Index camping options

There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of pay campgrounds near Index. Does anyone know if there are dispersed camping options? Room to park a travel trailer would be awesome but alternately room for a 4Runner and a backpacking tent would suffice.

Thanks in advance,

Nate

People seem to just camp in the lot next to the river if for some reason that is full you can probably get away with camping on rieter road about a mile off from highway 2 on the gold bar side.

there used to be three or four little campgrounds up the river, did they all go away?

Yeah the pullout on the left side of the road (it’s called the wagon wheel) before the LTW parking lot is free and no one will mess with you

there is some good camping down Beckler River Rd which is about 20mins from Index outside of Skykomish.  

I camped at this private campground last weekend, located about 5 miles east of Index: https://www.outdooradventurecenter.com/camping/

It's pricey but I was looking for some quiet and solitude, and I got it.

Is this wagon wheel the kind of place where you can leave a tent up? Or is it more of an in late/ out early, bivy in your car kind of place?

A lot of people tent camp off the road or by the river. Leaving a tent up is fine, although I wouldn’t leave anything valuable in it. 

Throw some meth in the other guys tent and your campsite will be blissful

It is a sleep in your car place, but definitely not an early out place. Tent camping on the beach by the river, which would be about a one minute walk from your vehicle 

Does anyone know if there a place to shower in or near index?

You can stay at either the LTW parking lot with outhouse (noisy with trains) or a few blocks closer to town in the normal (bigger) campground. There is no outhouse at the bigger one. Running water, a small grocery store, and a toilet that sometimes works can be found at the picnic park in town. You can bathe in the river. Quietest camping is down by the river in a tent. The river noise covers up the trains. Although if you have a van or pickup with a shell it's fairly quiet at the bigger campground. There are often some homeless - transient people staying there. It's free, so they gravitate there for the same reason we climbers camp there. They keep to themselves...live and let live. Last time I slept there a couple weeks ago there was some very loud angry drunken yelling that went on for half an hour. I feel like it's safe though...I've camped there dozens of times over the decades. Left my bag in my tent, no problem. It's your standard sprinter style dirt bag crowd.

Are there showers anywhere neaby? What I LTW