Kachess

Been camping at Kachess for decades. The first trip I was12. For two decades almost every Memorial day and Labor day. I was there every opening day and even helped the hosts open the gates some years until the snow pack was so great the park could not open on Memorial day. It was a wonderful park with fantastic management back then. It was ALL FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. There was no nonsense. The limits to campgrounds were strictly adhered to, there was an RV dump, the bathrooms were clean and there was no parking except the allowed vehicles in a site. Then it all changed when Thousand Trials left. I can't remember when reservations started but I know I had gone up early to get a site and the one I always got had a reserved sign on it. It all went downhill from there. The first come first served started to shrink to nothing but one overflow site in all loops now!!!! That is when the bad experiences started. Not enough room to tell all. One year about 3 years ago we came up to get a first come first serve on a Thursday. We paid cash at the booth for a spot through the weekend. We went to get a spot and nothing was available. Went back to the booth and they told us to wait until 2:00pm check out and go around to see who was packing up and wait around there. We waited close to a spot big enough for the people coming to join us. At exactly 1:59pm a man came out of his trailer and walked to the booth to pay!!!! We were pooched because the park was full. Asked for a refund and they told us cash was put in a safe! We would have to call to get a refund. I called many times and never did get that refund. Thank goodness for Silver Ridge Ranch because we got an amazing spot there. Unfortunately the Ranch was just sold a few weeks ago and the spot we camped in will be sold as a 3 acre lot. My assessment is that the federal government needs to hire another private company to run Kachess. They do not know what they are doing!!!! Not room for our last week disaster trip up there.

We stayed at site 90. The only shaded part of our site was the picnic table. Our tent was hit by sun all day. Thankfully it didn’t get too hot during our stay. There also wasn’t a whole lot of privacy. It was however close to the bathroom, which was clean and stocked with toilet paper. It was also a quick walk down to the water. I would stay again, but maybe pick a different site.

It’s a wonderful camping place, we just love every bit of it except the FF part, we wish all the sites can be reserved ahead of the time.

Beautiful spot, good access to some beach area and some lakeside trails to walk.

Beautiful reservoir.

For paddle boarding and such i like to stay in the Box Canyon area. There’s a manager nearby who has firewood for $8/bundle. There’s water spigots but i don’t know if it is potable. I have brushed my teeth using it and washed the dishes without issue. There are two restrooms in this part of the campground. One has put toilets while the other is flush. This is likely one of the most beautiful spots in Washington State.

The campground as a whole is gorgeous and the staff were kind. Our "pull through" site #53 in Beargrass was not as advertised. The "pull through" is actually shared with site #52, therefore you CANNOT pull through. The dimensions were not favorable for our rig and barely fit. They need to change the site description.

Super friendly staff! I arrived a day early of my reservation on the chance they would have a campsite. Instead of just camping one night I wanted to camp for two nights. The campground host Aaron jumped into action and made sure I was able to camp in the same site I had reserved the next night...so I wouldn't need to move my stuff, sweet! He was a great host and very helpful. I would definitely go back to Kachess Campground. This was the second week of June and the campground was 15 to 20% capacity mid-week...nice and uncrowded.

GALE CREEK #20
Gorgeous campground with large campsites. For you tent campers: We camped as a group of 6 and were able to pitch three tents, canopy, and an extra picnic table. The site is right next to the creek, so it was extra chilly at night. The hosts were wonderful and very welcoming. We definitely plan to make this an annual trip.

Big campsites, great road in, unfortunately our time was ruined by loud, late-night partiers and we left early.