Visitor center further into the park to get our passport stamp and get some souvenirs. Everything was under snow up there. It was very beautiful but freezing in June!

We stayed at Ohanapecosh a little bit by accident. We had originally intended our trip to be a large group and had only looked at group campsites, and when we went (August 2015) the Cougar Rock group campground in the Paradise area was closed. So we stayed on Ohanapecosh, and it was absolutely one of my favorite campgrounds from our entire trip- and we stayed in a LOT of campgrounds (13, to be exact). We had two sites for 8 people, E09 and E11, and it was the perfect amount. It wouldn't have felt strange if we had been in one site or the other with another group in the opposite site as they were reasonably spread out, but those two sites were definitely grouped together a little more than other sites. It was nice to not feel like the campsites were all right on top of each other! Our sites were incredibly beautiful; close to the river, with nothing but trees and nature between us and the water. We were far enough from the bathroom that we didn't get much foot traffic, but close enough to not be a hassle for the pregnant member of our group. :) Definitely a little hidden gem in Mount Rainier- even during the busy summer the campground was quiet and relaxed.