Olympic National Park - 50' - where to camp?

[LoudDog]

We're looking at spending a week or two on the Olympic peninsula, exploring Olympic National Park and the coast. Having trouble finding a campground that will accommodate our truck/trailer. 30 foot trailer has us just over 50' total.

Kalaloch and Bogachiel seems like the sites are too small (all are in the 20's and 30's)? We're looking at Salt Creek but it seems everything we want to see/do is a 2 hour drive from there.

We'd rather not stay on an indian reservation, had a bad experience...

Any advice?

[Bigdog]

Have done a bit of camping up there over the years in trailers,the last one being a Cougar 304BHS which is 35' overall and pulled by an Excursion for a total of 55". Here are our favorite spots and why. .Port Townsend. Fort Worden and Point Hudson. Both of them are right on the water,but it's easier to get sites at Point Hudson and it's in easy walking distance from a really fun downtown. Sequim. There are several nice rv parks in Sequim,but it's kind of far from both Port Townsend and Port Angeles.... Port Angeles. Here I would advise the KOA as they are the closest to the places you want to see up there. They also have a shuttle to the ferry to Vistoria. Elwha RV park is kinda nice,but a bit farther out of town. Another one is Shadow Mountain on 101 on the west side of town just before you get to Lake Crescent. I would not advise Salt Creek as It would take you too long to get anywhere and also, most of the NP campgrounds are 21' with a few to 35',but very few and have no hookups. Regardless of your pervious experience, there are a couple of nice cgs in Neah Bay,one in town and one out at the ocean beach. Otherwise,the 101 RV park in Forks is a great base camp for the west side of the peninsula.

[LoudDog]

We're trying to make a 2 week trip of it. Fort Warden is a stop for sure (been there before) and Salt Creek seems like a no brainer. Sounds like one of these on the west side should work! Thanks!

[Delphi]

FWIW - I tried contacting Hard Rain a few years ago to make a reservation a couple months in advance of our visit.

I left a voice mail and also sent an e-mail. They never replied.

[rollexx]

We are also right at 50' and have stayed at Sol Duc Hot Springs, Sequim Bay State Park,
Fort Worden State Park, and Dosewallips State Park..all with no problem.

[mikim]

We like staying at the Lake Quinault campground. No sewer, but they do have electric and water and are on the lake.

[Veebyes]

Have done Salt Creek a couple times. Plenty room for us at 55'LOA. Nice view across the strait to Victoria.

[profdant139]

Gosh, PawPaw, I really liked Hard Rain. True, it is not fancy. But it is very quiet and rural. There is an elk herd that hangs out in the area. It is well-located. And there is a cafe there with really great food.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

LoudDog wrote:
I’d like to find at least a second stop somewhere on the west coast. Ocean shores would work, but it’s too far south for what we want to do.

We met some folks who had come through that area last September. They stayed at Hard Rain Café and RV on the Hoh River just outside the park to visit the west side.

They said is was a good base for exploring the area. Not a great campground, but they weren't spending much time in the CG. They have a 40' ft high-end fifth wheel - and said one reason to stay there was that rig size was not a problem at the CG.

Reviews are not great on this park - so be aware.

[profdant139]

Since you are targeting the Olympics, you might be interested in our blog post -- we spent a month in Northern Washington last September, and this is the entry about the Olympics -- lots of pictures:

Olympic Peninsula blog post

[donkeydew]

salt creek recreation area on the the north east side
fork's rv park on rhe west side

[LoudDog]

We’re thinking Sept of next year.
I wanted to do 2-3 stops, but I’m having trouble finding large enough campsites in locations other than salt creek (north edge of the peninsula). I’d like to find at least a second stop somewhere on the west coast. Ocean shores would work, but it’s too far south for what we want to do.

[mockturtle]

If you're going between May and September (I don't think you'd want to go right now!), South Beach Campground, part of ONP, can accommodate some rigs up to 35'.

[2gypsies1]

The Olympic Peninsula is huge and the two-lane highway very busy. It would be difficult to find just one spot from which to sightsee. I would recommend moving 3x. One stay could be in the Port Townsend area (your longest stay as there is so much to do, even taking day trips to various islands or even to Seattle's waterfront), another stay could be Salt Creek campground, and another stay around the Forks area to do the rain forests.

The weather? Variable - like the weatherman says. Expect more misty days than total sun. Between July 5 and August 15 is the best.

Even Sequim, billed as in the 'banana belt' gets its share of cloudy, misty days. It might get less than the other areas but it still gets some.

[tsetsaf]

Big park means lots of driving. There are plenty of RV parks outside the NP that can accommodate you. Depends on where you want to go and where you want to stay. We really liked http://www.campgroundviews.com/parks/us/washington/sequim-wa/gilgal-oasis-rv-park/