Peterson Prairie Campground

Gifford Pinchot NF Mt Adams Ranger District
CARSON, WA 98610

Overview

Peterson Prairie Campground offers shaded and secluded campsites nestled in a forest of large pine, spruce and fir trees. The campground tends is popular among huckleberry pickers.

At an elevation of 2,800 ft., Peterson Prairie offers a cool summertime climate during the hottest part of the season. Several kid-friendly attractions are a short distance away, making this campground a great choice for families.

Recreation

Seasonal harvesting of huckleberries and mushrooms is a popular pastime.

Natural Bridges and Ice Cave are scenic, family-friendly nature trails near Peterson Prairie Campground. A stairway leading into the Ice Cave allows convenient access to the cave's incredible ice formations. Please be prepared when visiting the caves. Information is avaialble at the campground and the Mt Adams Ranger Station.

Facilities

Drinking water and vault toilets are available. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. The sites are spacious with gravel parking spurs.

Natural Features

Located in southwest Washington State, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest encompasses 1.3 million acres and includes the 110,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument established by Congress in 1982.

Peterson Prairie is located in the Mt. Adams Ranger District. Nearest town is Trout Lake, WA.

The Mount Adams Ranger District offers a large variety of habitats and natural features, from old growth to second growth forest, wetland areas, low and high elevation meadows, glaciers, and low and high elevation lakes.

Contact Info

This location has limited staffing. Please call (509) 427-3677 for general information.

Nearby Attractions

This campground is near Bird Creek Meadows, a trail that offers spectacular wildflower displays and opportunities to observe numerous birds.

Goose Lake is 8 miles west of the campground and offers excellent trout fishing.

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.

Group Sites

Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): A visitor who cancels a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use 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.

Camp site features

Across 30 camp sites:

Fire pit: all 30 sites
Picnic table: all 30 sites
Pets allowed: all 30 sites
Group sites: 1 of 30 sites
Longest RV: 40 ft
Largest party: 50 people

Fees

Extra Vehicle Fee $8.00

Directions

From SR 14 follow SR 141 North to the town of Trout Lake, continue through town on SR 141 till the road ends and FS 24 begins(approximately 5 miles WSW of town). Continue west on FS 24 for another 2.25 miles to the entrance of Peterson Prairie.

Stay Limit

Check in from 2 PM, check out by 12 PM.

Reviews

93 reviews

5 stars

4 stars

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1 stars

Jon R

Loop:Area Peterson Prairie

Site:

Reviewed a month ago

Clean and quiet in glorious forest with no cell service or TV to intrude. The hosts, Cathy and Joel, are lovely folks and keep the place pristine. Lots of trails in the area including the PCT through the Indian Heaven Wilderness.

Cindy R

Loop:Area Peterson Prairie

Site:

Reviewed 2 months ago

We had a wonderful weekend! The campground was not crowded, the weather perfect, and our site clean! Since it was September, we drove across the Hood River Bridge into Hood River, parked in a convenient and large parking lot, got a coffee, and walked along the waterfront! There's a park with public beach, play area for the kids, and a paved walking trail. We then drove to the Visitor Center (by the marina), got a map of the "Fruit Loop" drive and had a wonderful afternoon driving to the different fruit stands, tasting their harvest, and shopping their gift shops! Mt. Hood stands majestic to the south, and Mt. Adams to the north!

Robin L

Loop:Area Peterson Prairie

Site:

Reviewed 2 months ago

Great site and easy access. Love the hosts at this campground. They do a great job of keeping everything clean. Always look forward to our trip to this campground.

Robin L

Loop:Area Peterson Prairie

Site:

Reviewed 2 months ago

Beautiful site. We loved this site and it was very large. I read a previous review and it was surprisingly saying that it had a rodent problem. Not quite sure what they were talking about unless they were referring to chipmunks. The site is close to the road but there wasn’t much noise from vehicles driving by.

Heather S

Loop:Area Peterson Prairie

Site:

Reviewed 2 months ago

Very clean and family friendly campground. There is very little privacy between campsites, so if that is a priority for you, this campground may not be a good fit. There are a lot of double sites that allow for small groups (as opposed to the one large group site). It was very quiet during the week when we were there and quite a bit busier on the weekend, but any noise was just general family and group noise and it was very quiet by 9 or 10pm.

Douglas W

Loop:Area Peterson Prairie

Site:

Reviewed 2 months ago

We were in site 23, which was large, level, and mostly shaded. We enjoyed the squirrels and Canada jays that visited the campsite. Plenty of room for two hammocks. Early in the week there were few other campers. Later there were more but the sites are large enough that it didn’t seem crowded. Be aware that the stream dries up in the summer, but that also meant there were very few bugs. Camp hosts were friendly and kept the vault toilets clean and well supplied. Nearby Ice Cave and Natural Bridges are worth visiting. Beyond the campground many roads are gravel, so allow extra time for the drive when exploring.

Availability

See the Camp Sites section below to find detailed booking availability.

Reserve