Red Mountain Campground

Stayed September 2013

Pros - Clean little campsites with fire pit and picnic table. Vault toilet and dumpster are on site. Plenty of trees provide shade at the campsites. Most sites are just steps away from the Cle Elum River and there is a small sandy beach for easy access, this a great place to take a dip in hot weather (which we did plenty of). The rest of the beach is rocky and stretches for nearly a quarter of a mile. We had a great time exploring along the riverbank.

What I really liked about the area was the lack of bugs, I usually get eaten alive so this was a nice change. Maybe it had to do with the late season (mid-September) but the only time I was accosted by pests was when I ventured onto their territory or left dirty dishes out for too long (my own fault).

Cons - If you want quiet and secluded, this isn't the place for you. You'll be in close proximity to the highway and other campers and will hear sounds coming from both. Fortunately the river drowns out much of the noise and after a short time we barely even noticed it. While our campground neighbors were quiet and considerate, the large group at the dispersed site across the river were beating their drums until 9 or 10pm. It didn't bother us much but I can see how someone else might be annoyed.

Privacy depends on which campsite you're at. Get there early and snag one of the spots surrounded by trees. We were left with one of the three spaces right next to each other, but since our neighbors minded their own business it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared. Prepare for foot traffic to and from the beach and toilet. The beach appears to be well-known by locals so we did have a small crowd of people from outside the campground.

We came upon this campground after finding Salmon la Sac was full and we're really glad we did. The river was beautiful and crystal clear and a lot of fun to play in, and that alone will keep us coming back.

We stayed at spot #1 and although the space was large and relatively private, it is very close to the road so there is occasional vehicle noise. This campground is on the Cle Elum River and across the river is an unincorporated Federal area that anyone can camp at without paying a fee, but no ranger or camp host is present and the partying gets very loud and occasionally out of control. In our case, the loud music playing and drowsiness went on until about 1 am. The area was very beautiful and the ranger servicing the area was very friendly. He kept the vault toilet well stocked with toilet paper, sanitizer and clean.

Clean and good smelling toilet. River is good for swimming. Clean water. Peaceful environment. We camped end of july on week days. There are 6 campsites and only two were occupied when we got there. There are other campsite on the other side of the river which can be reached using the bridge half a mile down from this campground.

Stayed September 2013