By:
Submission
In North Bend, WA, at the intersection of North Bend Way and Bendigo Blvd (State Rt. 202), take Bendigo Blvd 0.7 miles to I-90 east, Spokane entrance. Proceed east on I-90 and go 11.2 miles to Exit 42 (Tinkham Rd). Take Exit 42 to stop sign. Turn right and go 1.5 miles to campground on left. NOTE: The last 1.3 miles are on a dirt road.
This campground is great with its dense forest and moss everywhere. Not too far from some great hiking and beautiful waterfalls. It was unfortunate that my reserved spot was taken when we arrived with no camp host around to sort out the issue, but after finding a different spot a few sites down #22 which was even better with great access to the river. It all worked out and we had a great time here. We were just lucky enough that the majority of the campground was empty with many other sites to choose from. (regardless of all the reserved signs posted.) The camp host showed up the next day and mentioned that we hadn't yet payed for our spot, I explained the situation about my reserved spot being taken and she seemed very friendly and understanding of our situation.
Nice campground! You can hear the freeway but i really only noticed it when i was going to bed
Didn't mind the noise and if your not worried about it you actually don't hear the traffic. Very beautiful area for me to meditate and if your there let me know cause I lost a walking cain there.
Hand carved.
This is a very pretty campground, with a gorgeous river (south fork of the snoqualmie) and plenty of sites with direct access to the water.
The vault toilet bathrooms were pretty rough at first on a Sunday afternoon after the weekend rush, but the host cleaned up when they had the chance and they were just fine the rest of our stay.
If you prefer to camp within cell service to maintain that blue light glow while visiting nature, the signal here is strong. In fact I heard several cell phones mixed in with the limited amount of nature audible as it is... (I'll explain in a sec).
The host had not put up the current reservation signs until the last minute, so we almost set up in a site that was taken but mislabeled. We luckily decided to check in with them before setting up.
They brought around fire wood for sale which was convenient and nice. Kind of small bundles for 8 bucks though. That on top of the $28 nightly fee and the billions of tax dollars and the millions in discounts to big timber... seams a bit unfair for "public land."
But the real problem I've got here, and ultimately why only 3 stars for such a beautiful place, is the roaring sound of the freeway. I-90 is right on the other side of the river and it is sooooooo loud. We couldn't hear the river at all (which is one of my favorite sounds when camping). The noise of heavy traffic drowns out the conversation around the fire. And it didn't quiet down a bit until roughly 11pm. Only to start back up in full force and wake up the whole fam at a little before 6am.
With a strong desire to flee the city but unable to go without the phones for a night, I may come back for a single night stay (or explore this area further). Otherwise... I don't see this being a likely future trip's destination.
Sub par for the price of $28/night. Pit toilets are in need of repair, proximity to I-90 provides constant noise pollution, hard to use hand pump for fresh water and access road is rough. If the sights were $10-12/night it might be worth it! This is by far the most expensive NFS campground we've experienced in 8+ year of travel. Since we're here, we'll make the best of it for a couple of weeks. Beautiful forest surrounding!
