East Kachess Group Site
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 7 mi
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:31 UTC
- Sites
- 1In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
East Kachess Group Campground is tucked away on the eastern shore of Kachess Lake in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Hemmed in by dense old-growth conifer forest and surrounded by high mountains, East Kachess Group Campground is secluded, making it an ideal setting for groups and families seeking recreation and relaxation. Keep reading
Recreation
This is a prime base camp for hiking, fishing, swimming, and mountain biking in summer and early fall and several trails are a short drive from the area. Anglers will enjoy the scenic backdrop of the area while fishing for rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and kokanee salmon from boat or shoreline.
Facilities
East Kachess Group Campground has one large group site, able to accommodate up to 50 people and 20 vehicles. The campground is equipped with picnic tables, campfire rings with grills and vault toilets.
Natural Features
Kachess Lake, adjacent to the campground, is a reservoir that stores and provides water for irrigation for south-central Washington. The area is quite scenic, supporting wildlife such as deer, porcupine, native fish and migratory birds. These species, along with many others, depend on surrounding undeveloped wilderness, clean streams, and diverse forests to live. Endangered and threatened species including the northern spotted owl and gray wolves also find havens in nearby ecosystems.
Nearby Attractions
Hikers may want to traverse at least a portion of the spectacular Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), one of the world's premier National Scenic Trails. This trail showcases some of North America's most fantastic scenery as it winds its way its way from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington.
What the agency tells you
The gate combination will be provided with the reservation confirmation letter. If not, please call Cle Elum Ranger Station for gate combination two business days prior to arrival at 509-852-1100, press 0 name and confirmation number required. Kachess Lake, whose name means "plenty of fish". Please check for fire restrictions. https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/okanogan-wenatchee/alerts/public-use-fire-restrictions-stage-2-effective-july-2
Forest Service Road 4818 to access the East Kachess Group Site is primitive.
Water levels in Kachess Lake and Little Kachess Lake will vary during the summer https://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/yakima/yaktea.html The speed limit on Little Kachess Lake is 10 miles per hour. This speed limit applies to motorized vessels, and it is important to adhere to this regulation to ensure safety and compliance with local regulations.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
No drinking water available at this site; visitors must bring their own water
Electric hookups are not available
Maximum RV length is 30 feet
Check-in time is 2 p.m., check-out time is noon
Off-road vehicle use prohibited in campground and r on Forest Service Roads.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…tables, campfire rings with grills and vault toilets. Natural Features Kachess Lake, adjacent to the…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, Creek, Beach
- Birding
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 339th darkest of 400 in WA
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 28 km away
- Peak color
Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:31 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 8
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 · 3
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at East Kachess Group Site closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 150 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Lakeview CampgroundLake Chelan National Recreation Area · 74 mi · walk-up · 9 sites
- Purple Point CampgroundLake Chelan National Recreation Area · 74 mi · walk-up · 6 sites
- Goodell Creek CampgroundRoss Lake National Recreation Area · 94 mi · 19 sites
- Gorge Lake CampgroundNorth Cascades National Park · 97 mi · 8 sites
recreation.gov availability, read 16:31 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| AREA EAST KACHESS GROUP SITE | GS1 | group standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 541 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
KachessWenatchee National Forest · 3.0 miFrench Cabin Creek Recreation AreaWenatchee National Forest · 6.5 mi
Cle Elum River Group SiteWenatchee National Forest · 6.8 miRed Mountain CampgroundWenatchee National Forest · 7.4 mi
Wish Poosh CampgroundWenatchee National Forest · 7.5 miTake I-90 to exit 70. Turn over freeway, then left onto West Sparks Road. Follow West Sparks Road 0.5 mile and turn right onto Kachess Dam Road/ Forest Road #4818. Travel approximately 5 miles to the campground on left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Easton, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 54°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 31°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
East Kachess Group Site is in Washington’s 8th congressional district. Its representative, Kim Schrier (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →