American Ridge Lodge
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 26 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
American Ridge Lodge is located approximately 38 miles west of Naches, Washington in the foothills of the East Cascades mountain range. The lodge is available for reservation year-round, offering visitors a glimpse into the unique ski history of the area. Larger groups and gatherings will find this spacious facility to be an ideal setting for recreation and relaxation. In the 1930s, the Yakima Valley Ski Club worked with the U.S. Forest Service to construct the American River Ski Bowl, one of the first downhill ski areas in Washington State. Keep reading
The rustic ski lodge and unique 20-seater outhouse were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in connection with the ski area, which was operated into the 1950s. By the late 1950s, White Pass Ski Area was built, offering deeper snow, a longer ski season and steeper slopes. American Ridge Ski Bowl lay vacant for years, until the lodge and outhouse were carefully restored and made available to the public for reservation.
Recreation
In the summer and early fall, guests will find excellent hiking, fishing, horseback riding, and mountain biking opportunities in the area. Skiing, snowshoeing, sledding and snowmobiling are available in the winter months. Additionally, hundreds of small pools, ponds, rivers and lakes are home to populations of brook, rainbow and cutthroat trout, as well as salmon, drawing anglers from all over.
Facilities
The rustic and spacious 43 x 48 foot lodge, although largely unfurnished, is equipped with a kitchen area, counter space and benches, several closets and cabinets, and a wood stove. Outside, there is a fire ring and picnic tables, as well as plenty of room on the grounds for dispersed camping, making it an ideal location for groups. There are no beds at this facility. Visitors must supply their own wood for the wood stove and fire ring. The lodge does not have water or electricity on site, but pitcher pump water is available during the summer months from Cedar Springs Campground located approximately 1.5 miles from the site. In the fall, winter and spring, visitors must bring plenty of their own water for drinking, cooking and washing. Visitors must also bring their own light source. Battery powered lanterns are suggested and guests are asked to respect the facility's open flame policy, which prohibits the use of all open flame devises such as propane stoves, gas lanterns and candles, while inside the lodge. Sleeping bags, sleeping pads, towels, dish soap, matches, a first aid kit, toilet paper and garbage bags are not available at the lodge, and must be brought by guests to the lodge.
Natural Features
The lodge is located just outside the boundary of the William O. Douglas Wilderness, at an elevation of 3,041 feet. Defined by 166,000 acres of snow-capped peaks, rocky ridges, steep slopes and hundreds of pools and lakes, this magnificent region pays tribute to wilderness advocate and Supreme Court justice, William Orville Douglas, who often explored the area on foot. Wildlife viewing is plentiful in the areas surrounding the lodge. Large herds of elk and mule deer may cross the landscape, sharing forest habitat with black bear, squirrels and grouse.
Nearby Attractions
Boulder Cave Trail is one of the most popular places in the Naches District. Visitors can walk the accessible trail along the river or explore Boulder Cave. Interpretive signs along the trail explain the geology, plants, animals and history of the area. Horseback riding trails are within 1 mile of the lodge, and opportunities for group picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, hunting and fishing are within 10 miles. Hikers may want to traverse a portion of the spectacular Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) , one of the world's premier National Scenic Trails. Enjoy some of North America's most fantastic scenery, as the trail winds from Mexico to Canada through Washington state.
What the agency tells you
Please contact the Naches Ranger District at 509-653-1401 prior to your arrival to check any restrictions or conditions, such as fire or road closures, or weather.
For questions, call 509-653-1401 between the hours of 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. For afterhours voicemails, call 509-653-1436.
No shooting of firearms allowed and no target shooting.
Everything else this campground posts · 12
Keep the building and grounds clean to deter squirrel, mice, rats, bears and other wildlife from entering lodge.
Please do not let pets roam freely, as they may endanger wildlife and plants.
Livestock is not allowed.
PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT. Pack out all food and garbage.
Visitors must clean the cabin prior to departure.
The cabin is a no-smoking facility.
There are no utility hookups.
Propane stoves, candles, or other open flame devices are not allowed inside the lodge building.
The minimum length stay is one night for non-holiday weekdays, two nights for a weekend, and three nights for a holiday weekend. Fees are used directly for the maintenance and preservation of the cabin.
Access to the lodge is through a locked gate. The combination to the gate lock will be included in your confirmation letter. During the winter, the gate will remain locked. Please plan on hiking, snowshoeing, or skiing in to the cabin.
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect our forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Learn more about Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- OUTHOUSE on 1 of 1 campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Biking
- Fishing
- Historic Sites
- Sledding
- Snowshoeing
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 263rd darkest of 400 in WA
- Bortle 3
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA AMERICAN RIDGE LODGE | 001 | cabin nonelectric | 20 ft | 1,210 ft | 2,243 ft | $100 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
American Forks CampgroundSnoqualmie National Forest · 0.4 mi
American River Guard StationSnoqualmie National Forest · 0.4 mi
Cedar Springs Campground (WA)Snoqualmie National Forest · 0.5 mi
Indian Flat Group SiteSnoqualmie National Forest · 1.2 mi
Pine Needle Group SiteSnoqualmie National Forest · 1.8 mi
Kaner Flat Group SiteSnoqualmie National Forest · 3.3 miPlease contact the Naches Ranger District at 509-653-1401 prior to your arrival to check any restrictions or conditions, such as fire or road closures, or weather. Access to the lodge is through a locked gate. The combination to the gate lock will be included in your confirmation letter.
From Naches, travel west on US Highway 12 for 4.4 miles. Continue straight onto State Route (SR) 410 W for 27.5 miles. Turn left onto Bumping River Rd / Forest Road 1800. Continue ¼ mile to Forest Road 381, the access road for the lodge. Turn right on Road 381 and follow it approximately ¾ of a mile to the end.
From Enumclaw, depart SR 164/Griffin Ave toward Wells St. After ½ mile turn left onto SR 410/Roosevelt Ave. Follow SR 410 approximately 66 miles east to the intersection with Bumping River Road (FR 1800). Turn right and continue ¼ mile to Forest Road 381, the access road for the lodge. Turn right on Road 381 and follow it approximately ¾ of a mile to the end.
During winter months, visitors may park in the plowed pullout on Bumping Lake Road and either walk or snowmobile just under a mile to the lodge.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cliffdell, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 38°F, day 49°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 24°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
American Ridge Lodge is in Washington’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Dan Newhouse (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →