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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Quick campsite review : Newhalem Campground, site 125


We stayed two nights at Newhalem Campground in site 125, a walk-in site. The first task was finding it in the twilight ... but luckily I had a vague memory that it was off of Loop A. 


Sure enough, we found the trail near the bathrooms. 


We walked around the walk-in loop before finding our site, 125. Here's the view from the loop:


You walk past the bear bin and into the site itself -- delightfully private!


Here's a view from one of the tent pads looking toward the entrance to the site:


Tent padS, you say? Yep, there were two, both nicely graded and easy to set up a tent on.

The picnic table was good, and the fire was odd in that it was flat, with a flip-down grill.


The bear box was nice to have -- given that the park is home to, as the ranger said, "wild bears ... not those nasty campground bears .... and we want to keep it that way". We were diligent about keeping all our toiletries and food and drink inside the bear box when we were going to bed or away from the site.

The site felt super private, though that might have been because we didn't have neighbors the first night -- there were several sites reserved but not occupied on both Friday and Saturday night.

The bathrooms weren't too far away -- up by where we parked the car -- and they were super clean, with running water and flush toilets. There was also drinking water up there, though we weren't super keen on the taste.



Site 125 is not directly on the river, but you could hear it in the night. Sites 121-124 do have direct river access -- highly desirable!


The Skagit River runs fast and super cold ... we couldn't do more than dip our toes in!



One highlight was the nighttime ranger talk in the nearby amphitheater -- I was happy to see it reasonably well attended!


Newhalem Campground Site 125 at a glance

Privacy: Yes! This site felt really private.
Tent pad: TWO -- both nicely graded. They weren't meant for huge tents, but our 3-person Big Agnes tent fit just fine.
Fire ring: Nice, with a working flip-down "grill".
Picnic table: Nice table, which we moved just a smidge to get it farther away from the fire.
Bathrooms: Super clean, well-stocked, with flush toilets.
Water: Drinking water available, but we didn't like the taste.
Pro tip: Walk the mile to Newhalem after dark to visit Ladder Falls when it's lit up at night -- it's beautiful!


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