Colonial Creek South Campground

This campground is more popular than Goodall Creek and Newhalem to the west. Typical national park setup, but sites are on hilly ground, and many are very unlevel or too small for larger RVs. Some of the roads are a bit tight — OK for my 27' Airstream, but big rigs will make it but be challenged. There are plenty that will work, but your options will be limited if you arrive on a weekend in summer.

The campground is split by the highway. Both campgrounds are adjacent to the lake, but boat launch access is on the north side of the highway, and there are a few sites on the north side that are on the lake and would take an RV. Most of the lakeside sites are accessible to tent campers only, though.

I stayed on the south side, where there is still direct lake access, but it's rougher. You could get tubes or kayaks launched on this side, but I still chose to take my kayak across the highway. There are a few sites by the lake on this side, but the view is very filtered by trees. There are several sites right next to Goodall Creek. I chose one of these and was accompanied by the sound of rushing water all night. I think there might be some highway noise at sites close to the highway, but the river sites completely drown that out.

Absolutely no cell service. Dry camping. Though there's a bit more sky showing through the trees in this campground compared to Goodall Creek, still not a place to rely on getting a whole lot out of solar.

We stayed one night at Colonial Creek Campground while on our way through the North Cascades to Bellingham. The campground is located at the base of a hill on the shore of Diablo Lake. It's moderately hilly and densely wooded throughout the campground. Even with the campground almost full, we found our site to be quiet and somewhat private. There are very few if any waterfront sites, but there's a boat launch for small boats. And there are abundant hiking trails throughout the area. We did a 5 mile hike from the campground to Thunder Knob. A lookout point on top overlooks Diablo Lake.

The sites are usually small and aren't all perfectly level. Larger RV's will be challenged to find a good spot. It worked great for our 16 foot trailer. The campground is first come, first served. So it could be iffy if you arrive on a busy weekend. No hook-ups. No cell service (like anywhere in the North Cascades Park).

Did reservations on-line. There were still plenty of spots open each night (M-F). No showers. Clean bathroom. So many hiking trails right out of camp. If I didn’t have kids, I would have picked a site along the water. We were still able to ride our bikes down to the dock and play.

This is a lovely campground if you like lots of trees and shade. The South campground is located between two mountains so the sun shines there for less time than if you were out in the open. The campground is on Diablo Lake; the water level was quite low when we were there in September, so the shore was a mudflat. Our site was listed as "lakefront," which is true, except there are so many trees along the shore we could not see the lake at all from where our trailer was parked in the site. Also, this site is situated among many walk-in sites, and actually may also have also been one at one time, because the picnic table and fire ring are located quite a ways from where the parking area for our trailer was. Our site was fairly level, but others in the campground were not. No cell service at all, but it was available at the visitor center 11 miles away. Lots of people camping in tents fairly close by, but all were mostly quiet, especially at night. Some road noise at times.

The area is great for excellent hiking, and the lake is very nice for canoes and kayaks. This campground is well situated for accessing many trails and scenic views.