Horseshoe Cove Campground
4Heads up4 fires, nearest 11 mi
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $37–$74Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 40All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Horseshoe Cove Campground is nestled under a canopy of forest along the banks of Baker Lake. Located in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest which stretches along the west side of the Cascade Mountains between the Canadian border and Mt. Rainier National Park, this area is one of the most spectacular in the country, showcasing glacier-covered peaks, wide mountain meadows and old-growth forests. Keep reading
Recreation
In addition to being a prime location for boating, fishing, swimming, and picnicking , hikers and backpackers are especially fortunate to have access to a variety of spectacular trails along the lake and in the nearby Mt. Baker National Recreation Area.. The Baker Lake and Baker River Trails are family friendly hikes that are a short drive from the campground. The Baker Lake trail starts on the south end of the lake in a stand of Douglas fir and travels 13 miles above the eastern shoreline of Baker Lake. Anderson Point with views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan is 2.5 miles from the trailheadand is a popular boat in camp, backpacking destination and lunch spot. The Baker River Trail starts at the north end of the lake and follows the river 2.25 miles upstream, through large old-growth into North Cascades National Park.
Facilities
There are 39 campsites at Horseshoe Cove Campground, including three large group sites. With several sites located at the lake's edge, and others in close vicinity, this campground offers visitors the ideal opportunity to camp near the shoreline or under a canopy of trees. A boat ramp, large sandy swim beach, trail, firewood are available at the campground.
Natural Features
From the lake on a clear day visitors will see Mt. Baker, the most prominent feature of the Mt. Baker Wilderness. Rising to an elevation of 10,781 feet, the active volcano from which the forest takes its name is perpetually snow-capped and mantled with an extensive network of creeping glaciers. Mt. Baker's summit, Grant Peak, is actually a 1,300-foot-deep mound of ice, which hides a massive volcanic crater. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (530) 932-0242.
Nearby Attractions
Hike in the mountains above the lake in the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area, or take some time to visit North Cascades National Park. This unique park is like no other place on earth. It features a deep blue lake surrounded by sheer, 2,000' cliffs, two picturesque islands and a violent volcanic past. Hiking trails, a visitor center and educational programs are available.
Charges & Cancellations
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
What the agency tells you
Extra Vehicles: One RV with tow vehicle per single site or one vehicle per single tent site. Two RVs with tow vehicle per double site or two vehicles per double tent site. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. A fee of $12/extra vehicle per night must be paid for upon arrival by cash or check only.
Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.
Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site may be forfeited and released to other guests.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest 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 and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org
The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has a Food Storage Order in effect. All food and refuse must be acceptably stored (in a hard sided vehicle or trailer, food storage locker, or certified bear resistant container) or acceptably possessed (attended to by a person who is physically present).
Click here for more information about the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 40 · 3 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach, Meadow
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 322nd 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 · 16
What you actually pay
“A fee of $12/extra vehicle per night must be paid for upon arrival by cash or check only.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $37–$74 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.” · this campground’s own terms
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 · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
41 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 32 mapped sitesAll 41 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 32 of the 41 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. 40 of the 41 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| North Loop | 001 HOST | host pad | 40 ft | ||||
| North Loop | 002 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| North Loop | 003 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| North Loop | 004 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| North Loop | 005 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| North Loop | 006 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 181 ft | 500 ft | 272 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 007 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 77 ft | 569 ft | 447 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 008 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 77 ft | 554 ft | 519 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 009 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 77 ft | 484 ft | 546 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 010 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 75 ft | 519 ft | 626 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 011 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 75 ft | 487 ft | 639 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 012 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 91 ft | 441 ft | 722 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 013 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 91 ft | 408 ft | 794 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 014 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 76 ft | 341 ft | 846 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 015 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 76 ft | 273 ft | 830 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 016 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 79 ft | 347 ft | 864 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 017 Multi | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 79 ft | 298 ft | 928 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 018 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 89 ft | 253 ft | 706 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 019 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 89 ft | 165 ft | 711 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 020 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 116 ft | 244 ft | 457 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 021 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 60 ft | 227 ft | 364 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 022 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 60 ft | 282 ft | 345 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 023 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 144 ft | 321 ft | 205 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 024 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 95 ft | 192 ft | 293 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 025 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 95 ft | 261 ft | 238 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | 026 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 125 ft | 150 ft | 367 ft | $37–$74 |
| North Loop | Group Site A | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 94 ft | 47 ft | 603 ft | $98 |
| North Loop | Group Site B | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 94 ft | 128 ft | 595 ft | $98 |
| North Loop | Group Site C | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 101 ft | 209 ft | 681 ft | $98 |
| South Loop | 027 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 84 ft | 236 ft | 676 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 028 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 108 ft | 144 ft | 817 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 029 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 84 ft | 316 ft | 593 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 030 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 84 ft | 243 ft | 720 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 031 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 87 ft | 389 ft | 507 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 032 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 79 ft | 494 ft | 427 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 033 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 79 ft | 434 ft | 391 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 034 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| South Loop | 035 Multi | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 186 ft | 115 ft | 765 ft | $37–$74 |
| South Loop | 036 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| South Loop | 037 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| South Loop | 038 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $37–$74 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 41 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Bayview CampgroundMt. Baker National Forest · 0.2 mi
Bayview Campground (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, WA)Mt. Baker National Forest · 0.2 mi
Boulder Creek CampgroundMt. Baker National Forest · 3.1 mi
Panorama Point CampgroundMt. Baker National Forest · 3.6 mi
Swift Creek CampgroundMt. Baker National Forest · 4.1 mi
Park Creek CampgroundMt. Baker National Forest · 4.4 miFrom Seattle, go north on I-5 to Burlington. Take Exit 230 on State Highway 20. Go past the Mt. Baker Ranger District Office in Sedro-Woolley and follow State Route 20 east for 16 miles to milepost 82. Turn left (north) on the Baker Lake Highway (Forest Service Road 11). Continue 15.1miles. Turn right at the Horseshoe Cove Road junction. Head 2 miles down Horseshoe Cove Road, past Bayview Campground to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Concrete, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 56°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°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
Horseshoe Cove Campground is in Washington’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Rick Larsen (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →