By:
Submission
The 90,000-acre Yacolt Burn State Forest, and nearby areas to the north and east in Cowlitz, Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat counties, are working forests. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages timber production, biomass byproducts, communication tower leases, and other activities in the forest to help fund local county services and the construction of public K-12 schools throughout Washington.
Located north of Naselle, this five tent-only campsite lake is situated on the way up to Radar Ridge. There is a short trail that goes around the lake and a trail connecting to Snag Lake.
Start at milepost 3 on SR-4. Go north on C-Line Road; take the left fork at Naselle Youth Camp entrance for 2.9 miles. Turn left on C-2600 Road for 0.9 miles. Turn right on C-2650 Road for .3 miles to the site.
Discover pass required
Camping stays are limited to 10 days within a 365-day period. Don't ride ATVs or motorcycles in campgrounds.
Cute, little lake with 5 walk-in campsites. No RV parking, really. We pulled to the far side of the parking lot near some bushes. Free with Discover Pass. Only one other camper here on a Tuesday, early September. Air is fairly smoky from a medium fire (inland WA near Columbia River) due to unusual Easterly winds. Rough-ish gravel road to get here.
Short, easy walk around the lake. We set up our remote office at one of the empty sites right on the lake. Good enough T Mobile cell service to tether to our laptops. So serene!
Beautiful quiet location here. The Park Ranger here does harass you whenever he shows up. Accuses you being here longer than you have, and rarely takes care of the facilities here. I go hiking in the morning and afternoon with friends at another campsite not far, and came back to a note to leave.
Was here during the fire ban and was glad that everyone adhered for the most part. Unfortunately I still smelled smoking from campsites and I heard firecrackers. Both incidents were against the fire ban but I couldn't pin point where it came from.
The reviews stating the information park ranger seemed kind of true? I heard him walking around asking people how long they've been there and he wasn't even there during the smoking or firecracker incidents and seemed to care more if people were overstaying. Other than that things were nice there.
Super fun taking the logging roads out to Radar Ridge! I would recommend taking a larger vehicle like a truck, as these logging roads would be rough on a car. I love this campground because it's not super well known and isn't crowded with tourists. It's a great place to hike, camp, or explore with your kids. The terrain once you get to the campground isn't very rough and is walkable for most people. The lake is GORGEOUS and is a great spot to take pictures.
