Bonaparte Lake Campground

Fall weather made for a perfect weekend here. Picturesque perfection made better by an empty campground sans 1 family down the way.

Big sites probably dont afford a lot of visual privacy when full but the sizes helps reduce the crowded feel of other NF Campgrounds.

Dont expect cell but if you need it, it is quicker to find it headed to Republic vs Tonasket.

Although it was a bit of a drive from Centralia, WA it was well worth the trip. It's always nice driving along the Columbia and the Okanagan Valley. We stopped in Tonasket to take on water and do a final dump of our tanks at the Chamber RV Park before driving the last ~25 miles to the campground. After turning off Highway 20 the paved road is a bit narrow and curvy in places but not a problem for our 44' coach and toad. We had reservations on the south loop where there are eight campsites. Site 26 is a double site but was perfect for our coach. The campground is forested with lots of western larch and Douglas fir, open enough to allow plenty of light, but too closed for satellite reception.

We paddled our kayaks on both Bonaparte and Lost Lake and visited a couple other lakes too. All the lakes had pairs of adult common loons and several pairs had 5 to 6 week old chicks too. Loons are one of my favorite birds to listen too.

We stayed here 2 nights at the end of June. We kind of stumbled onto it accidentally. It is in a whole recreation area full of trails, nice quiet lakes. The campground has 2 areas: one reservable and the other is first come, first served. We found the first come, first served area mostly full. The ones that were open would have been tight for our 30 ft 5th wheel. We drove through the reserved area and found several sites that were plenty big for us. They had tags on the site posts that told us how long we could stay before the reserved folks rolled in.
These are strictly no hook up sites. The vault toilets were clean. There were dumpsters available and water, however without an adapter you couldn't fill your rv tank.
The wildlife was abundant. A doe and her fawn wandered into our site. There are loons on the lake talking to you. And the mosquitoes were minimal, for me the usual appetizer.
My verizon service was real sketchy so I just turned my phone off and enjoyed the quiet.
We have the senior pass so our price was half the $12 but was worth full price IMHO.