Lake Chelan State Park

We love, love, love this campground! I went for the first time the summer before Mike and I met, on a last-minute trip because a spot opened at the campground. This year, a big end of summer bash was planned with a lot of my high school and college friends, and extended friends of theirs. In total, six campsites along the waterfront were reserved for a late September trip.

The greatest thing about Lake Chelan State Park is that a lot of the campgrounds are directly on the water, and private! You have to walk down to the sites, but there are paths, and it's not too bad. Then, your campsite is basically in front of the water, like your own private lake! It's the next best thing to owning your own cabin on Lake Chelan. Both times we've gone, we've had an anchored raft in front of the campsite or parked jet skis and just come and go as we please.

Lake Chelan is also SUPER hot, which allows for a lot of water fun and makes it a great place to go in late September. The park is super popular and usually booked all summer - we had to prebook last March for a late September trip - to September might be the only time you can snag a spot on the beach loop.

To reserve a beachfront site, be sure you book sites 36 - 71. Site 36 is the best, in our opinion, because it's on the end, large and private. The only problem with the campground is that the park rangers tend to be really strict, even when music is on rather low. We were told on a number of times to turn down the music or to keep our voices down.

The campground also has a little store with ice cream, shaved ice and other camping necessities if you forgot something. The campground is a little bit out of the town of Chelan - 30 minutes or so - so it's not quite as easy to pick something up if you forgot it. The town has a lot of surrounding wineries, which we've yet to check out, but it's on our list!

Final Verdict: Most definitely go back. It's hard to beat the heat coupled with a campsite right on the water. Plus, this kind of privacy and seclusion is rare in a Washington State Park. I wouldn't be so inclined to camp there if we couldn't get a waterfront spot. But next time we go back, we'll hopefully explore Chelan Wine Country!