Editor’s Note: Staffing cuts have affected many Washington state parks, trails, and campgrounds, resulting in some closures. Please check the official campground websites (linked in the titles below) for updates on the site’s current status. If you’re interested, the Washington Trails Association has started a petition urging the administration to reverse the firing of thousands of U.S. Forest Service and National Parks Service staff.
With six years of camping as a family, we’ve stayed at several campsites throughout Washington. Amazingly, we’ve never had a negative experience. (To be honest, we’re fair-weather campers, so we have canceled two trips when the weather forecast was rainy).
Here’s a roundup of some of the campgrounds we’ve been able to stay at — from Mount Rainier to the San Juans to the Cascades — we’ve stayed at some beautiful places in our great state and look forward to many more years of making memories while camping as a family.
Cougar Rock Campground
- Ashford, WA (use the Paradise entrance at Mount Rainier)
- Showers/Bathroom: Flush toilets; no showers
- Reservations: Reserve sites through Recreation.gov can be made six months in advance
This is one of only two reservable campgrounds at Mount Rainier National Park. Located just a short drive from the Paradise Visitor Center, this family-friendly campground was a perfect location for our Mount Rainier trip. We used it as a base to go up and down the mountain for short day hikes and mountain-viewing. The Nisqually River is just across the street from the campground. If you stay at the campground,
you don’t need an additional timed entrance reservation to get into the park.
Special for kids: We had a quiet campsite on one of the campground loops. The road around our campsite was empty enough that our 5-year-olds could bike around quite comfortably (with mom and dad watching for the occasional car). In addition to being a short drive from Paradise, the campsite is just a short drive north of Longmire. My daughter’s favorite hike of the trip was the Trail of the Shadows hike, located just across the street from Longmire. Our kids both completed the Junior Ranger Program, a program through the National Park Service where kids can complete an activity book and then get “sworn in” as a junior ranger, completed with an oath and a badge to take home. I highly recommend it!
Camping at Cougar Rock. (Image: Ellie White)
Middle Fork Snoqualmie Campground
- North Bend, WA
- Showers/Bathroom: Pit toilets; no showers
- Reservations: Reserve sites through Recreation.gov can be made six months in advance
This is one of my favorite family-friendly campgrounds in WA to visit — it takes just over an hour to drive from Seattle, but you feel worlds away while there. The campground is filled with trees and is just a short walk from the beautiful Snoqualmie River. You can wander along the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail, sit along the river, or find one of many trails near the campground.
Special for kids: A short walk from the campground is a wide, rocky spot to sit by the river. You could spend hours here wading and exploring. Nearby, family-friendly hikes include the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail and Garfield Ledge Trail. The Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail trailhead is a short walk from the campground, has relatively low elevation gain, and goes on for many miles (I’ve never done the whole 12-mile loop – I always just go for a while and then turn around). The Garfield Ledge Trail trailhead is also a short walk from the campground and includes elevation gain. Our 4-year-olds were able to complete the nearly two-mile hike. Be aware that the viewpoint at the top of the hike is steep, so you must watch your little ones closely.
There are several trails adjacent to Middle Fork Campground. (Image courtesy Recreation.gov)
Spencer Spit State Park
- 521 Bakerview Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261
- Showers/Bathroom: Flush toilets; no showers
- Reservations: Reserve sites through Washington State Parks can be made nine months in advance
Our parenting (PEPS) group took our annual camping trip to Spencer Spit when our kids were 4. Getting ferry reservations can take some time. So many people tried to get them the day we all tried, but the website wasn’t working properly. We spent many hours trying but finally got them and made it out to this beautiful spot on Lopez Island. The island is so small that you can explore all of it with the campground as a base. We visited beaches, did short hikes, and went into town during our camping trip.
Special for kids: There was a (what seemed to be newly constructed) playground that the kids enjoyed playing on. The kids also did quite a lot of biking in the park; parents would stand guard at either end of a long road in front of the site, and the kids did loop after loop on the road. Some families brought adult bikes and biked their kids into town. The campground is right on the water, so we would do a short (steep) walk down to the water to explore, swim, and calm.
Playground at Spencer Spit. (Image: Ellie White)
Lake Wenatchee State Park
- 21588 SR 207, Leavenworth, WA 98826
- Showers/Bathroom: Flush toilets; showers
- Reservations: Reserve sites through Washington State Parks can be made nine months in advance
We stayed at the group site at Lake Wenatchee State Park. It accommodates up to 80 people and would be excellent for a large group. We were just a group of three families and got the reservation the day before the trip. I’d say the group site could comfortably accommodate 10-12 tents. The individual sites were not too appealing to me — they looked like they were in a parking lot and weren’t surrounded by trees, while the group site had many trees scattered throughout. This family-friendly campground is located on beautiful Lake Wenatchee, with a swimming area sectioned off at the beach, including a wheelchair-accessible ramp down to the water.
Special for kids: We had so much space at the group campsite. There were no low-hanging branches on the trees, so the kids could easily bike and play baseball and soccer around the campsite. We headed over to the north campground (we stayed in the south campground) and meandered along a river connected to the lake; the kids could have explored the shore for hours. And just across the street from our campsite, horseback riding was offered through Icicle Outfitters & Guides. I’m glad my husband pushed for us to do a ride — the kids had a great time, and it was a great new experience for them. Another perk of the trip was that the park store rented gas fires, so although there was a fire ban, we could still have a “campfire” and roast marshmallows.
Wenatchee campground. (Image: Ellie White)
More to Explore
Hiking in Washington? Be aware of trail closures
