Cougar Rock Campground

Very beautiful campground. It was not too busy when we were there, and there are many sites to choose from. Would recommend camping here if you're passing through!
8 years ago (30-10-2017)

Self Reservation during off season. Small Ranger station located at campground. Sites are big with lots of tree coverage and privacy. Bathrooms were closed when we camped late September. Online reservations are accepted during peak season.
8 years ago (09-11-2017)

Good for just one day! No shower rooms. Fine dust everywhere, so be prepared for dirty deet and clothes.
8 years ago (05-09-2017)

We stayed here for two nights this past week after camping for numerous days at Newhalem Campground up in the North Cascades. It wasn't long before pulling into our site that we were already missing our quiet, private site in Newhalem and dreading our site here. This campground is close to Paradise, the most popular spot in Mount Rainier. It is also just uphill from Longmire which has a cute little general store and some basic necessities. If you were staying for more than a couple of days, this would obviously be very helpful. The campground itself is pretty large, but they cram you into the sites like sardines. We stayed in what they claimed to be the "tent only" loop thinking that we would gain a bit more piece and quiet, but it turned out it wasn't tent only, it was just generator free. It was Loop E, Site E013. On recreation.gov, this site looked pretty private and off to itself, so we were more than surprised to find that we had three other tents less than ten feet from our own. It was loud essentially 24/7. This is absolutely a weekend getaway campground for families with little kids, so if this pertains to you, it is probably up your ally. If you're looking for somewhere with peace and quiet, keep looking. We had kids running around and all of the surrounding sites screaming at all hours of the day, including until almost 11:30pm one night. We also had kids riding their scooters off rocks in our campsite while we were sitting there trying to enjoy our supper. Parents were never anywhere to be seen. It wasn't just the kids -- people had barking dogs, would stand in the middle of the road and yell over to the other sites at each other instead of just walking over there, and people were banging pots and pans around in the middle of the night as well. If there were quiet hours, they were never enforced. The restrooms are generally always close by, but they are pretty old and could use a little bit of cleaning. This really didn't bother us much, but we didn't care for the fact that there was never any soap. Just make sure to bring your own. If you are looking for somewhere close to Paradise and don't care about privacy or noise, this place is probably perfect as it has a great location. However, if you're like us and cherish the peace and quiet, look elsewhere.
8 years ago (22-08-2017)

Saturday - good luck in getting a spot if you didn't reserve.... Camp sites were nicely shrouded ( in A loop anyway) with a good sized fire pit. Water and trash disposal can be a little walk depending where you are, which made washing dishes a little tricky. Very convenient storage lockers on campsite for food and etc! If you're quiet can see chipmunks and Stellar Jay's sneaking up around you, don't feed them though! Decent drive up to Paradise to hike up Rainier. While mostly covered, by trees, you can still see stars at camp. PS - We noticed two paw prints on our dusty car in the morning, good thing everything was locked up! 🐻🐾 :)
9 years ago (02-08-2016)