Sunset Falls Campground
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 8 mi
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 18All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Sunset Campground is located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Visitors enjoy scenic views of the river and a waterfall within the campground. The campground is open all year. Keep reading
Recreation
There are several hiking trails nearby, including the Silver Star trail which offers excellent views of Portland, Oregon. The area is also popular with kayakers that visit the East Fork Lewis River.
Facilities
Sunset Campground offers 18 standard sites that accommodate tents and RVs (22 feet), but no hookups are available. Picnic tables and campfire rings with grills are provided, as are 3 vault toilets and trash receptacles.
Natural Features
The campground is just off the East Fork Lewis River at an elevation of 1,000 feet. The campground road and trail path to the falls are paved and shaded by large evergreen trees. Contact Info This location is staffed. Please call (360) 729-0018 to speak with local staff.
Nearby Attractions
The campground is located in between Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, and only about an hour north of Portland, Oregon.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor 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 including tax and applicable add-on for a campsite. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. No-Shows A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. Refunds Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Refunds will not be issued after the 7 days has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.
What the agency tells you
Sites not reserved are available on a first-come, first-served basis on-site.
There is no electricity or hookups.
There is no water available at this facility; please bring your own drinking water.
Everything else this campground posts · 4
The camping fee includes entry for one vehicle and one legally towed vehicle, any extra vehicles will be subject to an extra vehicle fee of $8.00/night of stay at the campground.
Click here for more information about Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
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 for further information.
Firewood is available for sale at host site for $10.00/bundle.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 18 · 8 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- 10 of 18
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…rings with grills are provided, as are 3 vault toilets and trash receptacles. Natural Features The…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, River
- Boating
- Hiking
- Night sky · 396th darkest of 400 in WA
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 21 km away
- No change
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:52 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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.
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 · 14
What you actually pay
“Extra Vehicle Fee $8.00” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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.
“Cancellations Individual Campsites: Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. A visitor 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 including tax and applicable add-on for a cam…” · this campground’s own no-show 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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:52 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
18 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 18 mapped sitesAll 18 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. 18 of the 18 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| East Loop | 11 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 59 ft | 84 ft | $20 | |
| East Loop | 12 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 59 ft | 90 ft | $20 | |
| East Loop | 13 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 80 ft | 72 ft | $20 | |
| East Loop | 14 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 104 ft | 43 ft | $20 | |
| East Loop | 15 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 99 ft | 96 ft | $20 | |
| East Loop | 16 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 99 ft | 172 ft | $20 | |
| East Loop | 17 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 241 ft | $20 | |
| East Loop | 18 Tent Only | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 303 ft | $20 | |
| West Loop | 01 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 65 ft | 154 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 02 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 56 ft | 117 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 03 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 48 ft | 98 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 04 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 91 ft | 101 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 05 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 96 ft | 50 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 06 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 89 ft | under 10 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 07 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 87 ft | 19 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 08 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 48 ft | 51 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 09 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 56 ft | 67 ft | $20 |
| West Loop | 10 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 65 ft | 94 ft | $20 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Govt Mineral Springs Guard StaGifford Pinchot National Forest · 13 mi
Beaver CampgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 14 mi
Paradise Creek campgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 18 mi
Panther Creek campgroundGifford Pinchot National Forest · 18 mi
Eagle Creek Overlook Grp SiteMt. Hood National Forest · 20 mi
Eagle Creek CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 20 miFrom I-5 take exit 9 WA 502 for Battle Ground. Go about 7 miles and turn left on WA 503 and head north for about 5.5 miles. Turn right onto NE Rock Creek Rd, which will turn into NE 152nd Ave and then a slight left onto NE Lucia Falls Rd for about 7 miles. Then turn right onto NE Sunset Falls Road, travel for about 7 miles and the campground will be on your right.
Location: 40806 NE Sunset Falls Rd, Yacolt WA 98675
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Yacolt, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 62°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Sunset Falls Campground is in Washington’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: C. See every public-lands vote →