Spring Canyon Campground

Date of Stay - July 2015

I was looking for a peaceful place to stay, near Grand Coulee Dam, so I could chill out. I was hoping that Spring Canyon would be the perfect place. I was wrong.

Spring Canyon is a decent National Park Service campground right on Lake Roosevelt, just upstream from Grand Coulee Dam. It is also incredibly popular with campers during the summer. Campers in tents. Campers with kids. Noisy campers. Obnoxious campers. Not my kind of people. I am sure it is better in the off season. I hope.

I was in site 22, which had a great view of the lake. All sites provide for dry camping. There is potable water at the dump station, and a centrally located faucet in the middle of each campsite grouping. No electricity, so it can definitely get warm there in the summer. Fortunately the wind almost always blows.

The campground is set up into two sections - upper and lower. The upper is mainly setup for tent camping, though there are some spots for smaller RVs. The upper spot is weird, in that it is essentially a parking lot. Some covered spaces. Some not covered. So you park your car in a parking row, right next to other tenters. And then setup your tent in front of your car (on the pad). Right next to the other tents. It doesn’t provide for any privacy.

The lower lot is more spread out, but still doesn’t offer much privacy. The lower will accept larger RVs, though there weren’t many staying there when I was. Mostly tenters in the lower section as well.

There is a great day use area on the lakeshore, that includes a beach, swimming area, swimming dock, and plenty of picnic tables. It is also heavily used, by both the campers and people coming in for the day. It seemed like most people camping were there for the water, and most would spend all day at the beach.

Both Verizon and AT&T had 3 bars LTE service, despite appearing to have marginal service at best on the coverage maps. This was a pleasant surprise.

Spring Canyon is a great place to stay if you are visiting the Grand Coulee Dam. Just do it in the shoulder seasons, or be prepared for the lack of peace and quiet. If it wasn’t for the noisy campers, this location would be extremely quiet and peaceful.

Positives - great view of the lake. Easy access to the dam. Day use area is fantastic - swimming, boating, picnic area, boat ramp and lots of open space.

Now for the campground - two loops, an upper and lower. The upper area is very unique - would not "camp" up there as it is a parking lot.

Lower loop is a cluster of uneven spots with little to no separation.

We had a site on the lower loop edge during the middle of the week. The camprogound was full. Very noisy through out the evening. During the day, everyone is at the lake.

Wish the campground was as nice as the day use area. Two days was all we could handle.

Bonus - if you have a small group, there are two very nice group sites. These are separated from the general campground and looked very nice - $55 per night with reservation.

Spring Canyon Campground, Lincoln Co, WA. Sometimes campers complain about dogs off leash, wandering through other people's sites. I was to, at this large, sniffing dog at Spring Canyon Campground near Grand Coulee Dam. Then... when I got a better look... Just remember: when it comes you camping, you have nothing to fear except fear itself. And bears. http://campeverycountywa.com/lincoln-county.html

This is a very popular campground, but it’s best for small rigs or tents with people wanting to fish from the day use boat launch area.

We arrived at the campground around 2:30 pm on a Thursday and after driving around checking out the available first-come sites, we settled on a pull-through #19, which is mid-way up the hill of the lower loop. By the evening most of the campground was full.

Potable water for RVs is located at the entrance by the dump-station. There are no water spigots inside the campground other than in the middle of grassy areas for tents.

The campground is situated on the side of a hill, with the very lovely day use area at the bottom by Roosevelt Lake. Most of the campsites have some view of the lake, but they are short and fairly narrow. Also they’re all close together with no privacy between them, and none appear to be particularly level. I can understand why the campground only rated 3-stars on Campendium, in spite of it’s fantastic location and views. But if you have realistic expectations this is not a bad campground.

Had to pull in against the Do Not Enter sign. Good solar for park of the day. Other sites better for solar.

BY RESERVATION ONLY. Go to Rec.gov. I think in the warmer months this place must be crazy busy, based on the sheer number of parking spaces down at the waterfront, but for me, the first weekend of October, it was GLORIOUSLY EMPTY! I arrived on Saturday night and there were 7 campers in the entire campground, and Sunday night I was the only one. The beach was empty and the dogs could run and play in the water without concern. It was so fun. The cell service is decent, the beach is close and the weather was perfect, 45 at night & 70 in the day. Loved it.

Verizon speeds were fast at 44 Mbps download and 22 upload. AT&T was 19/0.3. Verizon was with a roof mounted Pepwave antenna, ATT was via smartphone.

We stayed in the lower loop for one night as an overnight stop. No issues with the access road getting there.

Our site was fairly awkward to get into because of a hill in front of the site that gets in the way of your swing. It was moderately level. A decent amount of shade was available, but the tree wasn't tall enough to cause solar issues. Decent view of the lake.

Even if you have a reservation, they want you to fill out a slip with your reservation info on it for them and clip it to your site post.

Dump station with potable water open and available.

The .gov reservation system is the only way to camp here.

I don't agree with it so I turned around and left after emptying my black tank at no cost.

Top loop is for tents. Full and close together.

We made reservations online with recreation.gov which was very easy. They even have QR codes on the site posts so you can reserve that way. So even if you show up without a reservation and a site is empty you can reserve. Great cell coverage.
Stayed in the Upper Loop on flat asphalt with a nearby bathroom with flush toilets and sink. No showers, no electricity (even in the bathroom). There are sites in the Upper Loop that have metal structures over them. We are about 10’ tall but didn’t want to risk it. We have a fantastic view in Site 54. Each site has a picnic table too.
Nice walk to the beach, but if you are coming to use the beach you might want to be in the Lower Loop which is closer. Mostly tents and travel trailers down there. Sites on grass/gravel. Not particularly level.
Lots of boating opportunities here. Nature trail. Dump Station near entrance to CG. Water in the Loops.