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Ok, so you finally have a long weekend away from work and you’ve decided to go camp in North Cascades National Park. As you’re loading the car, you are certain everything is going to be perfect (I’m a Dad, we naturally believe this, no matter how often it all goes wrong). You have a new 2-room tent you can actually stand up in, a freestanding stove with capacity to cook a pound of bacon and pancakes all at once, and inflatable paddle boards just yearning to glide across the teal glacial flour of Diablo Lake. You hit the road early enough to beat the stream of traffic going out State Route 20, snap the perfect family photo at the entrance sign (freshly painted and everything!), and cross the bridge over the Skagit River into the Newhalem Creek Campground. You drive the loop until you find a little “Reserved” placard with your name on it.

But something is not right. You know it before you are even parked, and now stepping out makes it all clear. No matter where you camped, your teen would call the site “mid,” but even you agree: this site is not great. The firepit is steps from the loop road, the hot July sun is baking down without a single sliver of shade, the neighbors are so close it feels like they are going to share your 2-room tent for the night. Everything looked great when you made the reservation, except…the couple photos and vague details can only paint a small picture of the reality of the site. And your site reality is of the “This is going to be a LONG long weekend” variety. Not unlike this Springbok 1000 piece puzzle:

When I go camping, one of my main frustrations is the lack of information on each site when I’m booking. It can be difficult to determine if the site has much privacy, whether it will fit my tent, or if I will feel cramped and crowded every moment I’m in the site. Fortunately for you, dear North Cascades camper, I recently spent an entire summer maintaining the Newhalem Creek Campground, and I’m here to share all the valuable insider information I’ve gathered about each camp site. Think of it as some “In-site” to rely on when you are booking your reservation. 

So if you want your camping trip to be more of this:

And less of this:

Then read on!

Below you will find a list* of every camp site (except the walk-in sites and group sites) in the Newhalem Creek loops. I have rated each one in terms of site size, length of the driveway, space for a tent(s), privacy, and other relevant information, plus an overall score out of 5. You can use this table in conjunction with the technical specs (site or pad length/width) listed on the Recreation.gov booking site (be sure to sort by “Site Number: Low to High”).

While I cannot guarantee you’ll find parking at any of the overlooks or you won’t pop a hole in your paddle board, I hope this information can help you better narrow down which campsite to book for this summer. Once you arrive at your site, come say “Hello!”, and be sure to share your own feedback so I can continue to make this list ever more accurate. Until then, feel free to reach out with any specific questions you may have.

Site #	Site Size	Site Drive Length	Tent Pad(s)	Privacy	Other	Score (/5)
1	Small	Medium	Medium	Medium		3
2	Small	Long, pull-thru	Small	Medium		3
4	Medium	Extra Long	Medium	Medium		3
5	Small	Long, pull-thru	Medium	Medium		3
6	Large	Medium	2 Medium	High	Backs up to road, high traffic noise	4
7	Large	Long	Large	High	Backs up to road, high traffic noise	4
8	Small	Medium	Medium	Medium	Road noise	3
9	Large	Sharp curve, pull-thru	Large	High		5
10	Large	Medium	Medium	Low-Medium		3
11	Large	Medium	Large	Medium		4
12	Large	Medium	Large	Medium	Only one neighboring site	4-5
13	Large	Short-Medium	Large	Low		3
14	Medium	Medium	Medium	Medium		3
15	Large	Long	Large	High		5
16	Small	Long, pull-thru	Medium	Low		2-3
17	Large	Long	Large	High		5
18	Large	Long	2 Medium	High	Only one neighboring site	5
19	Small	Short	Large	Low		2
20	Small	Long	Medium	High		4
21	Large	Long	Medium	Low-Medium		3
22	Large	Long	2 Extra Large	High		5
23	Very Small	Short	Small-Medium	Medium		2-3
24	Large	Long	Medium-Large	Medium		4-5
25	Large	Medium	2 Large	Full	Adjacent to Camp Host	5
28	Small	Short, sloping	Medium	Medium-High		3
29	Medium	Medium	Large	Medium	Backs up to restroom	3-4
30	Small	Long	Medium	Full		4-5
31	Large	Medium	2 Medium-Large	Full		5
32	Small	Short	Medium	Medium		3-4
33	Large	Short	Medium-Large	Medium		3
34	Large	Medium	Large	Medium		4-5
35	Large	Pull-thru, curve	2 Medium	Low-Medium		3-4
36	Large	Short	Large	Low-Medium		3
37	Large	Long	2 Medium	Medium	Only one neighboring site	5
38	Medium	Long, pull-thru, curve	Medium	High		4
39	Medium	Short	Large	Full		4-5
40	Large	Medium	Large	Medium		4-5
41	Large	Sharp curve, pull-thru	Large	Full		5
42	Medium	Medium	Large	Medium		3-4
43	Medium	Sharp curve, pull-thru	Small	Medium		3-4
44	Large	Short	Large	Medium		4
45	Large	Long	Large	Low	Full exposure on one side	3-4
46	Very Large	Long	2 Medium	Medium		5
47	Large	Long	Large	High		4-5
48	Medium	Medium	Large	Medium	Road Noise	3-4
49	Large	Long, pull-thru	Medium	None	Immediately adjacent to neighboring site (Book with 54)	2
50	Small-Medium	Short	Large	High	Road Noise	4-5
51	Small-Medium	Long	Large	Full	Road Noise	5
52	Large	Short	Large	Full	Road Noise	4-5
53	Small	Short	Medium	Low	Backs up to road	2-3
54	Small-Medium	Long	Large	None	Immediately adjacent to neighboring site (Book with 49)	2
70	Medium-Large	Short sloping	Small	Low	Uneven (roots), road proximity, shade	2
71	Small	Short	Small	Low	Shade	2
72	Medium	Short sloping	Medium	Low	Uneven (rocks)	2
73	Large	Level	Medium	Medium-High	Road noise, shade, rocky	4
74	Small	Medium	Medium	Full	Uneven, shade	4
75	Medium	Long	Small	Medium	Road noise, partial shade	3
77	Large	Double wide	2 Large	Medium	Backs up to road	3-4
78	Medium	Medium	Medium	Low	Tent pad a roadside, tent pad full sun	2
79	Medium	Long	Large	High	Shade	5
80	Small-Medium	Level Medium	Large	Medium	Tent pad at roadside, tent pad full sun	2-3
81	Small	Long	Medium	Medium	Tent pad at roadside, shade	3
82	Large	Short	Medium	None	Backs to other site, tent pads adjacent, shade (Book with 105)	2-3
83	Small-Medium	Long	Medium-Large	Medium	Uneven, road noise, shade	3
84	Medium	Medium	Large	Medium	Road noise, shade	4
85	Medium	Short	Large	None	Road noise, full sun	2
86	Small	Tight corner, pull-thru	Large	None	Uneven, road noise, full sun	1
87	Large	Short	Large	None	Full exposure to 2 neighboring sites, full sun	2
88	Medium	Long	Large	Medium	Road exposure, full sun	3
89	Small	Medium	Small	None	Full sun	1
90	Small	Short, pull-off	Medium	None	Fire pit by drive	1
91	Small	Short, sloping	Large	None	Table and pit next to loop road, surrounded by sites, full sun	1
92	Small	Short, sloping	Medium	Low	Rocky	2
94	Small	Long	Small	Low	Full sun	1
95	Large	Long	2 Medium	Full	No neighbors	5
97	Large	Sharp curve, pull-thru	Medium	None		2-3
98	Small	Long	Small	Medium		3-4
99	Medium	Medium	Medium	Low		3
100	Large	Short	Large	Low		3
101	Medium	Sharp curve, pull-thru	Large	None	Forest view	2-3
102	Medium	Double wide	Large	Medium	ADA site	3
103	Medium	Pull-thru	Large	Low	Forest view	3
104	Medium	Short	Large	Partial (one side)		3
105	Large	Long	Medium	None	Backs to other site, tent pads adjacent (Book with 82)	2-3
106	Large	Long	Large	High	Shade	5
107	Large	Double wide, long	2 Medium	Medium	Forest view	5
109	Large	Short	Medium	High	Shade	4-5
110	Medium	Medium	Large	Low		3
111	Medium	Long	Large	Low-medium		3
112	Large	Long	Large	High	Shade	5
113	Large	Long pull-thru	Small-Medium	Medium	Forest view	4-5
114	Large	Long	Large	Low-medium	Shade	4
116	Large	Double wide, long	2 Small	High	Shade	4-5

*This list is in no way fully comprehensive, and your own opinion of the site(s) may vary. I make no promises you will be happy with your site once you arrive, nor do I speak on behalf of the National Park Service or North Cascades National Park Service Complex. This list will be updated if conditions change this coming season, and is reflective of site conditions during Autumn 2024; site conditions are subject to change due to Winter storms or other factors.

All content and photos © Eric S. Allan 2024-2025. For media and publication inquiries: eric@corneroffirstandadventure.com