Early Winters Campground

We were not planning on camping here. We had found a very nice boondocking location at the Goat Creek Sno-park but had an unwanted (human) visitor so felt better moving along. Less than 5 miles west on Hwy 20 we found Early Winters. The hiway splits the campground and the south side was full but luckily we found a huge spot on the north side. Vault toilets, picnic tables and metal fire pit along the creek. Easy access to the MCT which is a crushed gravel bike/hiking trail that is awesome. The road noise was not bad and the rushing water of the creek was lovely to listen too. The $8 nightly fee will be going up to $15 in 2018.

Small, nice place along Early Winter creek. GREAT hiking and biking trails. Clean pit toilets. Some sites can accommodate 30’ rig. No hookups. Weak cell (Verizon)

We spent only one night here before moving on to Pearrygin Lake State Park to attend an Audubon birding campout. Early Winters is much more to our liking than the state park though. Even though this pretty little campground is right off Highway 20, it was surprisingly quiet. Traffic died down at night and, except for a few logging trucks early in the morning, there was very little road noise and most of it was covered by the sounds of rushing Early Winters Creek. There are only a handful of sites on each side of the highway. We stayed on the north side, which has some nice sites along the creek. Amenities include picnic tables, fire grates, and clean vault toilets. I believe there is piped water in the summer, but expect crowds at that time of the year. Camp hosts were friendly and attentive.

The Methow Community Trail can be accessed right from the campground and offers delightful walking and biking. The trail connects to the small community of Mazama and then runs on to the larger town of Winthrop.

We had no cell service with AT&T.

You can hear the roar of the river in most of the spaces. The place is well maintained. The other part of the park is across the road. Most of the spaces are small and will only accommodate a small RV or tent. There are no hookups for water, sewer, or electricity. There is a water spigot in the middle of the park for water. These are first come first serve sites. You will need to get there early to get a spot. We counted 10-20 cars coming through every evening looking for a site. The site cost is 4 with an America pass. We had intermittent cell service. With our cell amplifier, we were able to get consistent service. The sites on the south side are farther from Hwy 20 than those on the north side. There was very noise after dark. Kilp Chuck and Lone Fir campgrounds are a couple of miles west of Early Winter off Hwy 20. Kilpchuck has 40 sites,