Established Camping
Peterson Prairie Campground
About
National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Overview
Peterson Prairie Campground offers shaded and secluded campsites nestled in a forest of large pine, spruce and fir trees. The campground tends is popular among huckleberry pickers. At an elevation of 2,800 ft., Peterson Prairie offers a cool summertime climate during the hottest part of the season. Several kid-friendly attractions are a short distance away, making this campground a great choice for families.
Recreation
Seasonal harvesting of huckleberries and mushrooms is a popular pastime.Natural Bridges and Ice Cave are scenic, family-friendly nature trails near Peterson Prairie Campground. A stairway leading into the Ice Cave allows convenient access to the cave's incredible ice formations. Please be prepared when visiting the caves. Information is avaialble at the campground and the Mt Adams Ranger Station.
Facilities
Drinking water and vault toilets are available. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. The sites are spacious with gravel parking spurs.
Natural Features
Located in southwest Washington State, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest encompasses 1.3 million acres and includes the 110,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument established by Congress in 1982. Peterson Prairie is located in the Mt. Adams Ranger District. Nearest town is Trout Lake, WA. The Mount Adams Ranger District offers a large variety of habitats and natural features, from old growth to second growth forest, wetland areas, low and high elevation meadows, glaciers, and low and high elevation lakes.
contact_info
This location has limited staffing. Please call (509) 427-3677 for general information.
Nearby Attractions
This campground is near Bird Creek Meadows, a trail that offers spectacular wildflower displays and opportunities to observe numerous birds. Goose Lake is 8 miles west of the campground and offers excellent trout fishing.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee.__ A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. Group Sites Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. No-Shows A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite.____ Refunds Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive.__ In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
Fee Info
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Group
- Cabins
Features
For Campers
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Firewood Available
- Drinking Water
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Pull-Through Sites
- Big Rig Friendly
Dusty but Beautiful
This is a really cool campground with many sites right next to the "creek". The other sites are facing the woods. Good sized campsites with plenty of room to spread out. We booked a double site and we could have set up 6 tents! This would be a great place to visit in the spring when the creek is flowing. We visited in August and there was zero water flowing, but the kids enjoyed exploring the creek bed.
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Beautiful but Dry Dusty Dirt no
Campground is amongst a beautiful forest, lots of shade and whimsy. Campsites are spacious and though close the highway, the noise is hardly noticeable. Downside, the campsite had an unusual amount of thick dirt ground causing an immense about of dust. It was really unpleasant especially with our 4 year old who was kicking it all over the place. Camp host said it was exceptionally dusty due to the creek being dried out. Not really a downside, but be wary of deer crossing the campsites if you have little kids or dogs, they are comfortable with humans. We saw a doe and her fawns and they were beautiful.
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Campground near Trout Lake/Guler Ice Caves
This campground boarders both sides of the Lost Creek (Dried up most of the time). The sites are fairly large, but very open with little to no privacy. I was in spot 10 and the entire spot was open up to the road, which is not my favorite. Many of the other sites were open due to no small trees/brush. There was also a very fine dust in the entire spot that can drive certain people nuts, especially ones with small dogs who turn into little clouds of dust!
There were a couple deer that roamed the campground and wondered in and out of campsites. I had to shoo away 1 so he wouldn't stomp on my little dog while walking through my site. It was cool seeing them up close though. Also it was the start of a very good huckleberry season and the entire campground was full of huckleberry bushes. I was able to gather several cups just from my camp spot alone.
While this isn't my favorite campsite, it was overall a good campground and if you are in the area I would recommend it.
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Location
Peterson Prairie Campground is located in Washington
Directions
From SR 14 follow SR 141 North to the town of Trout Lake, continue through town on SR 141 till the road ends and FS 24 begins(approximately 5 miles WSW of town). Continue west on FS 24 for another 2.25 miles to the entrance of Peterson Prairie.
Address
Gifford Pinchot NF Mt Adams Ranger District
Carson, WA 98610
Coordinates
45.9694444 N
121.6608333 W