Thousand Trails Paradise Campground Review (Silver Creek, Washington)

https://thousandtrails.com/washington/paradise-rv-campground

If you’re looking for a campground that puts you within reach of both Mount Rainier National Park and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Thousand Trails Paradise is hard to beat. We stayed here while exploring both parks, and while the campground itself wasn’t perfect, its location made it a great home base for the week.

Location

Paradise is tucked away in Silver Creek, Washington, and the drive into the campground is part of the experience. You’ll wind through quiet country roads before passing a beautiful overlook where, on a clear day, you can actually see both Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens in the distance.

The campground feels peaceful and secluded without being completely isolated. Mount Rainier was about an hour away via the Nisqually Entrance, while Mount St. Helens made for another easy day trip. Although Silver Creek itself doesn’t offer many conveniences, larger grocery stores and shopping are available in Centralia and Chehalis, about 30 minutes away.

Our Site

We stayed in a 50-amp full hookup site.

Utilities all worked well, and we had reliable cell service throughout our stay, which is always important since my husband works remotely while we travel.

Our biggest complaint was the site layout. It was extremely narrow, with neighboring campers very close to us. In front of our site was an immediate grassy hill, leaving almost no usable outdoor living space. We were barely able to extend our main slide, couldn’t lay out our outdoor mats, and there wasn’t enough level ground to comfortably set up our dog pen.

Fortunately, the weather was mild enough that we didn’t spend a lot of time outside at our campsite anyway.

Campground Amenities

One of our favorite features was the dog park. It’s tucked away next to a small lake and feels much more peaceful than your typical campground dog run. Willie loved having a place to stretch his legs.

The campground also has several wooded walking trails that were quiet and relaxing. We saw rabbits almost every day, and it was a nice place for an evening walk after exploring.

Our kids also enjoyed the nearby playground.

Unfortunately, some of the amenities weren’t available during our visit. The pool and hot tub were closed, which was disappointing. It probably wasn’t quite warm enough to swim anyway, but the hot tub would have been nice after long days of hiking and driving.

Maintenance

This was probably our biggest drawback.

Like a few other Thousand Trails campgrounds we’ve visited, the grounds simply didn’t feel very well maintained. The grass throughout the campground—including around our own site—had grown fairly long. It’s a small detail, but it makes a difference when you’re walking your dog or trying to enjoy your campsite.

Everything functioned properly, but the campground could definitely benefit from more regular landscaping and upkeep.

Crowds

During the week, Paradise was quiet and peaceful.

Toward Thursday and Friday, we noticed a significant increase in campers as Memorial Day weekend approached. Even with the extra people, it never felt overwhelming.