Cougar Rock Campground

sleeping at the base of The Mountain

Cougar Rock Campground is set in a very lush forest at the base of Mount Rainier. There are numerous warnings of the possibility of rock slides and truth be known, you will be sleeping at the foot of an active volcano. All that said, it is an absolutely stunning plot of land.

This good sized campground has 175 individual sites and additional camping for groups. Spots are well-spaced and many offer great seclusion. We arrived midweek and had lots of choices. We found one that was a bit down from its parking spot which could have led to a very wet camping experience if it had rained heavily. While we did get our fair share of precipitation, it was of the light variety and our dense tree cover seemed to block it out entirely. It was a bit of a pain hauling our stuff from the car down to our little lush oasis but we were there for three nights and the seclusion it offered was well worth the effort.

Unique Quality: The picnic table had to be moved a bit to get it on a flat section of our fairly big spot and we managed to get it right under a huge full branch of a tree. This gave us great protection from the drizzle but it was right on the path from the car to our tent and I kept banging my shin on my travels to and fro. Despite the gray weather and inability to see Rainier for two of the three days, it was a great camping experience.

Most of the restrooms were simple and typical of the National Park variety but they had one very special one. It was donated by Groundwork Mishimia of Mount Fuji in Japan. This $70K bio toilet from Rainier's sister mountain's volunteer group uses no water and works with cedar chips. It is completely fueled of its own energy and features a light that comes on when you close the door and best of all a heated seat! It had just opened weeks before we arrived. There was only one at the campground and it was a bit of a walk from our site but I walked over there every morning. Hey, it was cold and wet and well worth the trek!

Cougar Campground charges $15 per night and is great value camping in a very natural and scenic area at 3100 feet. It is very conveniently located in the southwestern portion of the park and is the closest campground to Paradise Visitor Center. Sunrise Point Campground is at the Nisqually Entrance Station at the southwestern corner and was closed due to flooding. Though a pretty area, it is a fair drive to get the park's interior from there.

• Opinion of Price: least expensive
• Related to: Camping, Road Trip, National/State Park

Cougar Rock Campground Photo: deer near Cougar Rock Campground

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