Big Pines

Fall fishing on the Yakima River, quiet campground, perfect!

We arrived last weekend for a group river float and stayed for 3 days/2 nights. Of the 3 walk-to sites, Site A was closet to the river however had the most sandy, uneven and prickly-bush ground. Hard to find flat ground for our tent. Next year we will be choosing Site B, as it was the most spacious, had plenty of solid, even ground to set up a tent and pop-up canopy. and had the best view in my opinion.

Pros: We put our floats in at Umtanum and floated 4 hours down the river (we had 5 kids or it would have only taken 3 hours), and we ended up right back at the shore of our camp site. Having a semi-private spot at our site to access the river was nice. The other campers respected ‘quiet hours’ and we had no trouble with excess noise. The views are amazing! My eyes couldn’t believe the beauty of the canyon.

Cons: Noise from the train in the early morning hours, the bathrooms were VERY stinky but not sure how that would be avoided. I was also surprised by no sink in the bathroom. Which brings me to no running water whatsoever. The ground at our campsite was extremely prickly and sharp, no walking without shoes. The bushes popped the tires of every single bike we had (all 4 bikes)! The stickers were no joke. The bugs. They are terrible at night and very attracted to light. The bugs may change with the season? Not sure.

Overall we will definitely be staying at Big Pines again. If this is your first time be aware that this is very primitive campground. No power, running water, cell service, etc.

We arrived last weekend for a group river float and stayed for 3 days/2 nights. Of the 3 walk-to sites, Site A was closet to the river however had the most sandy, uneven and prickly-bush ground. Hard to find flat ground for our tent. Next year we will be choosing Site B, as it was the most spacious, had plenty of solid, even ground to set up a tent and pop-up canopy. and had the best view in my opinion.

Pros: We put our floats in at Umtanum and floated 4 hours down the river (we had 5 kids or it would have only taken 3 hours), and we ended up right back at the shore of our camp site. Having a semi-private spot at our site to access the river was nice. The other campers respected ‘quiet hours’ and we had no trouble with excess noise. The views are amazing! My eyes couldn’t believe the beauty of the canyon.

Cons: Noise from the train in the early morning hours, the bathrooms were VERY stinky but not sure how that would be avoided. I was also surprised by no sink in the bathroom. Which brings me to no running water whatsoever. The ground at our campsite was extremely prickly and sharp, no walking without shoes. The bushes popped the tires of every single bike we had (all 4 bikes)! The stickers were no joke. The bugs. They are terrible at night and very attracted to light. The bugs may change with the season? Not sure.

Overall we will definitely be staying at Big Pines again. If this is your first time be aware that this is very primitive campground. No power, running water, cell service, etc.

It was a fine campground as long as you are okay with hearing road noises all night. The big reason why I’m rating this so low is that I made a reservation a month in advanced (had the confirmation and everything) and when I got there (~7:30 the night of the reservation) someone else was in the reserved site. They found it as a first come first serve and paid the fee for it! It wasn’t their fault at all since the site itself had no reservation card to show it had been reserved, even though we had reserved it here. When we went to the hosts site to get it sorted, no one was there. Luckily, the people in our site were super nice and let us double up with them, because I wasn’t sure what we were going to do otherwise. We both paid for the site! Not sure who was at fault, and I was unable to talk to the host (since I couldn’t find them), so I’m left with a bad taste in my mouth here! Bummer cause it’s a beautiful area.

It was a fine campground as long as you are okay with hearing road noises all night. The big reason why I’m rating this so low is that I made a reservation a month in advanced (had the confirmation and everything) and when I got there (~7:30 the night of the reservation) someone else was in the reserved site. They found it as a first come first serve and paid the fee for it! It wasn’t their fault at all since the site itself had no reservation card to show it had been reserved, even though we had reserved it here. When we went to the hosts site to get it sorted, no one was there. Luckily, the people in our site were super nice and let us double up with them, because I wasn’t sure what we were going to do otherwise. We both paid for the site! Not sure who was at fault, and I was unable to talk to the host (since I couldn’t find them), so I’m left with a bad taste in my mouth here! Bummer cause it’s a beautiful area.

Ok to stay for one night passing by. No privacy, campsite are on top of each other.

Ok to stay for one night passing by. No privacy, campsite are on top of each other.

Good overnight campground great moutain views river was running high on august but found a spot to sit in river spotted a deer up in the hills

Good overnight campground great moutain views river was running high on august but found a spot to sit in river spotted a deer up in the hills

Nice spots for river activities