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Submission
From Concrete, WA, take State Rt. 20 west 5.1 miles to Baker Lake Rd sign. Turn right at sign onto Baker Lake Rd and go 20.1 miles to Forest Rt. 1144 (across from Baker Lake Resort). Turn left onto Rt. 1144 (gravel) and then left into campground.
Private camping on a river. Great views. Outhouse didn't have TP, but was super clean.
Your experience at this campground will undoubtedly be a function of your expectations. I'm used to backpacking and tent-camping out of sight & sound of other people, so camping here was something of a shock to me: although "private", in the sense that other people are not right on top of you, you will definitely hear people all the time, day & night, including cars constantly driving past since each of the sites is basically right off the road, and people going to-and-fro to the toilet and back. That being said, for a crowded and popular campground with access to a lot of trails, it's not that bad, and very accessible. So I give it a middle-rating of three stars.
This is a small campground that is set up for tents and small trailers. Most of the campsites have a private trail and are adjacent to Park Creek, which is a large creek. Only a few of the sites have sand beds for tents and the graveled sites will have large puddles during moderate rains - hence the missing star. The Rainbow Falls Loop Trailhead starts at the edge of this campground and passes by Baker Hot Springs, ponds, across creeks (passable) and other interesting landscapes. It is also an easy walk to Baker Lake. We stayed in campsite #5, which held two 3-person and one 4-person tent. The campground shows very visible effects of a recent wildfire.
We enjoyed speaking with the two rangers. One of them came back to check on us the morning after a heavy rain.
It was a great campground. I usually go to swift creek but I wanted to stay a week so I came to park creek. Nice and private sights. The hot springs are a hour and a half up the road on foot.
Small campground NOT on the lake.
Beautiful view of Mt. baker, sound of the creek and clean bathrooms are among the great things about the campground. Close to a boat launch but not on the lake makes it a quiet and more secluded experience.
Check out the day use area at Swift Creek across the street!
