Kettle River Campground
6Heads up3 park alerts · 3 fires, nearest 9 mi
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:46 UTC
- A night
- $23From, per site
- Sites
- 13All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Kettle River is a shady campground on the banks of the Kettle River. Most of the sites are on the shoreline and have beautiful views of the Kettle River and surrounding landscape. Kettle River does not have a boat launch but does have a courtesy dock. This campground is a great place for birding, with a variety of waterfowl and raptors seen in the area. Kettle River Campground is typically quiet and doesn’t often fill. Keep reading
Recreation
Kettle River Campground is popular with families to camp. They can easily access the Kettle River for shoreline fishing or birding.
Facilities
Kettle River Campground is a reservation only campground with 13 sites. There are picnic tables, fire pits, and water access located within the facility.
Natural Features
Kettle River Campground provides ample shade with thick forests of ponderosa pine, and douglas fir trees. The lake area is abundant with wildlife, including moose, elk and deer. Quite a few bald eagles have been spotted around Kettle River, and dozens of species of fish inhabit the lake, such as walleye, bass, rainbow trout, salmon and sturgeon. Fishing for sturgeon is now allowed during a short season. Much of the water in the originates from glaciers and snow in the cold, high Canadian Rockies, though temperatures are pleasant to swim in during summer.
Nearby Attractions
The historic St. Paul's Mission, which is run by the National Park Service, is located about 7.4 miles south of the campground in the town of Kettle Falls. Also in the area are Fort Colville and the Hudson Bay Company Post on the Upper Columbia. St. Paul's Mission. Sherman drive, a scenic loop, is nearby. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (509) 754-7889.
Charges & Cancellations
All changes and cancellations must be made through recreation.gov Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window Individual Campsites: A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.
What the agency tells you
Reservation only campground. No first come available.
There are no electricity, water or sewer site hookups.
Vault toilets available.
Everything else this campground posts · 12
No potable water.
Pets are allowed and must be restrained at all times.
No livestock.
No off-road vehicles permitted.
No off-road parking; park in designated areas only.
No metal detectors or collecting artifacts allowed.
Bring confirmation with you. Transfer the confirmation information onto the green slips located at the Fee Board as you enter the campground. Hang filled out tag at your site.
Fires are permitted in the fire rings year-round, EXCEPT when the fire danger rating reaches a critical level as indicated by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources for the area that includes Lake Roosevelt NRA.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Weekly Boat Launch Permits must be purchased on line at https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/656441199 . Please purchase prior to your trip. Annual Boat Launch Permits are available in person by vendor only.
For additional park information including other camping regulations, visit https://www.nps.gov/laro/index.htm or call 509-754-7889.
For reservations book here, or call 877-444-6777.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 13
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 36 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 60 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach, Coast
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Water access
- Night sky · 184th darkest of 400 in WA
- Bortle 3
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Park Service says
- Yes
- Fall color · reported 7 days ago, 27 km away
- Patchy color
10 of 12 sites open on Sat, Oct 17read 15:46 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
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 · 17
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $23 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.
“All changes and cancellations must be made through recreation.gov Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window Individual Campsites: A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the tot…” · 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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 15:46 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
13 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 13 mapped sitesAll 13 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 13 of the 13 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| 1 | 1 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 135 ft | 71 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 10 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 29 ft | 129 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 11 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 49 ft | 130 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 12 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 49 ft | 102 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 13 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 100 ft | 51 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 2 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 100 ft | 115 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 3 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 47 ft | 47 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 4 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 47 ft | 83 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 5 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 47 ft | 130 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 6 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 37 ft | 84 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 7 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 37 ft | 104 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 8 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 77 ft | 103 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
| 1 | 9 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 29 ft | 107 ftKettle River Arm | $23 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Evans Group Camp0.8 mi
Kamloops Island CampgroundLake Roosevelt National Recreation Area · 2.5 mi
Snag Cove CampgroundLake Roosevelt National Recreation Area · 3.5 mi
Marcus Island Campground4.6 mi
Davis Lake CampgroundColville National Forest · 5.0 mi
Evans Group SiteLake Roosevelt National Recreation Area · 5.0 miKettle River Campground is 80 miles north of Spokane as you travel on hwy 395. Continue north on hwy 395 through the town of Kettle Falls. Continue across the bridge taking you to the west side of the Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt NRA. After crossing the bridge travel north another 6.7 miles, turn right onto Waterview Drive. In 0.4 miles you'll arrive at Kettle River Campground.
Kettle River Campground is 88 miles north of Davenport as you travel on SR 25. Travel 81 miles north on SR 25. At the intersection of SR 25 and hwy 395 at Kettle Falls turn left and travel north on 395. Continue across the bridge taking you to the west side of the Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt NRA. After crossing the bridge travel north another 6.7 miles, turn right onto Waterview Drive. In 0.4 miles you'll arrive at Kettle River Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Boyds, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 61°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 23°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
Kettle River Campground is in Washington’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Michael Baumgartner (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“the agency's own site records list "CELL PHONE SERVICE" on 13 of 13 campsites here”