Having never fished this part of the state, I was wondering if there was any place to park a truck for the night and maybe have a fire along either of these two rivers. I have a couple of days and would like to fish them now that the river is dropping and enjoy catching some fish. Any advise?

DaveD

Easy deal on the Cowlitz...get a map and look for the Blue Creek Hatchery that's up river and east of I-5. There is a huge WDFW parking lot/boat launch there that allows overnight parking and I have seen people have camp fires there (although sometimes it's posted no-fires due to fire conditions, so be sure and check with the hatchery people there if it's ok). You have to have the red/white WDFW parking sticker that comes with your license displayed on your rear window to park there. It's free other than that. You can fish just down river of the parking lot by walking down a meandering quarter mile+ trail to where Blue Creek comes in to the Cowlitz...combat fishing stress relieving care package may be required however.

Good luck!

Spent two nights at the mouth of the Toutle. It was tolerable at best. Found a spot near the river which was a mix of sand and ash. Beat camping right in the rocks. Lots of people around chasing silvers.

Drifted I-5 to Mouth without success. The bottom two miles or so are frog water, mostly sledders backtrolling plugs, or backbouncing bait. Saw few fish caught, but since the rain? At the time you could walk across the Toutle.

Blue Creek is not too bad if you get one of the three spots in the woods. Bring a trash bag. (or two, well maybe even three!)

I have camped on the Cowlitz itself in the past. We camped right on the bank right above the log cabin hole. I may have been trespassing, but we were in late and out early, and leaving no trace, we weren't too concerned. This summer we saw tenters below the clay bank below Blue Creek. They survived the BIG Thunderstorm in July. Didn't look like a real good spot (and you sure can't get there in your truck anyhow )

Another nice spot is the Barrier Dam Campground. Reasonable rates I suspect. Close to town (Salkum) and the fine dining establishment, the Brown Shack.

I sure hope someone has some better information for you than this.
Guts

There is a private campground at Kid Valley, across from the Texaco Station. It costs $12 per night for a tent site and around $17 for a hookup site, they allow campfires in the firerings and have restrooms with showers. Just stop in at the Texaco to get a site and talk with Cheryl or Tim