Camping on the weekend - any recommendations (Seattle, Ellensburg: home, station)

[SitoUK]

Hi there

we sort of spontaneously decided to go camping over the long weekend. Our firt idea was Lake Chelan but when I looked up the camp sites in that areas it appeared they all accepted reservations and are fully booked (in contrast to the Olympics and the North Cascades - the only places I'd been camping so far - where most camp grounds appear to operate on a first come, first serve basis)

We are going out there on Saturday morning (from Seattle) and I am a little worried we won't find a space when we get there. I've therefore got 2 questions:

1. What do you think are our chances? Will we find a campsite in that area on Saturday or should I better forget about that.
2. Do you know any campsites in the Eastern Cascades or just East of the Cascades (I don't know any of that area, so not worried about the exact locations) where we would have a chance finding something?

Any info much appreciated, thanks!

Lars

[tobester]

Don't know about camping, but driving back from Eastern Washington on Monday, you will encounter monumental traffic from Cle Elum/Ellensburg to the pass.

[SitoUK]

yeah, that's expected :-)

[Sobefobik]

I would go for the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula, or somewhere in the Olympic National Park. The weather should be good for you, and I have heard that some of the camping areas around there are practically empty year round. I would call the ranger station and see how busy they expect it to be. The Hoh Rainforest is beautiful, as well as the rest of the peninsula.

[cjg5]

Do you like state parks or primitive campgrounds? You can't go wrong with checking out the Teanaway area if you like primitive camping! I grew up going camping there every summer! I recently put pictures of the area in the Washington State Picture Thread if you want to see them. They are still on the last page.

All state parks will be full on such short notice, though if someone canceled you might get lucky! My favorite state park is Moran State Park on Orcas Island. Pure awesomeness! (I also have some pictures of that place in the picture thread somewhere. Not sure now what page they might be on now though!).

[cjg5]

BTW there is also a very nice primitive campground up the hill from, I believe, 25 Mile Creek State Park (which is on Lake Chelan). IIRC, the campground is called Snowberry Bowl Campground. I stayed there last summer for a week. The group I was with and I pretty much had the entire campground to ourselves. We spent nights around the fire at the campground (okay, we were also partying up there!), and days down on the lake.

[SitoUK]

Thanks everyone, I'll go out there tomorrow and see what happens. I spoke to a ranger today and it seems there's a chance of getting space on some camp grounds. I'll let you know how it went, wish me luck! :-)

[Jalhop]

Originally Posted by tobester

Don't know about camping, but driving back from Eastern Washington on Monday, you will encounter monumental traffic from Cle Elum/Ellensburg to the pass.

Yep. Best to not even try before midnight. On an ordinary summer Sunday a month ago it was 1.5 hours of stop & go.

[SitoUK]

Thanks again, eveyone! I ended up at Orondo River Park. Not the best campground I have ever seen but quite nice, by Entiat Lake. Went one day to Chelan and did a day hike up to Pot Peak and on the way back we stopped in Leavenwort and did Icicle Ridge. Both nice hikes and different to the places I've been to so far (much hotter and drier), so all in all a good trip! Next time I'll try to get onto Darango State park campground, it's only a few minutes up the road from Orondo and looks fantastic, on an Island in the lake.

P.S. Traffic on the way back was surprisingly easy. We went to Leavenworth in the morning, then had dinner there after our hike and left at around 7pm and had an absolutely smooth ride home to Seattle, about 2.5 hours.