This is my first experience camping in Mt Rainier and loved this campground.
Highlights: easy hike from mowich lake, water is from a small waterfall .2 miles from the camp and an easy walk. Pit toilet that isn’t nasty and most sites give you the feeling of privacy and with the waterfall close by there is constant white noise that while not overpowering it drowns out any neighbors.
Details:We hiked in from Mowich Lake and this being my first time backpacking since I was 10 it was a fairly easy hike, 2 miles from where we parked and while this campground is at roughly the same elevation you still get a fair bit of up and down.
When we arrived at Mowich lake it was Sunday of Labor Day weekend and there were a TON of cars, they were parked for almost a half a mile up the road from the trailhead.
Set slightly down the hill from the trail there are 6 sites that I could find, although one of them is #7 While you can be fairly close to fellow campers you still get a good sense of privacy. All of the sites have good level tent pads and enough room for at least 2 tents.
While there are tons of trees all around, if you are hammock camping you are actually a little limited. You could make 1 hammock work at most of the sites, but we had 2 and we were very glad we arrived at an empty campground and had our pick. We chose site 4 and made it work.
There are several bear poles around the site, so unless you are in site 7 your food and stinky stuff are close by. The toilet is town the hill on the way to site 7 and has 2 walls and I am happy to report that being out in the open keeps the stink down a bit.
1: is right at the entrance, the least private and no good hammock trees. There is a good stump for sitting and views of sites 3 & 4
2:off to the right as you enter the campground it is on the far edge. Great for a couple of tents but one of the worst for hammocks.
3: nice wide tent pad and probably good for up to 2 hammocks, maybe 3 if you go just a couple of feet out of the tent pad area. Somebody had built a small table out of tree branches and bark and it was where one hammock would go. Not wanting to destroy the masterpiece we moved on
4: we liked this one best for setting up 2 hammocks, although you are surrounded by other sites and on the trail to the rest of the campground. We still felt we had good privacy, it was quiet and didn’t mind at all.
5: nice large tent pad with some good siting logs it is on the edge of the campground and if I were in a tent or just one hammock this would have been my choice.
6: great site for a larger group there are 3 good spots for tents and possibilities for 1-2 hammocks.
7: by far the most secluded site it is the farthest away and closest to the toilet. For privacy this is the best and far enough from the toilet that the smell shouldn’t get to you.
