Evenings on the upper end of Lake Roosevelt last a long time, the sun sliding behind basalt while the pines along the shore go black against the water. The reservoir runs out of sight in both directions, long and narrow between wooded hills, and after a day in the lake nobody at the picnic table is in a hurry to go anywhere. A motorhome lets a family stay put for three nights under those pines, with beds, a kitchen and water on board and the highway well behind.
Spokane families run it as a loop, north on US-395 to Kettle Falls and Marcus Island, then home down the lake past Hunters. The lake nights are dry camping, so the rig's fresh and holding tanks set the pace, and the dump stations along the shore keep the week moving.
Kettle Falls and Marcus Island on US-395
A late start sleeps easiest close to town at Roam Spokane in Spokane Valley, the park older listings still call the Spokane KOA. It has full hookups at pull-through sites year-round, which makes it the night to load the fridge, fill the fresh tank and learn the rig before the dry nights start.
From there US-395 heads north through the pines to Kettle Falls, where the Kettle River runs into the reservoir. Kettle Falls Campground gets the first two lake nights, with the rig in pine shade above the shoreline and the kids moving between the site and the water from breakfast to dark.
Pad length at Kettle Falls is set site by site, and one non-electric pull-through takes rigs up to 36 feet with no water hookup as of September 2026, so match the site's own cap to the rig before you commit. For two people, or a trip that wants a shorter rig than these sites allow, the campervan trips from Spokane cover Bowl and Pitcher on the river, Mount Spokane, Steamboat Rock and the Spring Canyon side of this same lake.
The third night moves on to Marcus Island, another camp on the upper lake and a change of shoreline without much time behind the wheel. Coming home, the loop runs down the lake to Hunters for a last stop on the water, or a fourth night if the week has room.
Kettle Falls and Hunters both have a dump station and water fill, which is all the cadence this loop needs. Fill and dump at Kettle Falls before moving to Marcus Island, then empty the tanks again at Hunters before the drive back to Spokane.
Families who want a second lake cross the Idaho line to Priest Lake, where cedar and tamarack crowd down to clear water under the Selkirk crest, and Indian Creek has electric sites and a dump station for a hookup night after the dry ones. Priest Lake, the Coeur d'Alene lake week and Farragut are covered on the Coeur d'Alene RV page.
Booking the lake site before the rig
On Lake Roosevelt the campsite is the first booking, because the pad you land decides how long a motorhome you can bring. Recreation.gov takes Lake Roosevelt reservations up to six months ahead, so hold the Kettle Falls and Marcus Island nights first, then shop the rigs that fit them. Summer is when a rig wants a shaded site and a full water tank, and spring and fall bring fewer neighbors to the shoreline.
Festival weekends pull on the same Spokane motorhomes. Bass Canyon and Shambhala crowds rent rigs out of town, so a lake week that lands on one of those weekends competes with them for listings, and the rig is worth reserving the same day as the campsite.
