Camping near Leavenworth

What's not to love about the East side of the mountains? Especially when you have the chance to make a trip over to Leavenworth camping for the weekend. I travelled over early in the afternoon on Friday with two friends, and explored the Icicle, at the base of the Cascade Mountains for spots to camp. Unfortunately, with it still being fairly early in the spring, most high altitude camping spots were either snowed in or inaccessible due to closed trail heads and forest service gates. But there are still several accessible developed campgrounds open early in the season. One of which was Eight Mile campground, about five miles up the Icicle. It's location is ideal, with easy river access and numerous trails to explore right around the campground.
Our group decided that we were going to find an undeveloped spot to camp for the night and avoid the traffic of other campers. The spot we found was extraordinary. Tucked into a cliff side about 75 feet up in the air, rested a flat, sandy and perfectly located camping spot looking over the river. Easily accessible from the back of the cliff, we hiked onto the 15x20 platform and set up camp. From here, we looked could see out towards Leavenworth and up into the Snow Lakes area.

We were blessed with beautiful weather during our trip and had an overall fantastic time. One thing to make note of anytime you travel into the woods is the fact that there will be ticks. While setting up camp, we found several ticks in our gear that had attached while hiking to the camping spot. Be sure to check your clothing whenever entering your tent in order to avoid any unwanted visitors!

I would recommend to all of my friends to make a trip over to the east side of the mountains and enjoy the beauty of the Cascade's and surrounding scenery. Just bring sunscreen and bug spray!