Crystal Mountain Resort RV Camping

We camped at Crystal Mountain Resort B-Lot on July 21, 2022. We also stayed there in July 2021. And I knew the 30 A sites are packed tight and 50 A sites are a lot more spacious, so I chose a 50 A site even though our rig is a small 25 feet long class C motorhome with 30 A service. I was happy that I chose 50 A site because I saw many RVs were packed tight in 30 A sites. I paid $62.65 ($55 + tax) when I reserved the spot 3 days prior to our arrival.

I camped here because this campground is close to Mount Rainier National Park and the White River Campground in the national park is First Come First Served while Crystal Mountain Report B-Lot can be reserved. And there is electricity and Wi-Fi and Cell phone signals in this campground, but not at White River Campground.

After staying at Crystal Mountain B-Lot one night we left early morning and moved to White River Campground and secured a pretty good campsite and stayed 4 nights. I paid $10 per night with my senior pass. You can’t do much better than that.

THE GOOD: great hiking around the resort with beautiful views. Good but expensive tacos and fried fish at resort ($20ish). Gondola is fun ride ($47 round trip or $16 for just down if you hike up). Campground WiFi is decent and 30Amp power was reliable. Verizon worked with decent LTE. Enough of a tree clearing for my Starlink to work most of the time.

THE BAD: Portapotty had no toilet paper and crap pile was almost overflowing out of tank such that squatting was only option if you dared. Considerable sawdust and smoke blowing in from noisy land clearing operation immediately south of RV lot. Campsites are packed in like sardines. No dump out. Water (no 3/4" attach) available at one site (you have to rudely cut thru those people's site or if that's your site you will have people cutting thru you). The RV park is just a dirk parking lot with power stanchions defining the sites, no trees or anything separates the sites. Certain sites have water with 3/4" attach you can fill up at if the site is empty. Some of the campsites have permanent setups and are slum looking. Lots of dust and noise in-general from demo/construction project in progress Biting flys are bad right now. Illegal fireworks occurred one nite despite the serious forest fire risk. At $45+taxes/nite this campground is not a great value.

This is in the “B Lot” of the ski area parking lot. Big gravel lot (read dusty), RV’s & some tents sites backed up against the edge of the lot next to a stream. You can get out under the trees by the creek but basically you are in a big dirt lot and if some when the clueless and inconsiderate go barreling through you will get dust bombed. Power hookups are good, 2-3 bars on AT&T LTE. No water, no sewer, no dump. Portapotties are there but nearly full, holiday weekend so I can make some allowances. So if you can’t get into another campground, need to charge up, need a mobile signal, it’s your spot, pricey but sites were available. Final downside is that the sites are VERY narrow, which during ski season is probably just fine as nobody is outside, during the summer months the right spacing is every other site, with adjacent sites you are opening your door into the side of the guy next to you. I’ll use this place from time to time as a “bail out” option and there are a few good hikes to access from here, views are nice, but pretty basic as an RV site.

Crystal Mountain

Welp, first off, if you don’t have a smart phone you’re SOL because you have to scan a code to access the site to pay. It was a ghost town when I was there (Thursday afternoon)and not a single human to assist you. I emailed and received a prompt response because it was unclear where to park and what the charge was for dry camping/overnight parking. There is a lot of ominous signage about getting booted for “improper” parking. Initially got an email to “park beyond the meters,” then got another from the Big Kahuna Facility Manager Guru, stating I was to use a tent site, although I did spell out in my email I DID NOT NEED electric/H20. But, the Guru responded no worries, they wouldn’t “boot” me, haha, use a tent site. There were multiple indications (threats) that if you are “improperly” parked, your vehicle would get booted, requiring a $100 fee to un-boot it. So, the gist of it is: there is NO dry camping allowed. You have to be in either an RV site or a Tent site. Both have designated electric, with water spigots available. Don’t think you can actually put a tent in the tent sites! No, no, no! (Please notice his wording in the email I received and posted in the photo section of this review.) There is no place to pop a tent unless you plan on putting it right behind your vehicle on the gravel, in the parking lot. All the sites are in one long line of electric access posts with scattered water spigots at the edge of a large gravel parking lot. All are cheek by jowl, just like in a mall parking lot. If you have a slide, forget about it. The sites are not level and the entry to the parking area has impressive potholes. $25 for a “tent” site. I think it was $40 for an RV site, but I could be wrong. The kicker is, there is NO DIFFERENCE (other than 30/50amp)between a tent site and an RV site. NONE. A single porta-potty for 50+ sites. No thanks, complete rip off IMO. The greed I’m seeing regarding camping in the last year and half is astounding. If you’re here in the winter for a week of skiing, I can see it may be worth it to you to be this close to the slopes. And I did see a herd of elk which somewhat mollified my irritation of the cost. (I was under the impression prior to arrival that dry camping was allowed at a lesser rate. Hey, I’m willing to pay, but I don’t like being ripped off!) Otherwise, I’d give it a big skip. I came, I camped, I won’t be back. I posted the email I got from the big kahuna in the photos for veracity. Side note- I was planning on taking the gondola to the top of the mountain of Friday ($30), but the email interaction and cost of unneeded “tent” camping turned me off so much, I skipped it.

This is a large parking lot with 30 and 50 amp electrical only! We stayed here for the cell phone reception which was great for streaming and video calls. Fortunately we were the only ones in the entire lot so there wasn't much traffic during the day or at night.

You can choose between $40 and $50 per night depending on if you want 30 or 50 amp. There is a pay station where you can pay cash or write down your credit card info. There are around 60 spots.

There was a lot of noise from the maintenance crews (chainsaws, trucks, etc.) starting at about 8am. They did stop around 5pm and it was pretty dead.

There is not much to the camp sites at Crystal Mountain. Basically, you are setting up camp in the parking lot with neighbors on both sides...that is, if it is busy, but every time we went in the summer, it was never busy. It is $30 for electrical hookups or $20 for no hookups. You pay, on your honor system, at the little booth in the parking lot. No privacy and just gravel.

Yet, we loved this spot. It was a great home base for exploring the area with hikes galore. We hiked up Crystal Mountain and the kind folks let you take the gondola down for free. We shot over to Mt. Rainier for some great hikes there, as well.

Keep your eye out for Beer and Wine festivals at the mountain. It's a great time to camp at the hill. They were building a water treatment plant the last we visited...could get a little noisy. Yet, if you're just looking to have a home base for exploring, this is a convenient spot.

We never camped in the winter, due to how crowded the parking lot gets and we didn't have a generator. Yet, lots of people camp during the ski season and it tends to get filled up quickly. You're pretty much parked in while the day skiers are at the mtn - something to keep in mind.

Note: You'll see photos with campfires, which we did by collecting rocks and making a circle and having a fire on the gravel or in the woods behind our trailer. We are not sure whether it was allowed or not but no one ever said anything to us. Be safe and smart!