Traveling thru North Cascades to Grand Coulee and Spokane

[PineyCruisin]

We are currently riding out the heatwave in Monroe WA and then set to depart to the North Cascades the middle of this coming week. From there, we are heading toward Montana via Grand Coulee and Spokane the week after July 4th, where it is forecasted to be in the low to mid 90's. 

We have been very spoiled for the past few months, rarely camping anywhere in the 80's, and just came from Olympic where it was in the 60's during our entire visit (typing this from a motel room with A/C because we weren't sure we'd survive camping in van at 111 degrees) . 

My question to anyone knowledgeable about the eastern WA area: how is the camping in early to mid July? Mid 90's with low humidity seems quite doable (being from NJ, it's the humidity that kills us) The camping areas we are viewing are all around 3000 ft elevation but I'm assuming being in the high desert, 3000 won't make much of a temperature difference.

Also, any sights, features, or areas we shouldn't miss? Any recommended dispersed camping areas? We do have a Discovery Pass and have already pinned a number of DNR sites. Any other things we should know about the area?

Greatly appreciate any info!

 

[TravelingZombies]

We to are currently in western Washington in Bremerton. We were just in eastern Washington and it was a dry heat. We camped at wild horse hills (BLM) but it's got a lot of off-road traffic, on top of a hill that's always windy and no privacy. We also camped at Walker habitat management unit (army corps of engineers) which has 5 sites next to lake Sacajawea (Snake River) mostly used by boaters and fishing. Freight trains come through day and night and on our last day there 2 fighter jets flew by about 500 ft off the water, the road in isn't to bad except for some bad washboard near the bottom. Wildlife included skunks, rattlesnake, river otter, coyotes, bear and many birds. Grand coulee was about the best spot we found however we paid for camping that time at steamboat rock. We're also planning on going to North cascades this Friday before heading to Mt Ranier which has plenty of free camping. Good luck on your adventures and hope to see you out there sometime.

 

[desert_sailing]

https://stonerosefossil.org/

This is in Republic Wa. Sooo much fun and the area is gorgeous.
The heat may be an issue depending..

 

[PineyCruisin]

TravelingZombies: I was a little confused when I did a google search for Lake Sacajawea in WA and ended up by Portland. Googling the Walker Habitat Mgmt Unit put me in the right spot however. Odd there are 2 totally different water areas with the same name in the state. Anyhoo....I saved it because I noticed it was close to Palouse Falls that we also have on our to-see list. We will be heading to Baker Lake on Wednesday to find a camping spot to hunker down in during the mad July 4th rush then traveling east on 20 the following Monday after crowds hopefully dissipate somewhat, so maybe we will cross paths. I'll keep an eye out for your Bronco and will honk if you are driving by (I'll be in blue conversion van with silverish high top with NJ plates). lol Thanks for the info!

DesertSailing: That sounds fascinating. It's more north than we were planning but who knows what change of plans may happen. 

 

[TravelingZombies]

The snake river has 4 dams in the area and each reservoir has its own name. We've encountered the same while searching out areas and got multiple results.
Keeps us on our toes I guess lol.

 

[NctryBen]

I want to sometime try out the area north of Spokane by Metalene Falls. Seems like a great area.

 

[VanForNow]

I would be cautious about camping in the Mt. Rainier area in July. The peak is quite cool, but the surrounding lower elevations, where most of the camping takes place, can get very hot. I was in the area one summer when the temps there were in the mid-90s.