Cougar Rock Campground

An amazing campground. Directiona to the place are easy to find. Clearly marked camp sites. Clean restrooms. Had a great time attending the presentation from park ranger about the diverse flora in Rainier national park. Potable water is available but we didn’t consume it. But we did see folks filling up water. A separate sink to wash dishes makes life so easy.

I was up here for the afternoon at a campsite for a birthday party. I liked the layout of the group sites plus the bathrooms were decent for campsites. It was in the middle of Paradise and the entrance of the park. About 20 minutes to either place. The kids enjoyed running around the area and going up to Paradise. I look forward to going back for a couple of days.

This is a pretty amazing campground. Thankfully they have limited generator hours and even a no generator loop. They limit the length of RV’s so that also helps reduce rampant noise. The only complaint is that the non-generator loop fills first - it needs to be switched so only one loop allows them.

Beautiful area! The campground itself wasn't too bad. We were right across from the bathrooms that has a light that shines all night and the trash cans, so it was quite loud all night. But the place itself is perfectly situated near TONS of trail heads and the park wasn't overly crowded. Be prepared though, as soon as you hit the park entry, there is zero cell service. We luckily had a paper map to find our way around once inside.

- Scrappy, scraggly rustic campground not in great shape. Felt like pitching a tent in a dirt lot. - No showers - QR codes on park entrances, signs, and materials but no signal to access them. Wifi is at Paradise but there's not enough parking there for visitor demand. - No nearby swimming or wading - Only one water spigot per loop at the bathroom - Stalls too small for bigger people to get in and be able to close the door - Old poop stains soaked into toilet seats - Some sites barely room for one tent, how could you camp with friends? Reservation system too difficult to get side-by-side sites - Not all sites have food storage lockers - E001 - No shade at most sites in Loop E - Nowhere for hammock - Campground road on 3 sides of this site so headlights and flashlights shining into your tent - Tons of dead trees and no understory so there's no privacy between sites or road - Did not enjoy spending time at the site which was my goal this trip. If you're looking to just have a place to sleep while you spend all day elsewhere on the mountain, it's probably OK.

Nice place - I’d camp here again. The site had two good tent spots to choose from, and it was super quiet at night. Pretty clean bathrooms too.

Great place to camp for the rainier day. Very clean flush restrooms. not to close to each other. Ranger programs at night and morning. Excellent experience.

Awesome campground. A lot of campers there but still felt secluded and private in our campsite. Most sites fit 1-2 tents and just one parking spot. Bathrooms are great for a campground. Lockers to keep your food overnight. Beautiful area and close to many good hikes. Keep in mind you have to pay the $30 fee for entrance to Mt Rainier National Park on top of your campsite cost.

I stayed in the Cougar Rock campground for two nights in June, and I absolutely loved it. It's in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier, so it's super close to a lot of the best hiking trails in the park. My absolute favorite one (Wonderland Trail) is actually within walking distance. If you need anything from civilization (s'mores supplies, caffeine, gas, etc), it's only like a 30 minute drive into town as well. The site came with a metal bear box to put food and scented items in, as well as a fire ring. I would highly recommend bringing your own firewood, because the ranger station runs out quickly. I stayed in loop B, site 8. It was honestly perfect because it was a short walk to both the bathroom and the ranger station, but not so close that we dealt with heavy foot traffic, noise, or smells. It was also one of the few sites with a looped "driveway," which was great because backing in and out on a narrow slope would be difficult. The campsites are close enough together so that you don't feel like you're out in the middle of nowhere, but there are enough trees and space between them that you have privacy. I definitely plan on staying here again on future trips to Mount Rainier.

After having stayed here over the Labor Day weekend, I'm of mixed minds about this campground. There are some big pros and some big cons - all of which are valid. In the end, I think I'd give it around a 3.5 star rating. Pros: -Handy location...just up the road from Longmire, and not too far from Paradise, several waterfalls, and hiking trails. -Nice amphitheater with ranger talks on some evenings. -Pretty with lots of trees, mountains, and the sound of the nearby river. -Small sites that keep most large and loud RVs away. -Great price ($20/night). Cons: -No firewood. You have to drive back to Longmire for the closest availability of firewood, which costs $16 for a tiny bundle of about 5 sticks. Crazy. -The quality of sites varies tremendously. Some are simple pull-throughs right on the road with next to no ambiance while others have huge forested clearings. Seemed very inequitable. -No electric or water. We had a small camper and it would have been nice to have these amenities. -Dump station has been closed for at least 3 years. -Apparently there used to be a shuttle up to Paradise. This would have been really handy and cut down on the park's carbon footprint.

Nice campground within the Mt. Rainier National Park, very close to the Paradise area. The site is quite big, there is drinking water, clean restrooms with flush toilets, a movie theater and it is connected to many trails, even wonderland trail. Each campsite has a big metal box in which you can store items that you should not leave outside. It is recommended that you not leave food or other smelly items out (or in the tent) during the night or when your not there, it will attract wildlife, bears included.

We camped a night here while staying in Mt rainier national park. This campground was great for us. Easy to find and Someone there to help us check in and get us to our campsite. Everything worked perfectly.

We stayed here for three nights in September 2020. Finding a sight was pretty easy because you drive until you find an empty site and then go back up front near the entrance to pay at the station. The amenities were well kept. They have a bathroom with flush toilets and an outdoor potable water station. We stayed in the C loop. All sites include a picnic table, fire pit, and bear box. Many of the sites were closed due to hazardous trees. After two nights there, we renewed our stay around 8:30am for one more night. However, when we returned later in the evening someone in an Airstream had taken our site and removed our paper from the marker. The ranger on duty was apologetic, but couldn't help us because the person wasn't on site. She told us to find a new spot and she'd make a note to the next ranger on duty the following day that we paid even though we didn't have a paper slip on the new marker. We got lucky because there was only one more site available when all this went down, otherwise I'm not sure what would have happened.

Pros: Clean site, great location near popular hikes/ trails, only $15, online reservations allowed, there is a shuttle that will take you up to Paradise if you don't want to bring your car. Cons: Sites are very crowded/close together (not very private). We had a bad experience with one of the Park Rangers at the campsite being very unhelpful. We needed to buy firewood so we could cook our dinner, and the sign stated that firewood was for sale until 8pm. We saw a large pile of firewood around 6pm and asked to buy some. The ranger told us he could not sell it to us because his sales staff went home. WTF? He told us we would need to drive 12 miles round trip back to the entrance of the park to buy some. This is not even the half of story... What you need to know is bring your own firewood and don't count on help from the rangers.

Our Meetup group camped here last weekend in order to hike around Mt. Rainier. I came up early to reserve sites to find that two loops were closed. Some of the spaces in the B loop were very small while others very spacious. You do camp kind of tucked away though so it felt spacious between neighbors. I was surprised that they didn't have bear lockers, especially as it is bear country. So having to keep coolers et. all in the car wasn't very convenient. They did have firewood, the site was clean as were the bathrooms. The first stall never did have toilet paper in it but it didn't seem to be too much of an issue. Overall I thought that the campsite was decent.

Great park, super nice hikes. Just a quick ride to Paradise and beautiful Mnt. Rainer. Book your spot early as the campground is usually 100% full. Great thing: No generators allowed. Tip: No showers.

The campground is really clean and well laid out. Very close to sunrise near mt. Rainier. And there are ranger shows at the ampitheater every night. The quiet time is like 9-10pm, clean bathrooms, $15 a night, reservations available, and group campsites also. Overall, very nice and would definitely go there again in the future. The only con is that there is no showers.

My main complaint about this campground is the bathroom and general untidiness. The bathrooms were disgusting. Dirty. No toilet paper. Trash at my camp site. I do not blame the NPS for this - they are woefully underfunded - thank you Republican congress. Please fund our National Parks so there are more people to help keep it clean!! I also agree the sites are not that private, but that's the case in a lot of campgrounds, so not a huge deal. Close to Paradise, which is nice, but the A loop in particular (the only first-come, first-served loop) is right on the road and there's lots of road noise.

Our favorite Mt Rainer campground. Always clean and quiet. Adjacent to a nice family-friendly river / waterfall hiking trail with views of the mountain and glaciers. Ranger talks with slide show & campfire every night during summer and fun for the whole family. Nearby Paradise has lots of paved hiking trails that are perfect for strollers or wheel chairs. (some are steeper than others) Correction of previous poster: Cougar Rock is closest to Paradise, not Sunrise. Paradise is a 15- 20 minute drive and does have showers available if needed.

I stayed at Cougar Rock in Loop E, which seems to be quieter than the rest. It's a beautiful, quiet, well-covered area. You are in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, and can catch glimpses of it from the right place in the campground. You can get a lot of traffic noise from people driving to Paradise, but it dies down at night. If you like hiking, you'll love the many trails accessible here. If you're not a hiker, there are lots of spots to stop and park to see some great sites as well. They didn't have the shuttle running up to Paradise (2013), so if you want to go up, you'll have to drive. Go very early or in the evening to ensure a place to park. Lots of hiking options and sites to see from Paradise too. Had an amazing time at Cougar Rock and plan on coming back. Would recommend to anyone.

we stayed here in august of 2012. we were pleasantly surprised at the size of the ( b loop, site number 26) as compared to ohanapecosh campground in the park. bathrooms were close and rangers gave a talk that night. they do sell firewood but i would bring your own. ranger talks are given Monday thur Thursday at 8:30 p.m. they are quite good. don't expect to find a ranger, though, for assistance of any kind. if you go in a big group, try the f-loop. it seems private. also, we stayed on a weeknight so i dont know how the weekends are.