Summer has been cool and wet so far this year in western Washington. We decided to take a long 4th of July weekend and head over to the east side towards Mount Rainier National Park. 

There are many National Forest managed campgrounds and dispersed camping spots to choose from along Highway 410 in Washington. The American River runs along this road and there are many places to hike. Naches is about 45 miles away and has a great pizza place/brewery. We booked somewhat last minute so we did not have many open sites at campgrounds in that area to pick from. 

Hells Crossing has two loops, one on either side of the American River. Several sites border the river, the others border the highway which can be very busy. There are vault toilets on both loops. They started on Thursday very clean and pleasant but by Sunday they were pretty smelly and the toilet paper was running dangerously low. We did not see anyone come to check them over the whole weekend. The website says there is potable water, but it appeared that the water was either broken or still shut off as we had to go to another campground down the road to fill our 5-gallon jug when we started to get low. Fires were still permitted and you can buy wood at several other spots between this area and Naches. 

Our site (6) was heavily shaded and bordered the highway. There were many trees, great hammock spots, and plenty of space between us and the other campers. We have a small 16 foot trailer but we tow with a quad cab, long bed old Dodge truck. I think it's longer than our trailer. This campground is tight. We had to move the large log that was separating our parking area from the rest of the camp site back a few feet just so we could fit the trailer in and pull the truck in front. All traffic had to stop until we could level and unhook as there was no space to go around. The ants were terrible but if we wear shoes and prop your feet up when sitting, they are a minor annoyance. 

The river is lovely and very cold. It's a nice walk around the loops and there are a couple trails across the highway to explore. There are a few sites that are better than the one we had (10 is primo!) so with better panning this would be a place we would return.