Cold Creek Campground (Yacolt Burn SF, WA): which site to take

Cold Creek Campground

Small campground offering forest hikes. Area is popular for shooting. Sites by a creek are day use only

Cold Creek is a small campground in Washington’s Yacolt Burn State Forest, an hour from Portland: eight sites under tall firs, a day-use area by the creek, and 35 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horses. There is no camping fee; you need a Discover Pass.

The state forest is named for the Yacolt Burn: in September 1902, dozens of fires burned nearly 239,000 acres of southwest Washington and killed 38 people. Replanting began in 1910 and the fires kept coming back for decades; the tall, even firs around the sites are the forest that grew back.

Quick facts

Run by: Washington Department of Natural Resources
Sites: 8 (DNR); 9 on our map
Booking: First come, first served
Fee: None beyond a Discover Pass
Season: Thursday to Monday until October 15; closed Monday afternoon to Thursday morning
Now: Closed for the season since October 14, 2026
Facilities: Picnic tables, a shelter, a vault toilet
Trailers: Up to 25 feet
Stay limit: 7 days in a row in one campground, 10 days in a year
From Portland: About 35 miles, an hour and ten minutes; from Vancouver, 27 miles, an hour

Which site to take

Two together: 1, 2 About 55 feet apart.
More room around you: 6, unnumbered, 7, 4, 3 110 to 135 feet to the next site.
Nearest the creek: 7, 8, 9 About 600 to 750 feet. The creekside sites are day use only, says our note.

Every site

Site	To the river	Next site	In our photo
1	980 ft	60 ft	table, fire ring and grill among ferns
2	1,010 ft	60 ft	table and grill, young firs behind
3	980 ft	110 ft	table, fire ring and grill in the sun
4	850 ft	110 ft	big flat pad, salal around it
6	760 ft	130 ft	table, fire ring and grill under tall firs
7	600 ft	120 ft	table under tall firs, logs edging the pad
8	730 ft	100 ft	table and fire ring, a split-rail edge
9	740 ft	100 ft	gravel pad, grill and fire ring
unnumbered	880 ft	130 ft	table and fire ring among ferns

Distances are straight lines from each pin, to the water and to the nearest neighbor, so read them as “about”. Photos from November 2019.

Questions

Does it cost anything?: No camping fee. You need a Discover Pass, Washington’s pass for state recreation lands.
When is it open?: In season, Thursday to Monday until October 15; it is closed from Monday afternoon to Thursday morning. In 2026 it closed for the season on October 14.
Can I camp by the creek?: Not at a campsite: the sites by the creek are day use only, our note says, and the campsites are 600 to 1,000 feet from it.
Is there shooting nearby?: Our 2019 note says the area is popular for target shooting. The DNR closes several roads in the forest to it, including the whole L-1000; check its list before you go.