Palouse Falls State Park.
Don Geyer/Alamy
North of Walla Walla, WA
Palouse Falls State Park, near Starbuck:
- You may not be able to see Palouse Falls (pictured) from the 10-site campground, but this time of year, you can hear the thundering
Palouse River as it tumbles over the lip of a miniature Grand Canyon. After you pitch your tent, stroll to the overlook and
imagine you’re the kayaker who took the 200-foot plunge last spring and broke nothing but his paddle. $12; parks.wa.gov or 509/646-9218.
- Plan B: About 8 miles south, half of the 50 sites at the private campground at Lyons Ferry Park overlook the Snake River. $17; 509/399-8020.
Columbia River Gorge, OR
- Viento State Park: This former whistle-stop 8 miles west of Hood River works well as a shaded base camp for last-minute adventurers from Portland.
Kiteboarders head to the water, while hikers amble along a decommissioned mile-long stretch of the Historic Columbia River
Highway to picnic in the misty shroud of Starvation Creek Falls. Serious climbers do an all-day trek to the summit of Mt.
Defiance, a thigh-blaster with a heart-stopping view of the gorge. From $17; oregonstateparks.org or 541/374-8811.
- Plan B: Nine miles west, a trail from the seven tent sites at Herman Creek Campground wanders through the gorge’s largest remaining stand of old-growth cedar. $10; 541/308-1700.
Bend, OR
- Lava Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest: A lodgepole-pine forest shrouds 43 sites from the sun—and the high-peaks vistas—so rent a canoe (Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe, $60 per day; 541/317-9407) and savor the summit of the South Sister while casting for rainbow trout. $14; 541/383-4000.
- Plan B: One of the six waterfront sites at the adjacent, and no less lovely, Little Lava Lake. $12; www.fs.fed.us/r6 or 541/383-4000.
Near Olympic National Park, WA
- South Fork Hoh: This campground at the edge of the Hoh Rain Forest receives more than a foot of precipitation each year, yet except for the
Hoh River just steps from your site, there’s no running water. Pack your own, and solitude’s your payoff. Plus, the South
Fork Hoh Trailhead is just 2 miles away. Free; 360/374-6131.
- Plan B: Ten riverside sites at local favorite Coppermine Bottom are about a 15-minute drive along Hoh Mainline Road. Free; 360/374-6131.
Whidbey Island, WA
- Fort Casey State Park: Drive—or walk—off the Port Townsend ferry (ideally, an early one), and claim one of the 35 sites carved out of a spit of
sand that juts into Admiralty Inlet. Day-trippers mob the lighthouse and the decommissioned fortress that towers above the
campground. But most overnighters are content to linger around their fire rings, roasting s’mores and gazing out at pearlescent
Puget Sound, the Olympics clawing at the distant horizon. $21; parks.wa.gov or 360/678-4519.
- Plan B: There are 26 tent sites at Staysail RV Park, the city of Oak Harbor’s waterfront campground on Crescent Harbor, about 13 miles north. $12; 360/279-4500.
Next: Last-minute camp sites in Northern California
