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Situated in the vicinity of majestic Mount Rainier, Big Creek is a family campground nestled among Douglas firs, hemlock, alders and maples. The lush vegetation offers plenty of privacy between sites. The sites at Big Creek form a loop, with only a handful of sites sitting along the banks of Big Creek. Open from mid-May through late September, Big Creek provides an alternative to the campgrounds at Mount Rainier National Park, which can get very crowded during the summer. Recreation Anglers can try their luck at catching brook trout in Big Creek or for those looking to explore the area, the Osborne Mountain Trail starts at the campground. The route is steep, but the scenery is amazing, and the trail can be traversed by foot, horse, mountain bike or dirt bike. Facilities The campground requires vehicles to have a relatively tight turning radius. Big Creek can accommodate tents, trailers and RVs, with a maximum vehicle length of 22 feet. Some parking spurs are paved; others are native moss and dirt. Some sites have rocks or heavy vegetation, which may make it difficult to pitch a tent. Drinking water is available, but there are no hot showers available onsite. Vault toilets are provided as well as a pedestal grill, fire pit and picnic table at each site. Gray water disposal facilities are located throughout the campground. Natural Features Located in southwest Washington State, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest encompasses over 1.3 million acres and includes the 110,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument established by Congress in 1982. Big Creek is located in the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District, the northernmost portion of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. This Ranger District manages four Wilderness Areas including the Goat Rocks Wilderness, Glacier View Wilderness, Tatoosh Wilderness and William O' Douglass Wilderness. The Cowlitz Valley Ranger District is roughly located among three volcanic peaks: Mt. Rainier to the north, Mt. Adams to the east, and Mt. St. Helens to the west, providing visitors with a unique geological landscape. Nearby Attractions Big Creek is 6 miles from the Nisqually entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. The popular Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center at Paradise is 21 miles away, and the nearby town of Ashford offers restaurants, along with a few art galleries and shops. contact_info This location has limited staffing. Please call (360) 686-3008 for general information. ADA Access: N
From Ashford, WA, take Forest Road 52 approximately 5 miles to the campground.
It echoes which is odd. A lovely rooster from a nearby property refuses to let you sleep from 4 to 8 am. Great launch point to the nisqually entrance to rainier. Good food at copper creek just 5 minutes away.
I reserved a site in February 2021 for a weekend July 2021. When I made the reservation the only day I could reserve was for Friday night. Saturday night was listed as First Come First Serve for the site we reserved. So I figured, that’s fine, we will get there Friday night and then just be first in the site on Saturday, bring cash and pay for Saturday night and be all set. Well, per the typical State run campground BS, after doing all our packing and prep and driving 3 hrs to the campground, setting up our site etc, we notice that they RESERVED OUR SITE FOR SATURDAY NIGHT! If you’ve ever tried to find campsites day of near National Parks you already know it’s almost a lost cause and becomes the full time job of your day. So that ended our trip. Thanks for nothing Big Creek Campground. Yes, I realize this review will not change anything. These high trafficked campgrounds have no incentive to improve their websites or customer service. Zero stars. What good is a nice campground if you can’t even count on the information they post on the online booking portal? Complete BS.
Very close to the park and store, and about half the campground has cell signal. Most of the campground is pretty cramped, but site #10 is the best in the place. It’s secluded, big, and has access to a lovely creek via a short (30 seconds of walking) trail through the woods. I recommend grabbing a stick for the spider webs tho. There is a very annoying rooster on a nearby property that starts making noise at about 6am ish, so keep that in mind. Anyway, highly recommend for the location alone.
This camp ground is at a convenient location with nice space for tent, fire pit also hammock if you are interested in putting one!
The booking is usually tight, we booked it online and it was smoother. Finding this location is quite easy also its very close to Mt Rainer. I would go there again!!
This campground has it all: clean pit toilets, hiking inside the grounds, privacy, a few miles from Mt Rainier Park, water…. Even though the actual individual sites are small (I have a 8x6 tent that barely fit), I never saw my neighbors due to the amount of trees between each site! The camp host was around at least 3x a day. It was dead quiet by 10pm. No parties or loud people ever. I was here June 30- July 2
