Cougar Creek Rec Site

D

Dipper

Active Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
38
Location
Scotts Mills, OR
Planning to paddle around Nootka Island in early June. Considering options for launching, taking off, parking at Cougar or Tuta. Never been there so wondering if anyone can speak of their experience using this location/s. Thanks.
 
I parked there a few years ago (Cougar Creek). It is a busy forest campground during salmon fishing season. I was there at the tail end of that so was less busy then. Paid for parking with the person running the campground. There is a dock and you can drop off the boat and gear very close to the shore launch.

Out of Gold River it is a rough forest service road that mainlines to the town of Tahsis, then you turn off south down the peninsula. The road was OK with my small SUV though slow at times. The photo is from a few km before Cougar Creek (beach and dock on the left).
P8240099.jpeg
 
I launched from Cougar Creek right at the end of the season a few years back. The road was fine, and the site was nice.

Conditions may have changed in the intervening years, but I suspect that things are still doable for most vehicles.
 
I've been pondering the same area, Tuta Marine is a few kilometers closer to the outer coast and is said to have a campsite as well. But there are no current posts for it on its Facebook page. Does anyone know if it is still operating in summer?
 
Cougar Creek is a great site to launch from; easy access to the water and the campsites are nice. It appears to be a well-run site.

We launched from there last year (early September) and it was just getting ready to shut down for the season. We talked to the operator who said it was extremely busy over the summer - 100% capacity - so that might be an issue for you. We were told that people drove in and had to turn around because it was totally full; not sure where you'd go if that was the case.

The road in was a typical gravel forest service road, rough in spots but not terrible; the further in you go, the rougher it gets. However, people bring full-size RVs, trailers, and boats in there, so it can't be too bad. I suspect it might be better earlier in the year, and we hit it after all the summer traffic had degraded it somewhat. For reference, we drove a Subaru Forester; not sure I'd want to go in there with a low-slung car like a Civic or similar.
 
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