Naches campgrounds

[Grumpy]

Naches- Spring maintenance is underway in nearly all campgrounds on the Naches Ranger District and most district campgrounds will be open for Memorial Day weekend. South Clear Lake Campground, Cottonwood Campground, and Clear Lake Boat launch are open now and most of the other district campgrounds are scheduled to open for the holiday weekend.

A couple campgrounds will remain closed. Soda Springs Campground is closed to all public access. Over 100 trees fell during a winter windstorm that destroyed several picnic tables and damaged other structures including a historic shelter in the campground. Clean up and repairs are expected to take several weeks; the campground may not open until July. Hause Creek Campground will remain closed until further notice due to lack of drinking water and restrooms. District recreation management personnel are working on a plan to open the campground with limited services. Also, access is temporarily closed to Conrad Meadows and Minnie Meadows Campground due to a washout on Forest Service Road 1000 near Road 750 around mile post 7.

Throughout the winter, snow, freezing temperatures and wind bring down many limbs and trees, damaging picnic tables and toilet buildings, also runoff from melting snow damages parking pads and roads. This past winter was exceptionally hard, causing several roads to wash out and bringing hundreds of trees down on trails, roads, and in campgrounds.

“There is a lot of work to be done prior to opening the campgrounds and trails, especially after this past winter,” said Naches Ranger District Recreation Supervisor Kevin Hill. “As soon as we can access these recreation sites and trails, our employees and volunteers work steadily to open them in a timely manner. Our volunteers continue to help throughout the season by adopting campgrounds and campground hosting, ensuring the sites are a place everyone can enjoy.”
Campers can help overall efforts by picking up their garbage, and making sure their campfire is out cold before leaving. Bring plenty of water and a shovel to properly extinguish campfires.

All motorized trails remain closed through Memorial Day Weekend due to wet conditions in higher elevations and hundreds of wind fallen trees. Reservations can be made for individual campsites or group campsites at www.recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777. American Forks Campground has been newly added to the list of reservation sites for reservations through recreation.gov. Please contact the Naches Ranger Station at 509-653-1401 for further updates and information.