Heat wave camping on the Palouse

MarinBlaine · 07-15-2023, 04:02 PM

Hi friends,

We are heading back from Glacier NP area toward Northern CA via eastern Oregon, starting tomorrow (7/16). We had been planing on ambling into the Palouse south of Spokane for tomorrow night’s stop but forecast is for 100 degrees tomorrow.

Any suggestions for camping in Eastern WA the might be a little higher elevation or close to water to cool off? We are very flexible in our route, just trying to avoid interstates…

Thanks for any suggestions!

Blaine

REF · 07-15-2023, 05:48 PM

It’s friggin hot everywhere!! We had been mostly spared the heat this summer until recently in Boulder and surrounding areas with all the rain and massive afternoon thunderstorms, even dumping hail up until a few weeks ago.
Stay north, head over to Lake Chelan or try the North Cascades area and NP, get up in the trees, Winthrop/Twisp is also worth a visit, then hit the coastal breeze on your way south.

https://www.nationalparks.org/explor...ecreation-area

moorefc · 07-16-2023, 11:11 AM

You could hit mount hood, or above (west) of Bend up by Bachelor. Very pretty country....The Palouse, scenic, is pretty low level. You could get down on the Columbia S of I90, or Snake...on the water.

MarinBlaine · 07-16-2023, 06:14 PM

Thank you everyone!

We settled on the vast and convenient Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park in Idaho on the Washington border. We came down 95 rather than going south of Spokane, where there turns out to be almost zero public land. We are here at the Redtail campground at 4k feet, super comfortable this afternoon. Free! Pit toilets and water. Lots of info on ioverlander. You can come up from the Washington side as well, this one is a keeper!

Glorious views of the Palouse! Highly recommended

https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/mccroskey/

moorefc · 07-16-2023, 07:10 PM

Take the old highway (95) down to Lewiston if you go that way!

msaxolotl · 07-20-2023, 11:54 AM

How as Glacier? we are heading there in mid August....

wmrra13 · 07-20-2023, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarinBlaine

Thank you everyone!

We settled on the vast and convenient Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park in Idaho on the Washington border. We came down 95 rather than going south of Spokane, where there turns out to be almost zero public land. We are here at the Redtail campground at 4k feet, super comfortable this afternoon. Free! Pit toilets and water. Lots of info on ioverlander. You can come up from the Washington side as well, this one is a keeper!

Glorious views of the Palouse! Highly recommended

https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/mccroskey/

Ha! I just came here (a day late and a dollar short) to recommend that exact spot.

N147JK · 07-20-2023, 01:55 PM

Is Idaho still gouging out-of-staters double the in-state rate for camping at their state parks? That's a ploy that works, by the way. We were going to stay on lake Coeur d'Alene last year, but that policy had us bypassing Idaho state parks entirely. Nice work Idaho!

86Scotty · 07-21-2023, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msaxolotl

How as Glacier? we are heading there in mid August....

Us too. Following along.

MarinBlaine · 07-21-2023, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msaxolotl

How as Glacier? we are heading there in mid August....

Glacier was very smoky. The whole area is being super-affected by the Canadian fires. There was a sorta-cool color to the light…our eyes burned. Plus, the construction of Going to the Sun road along Lake McDonald was substantial…traffic controls, one lane traffic, dust, delays…oppressive

It was also a rather dry year and most of the creeks were low and some were dry.

Other than that it was absolutely spectacular!