Kalaloch Campground - group — Olympic National Park
Jen G.
Reviewed Jul. 1, 2016

Close to the Beach, But Fills Outrageously Fast

First off, let me say that I'm definitely no stranger to campgrounds filling up quickly. I frequently camp in Zion and Arches, and those campgrounds fill up super fast- but NOTHING fills up faster than the beach access sites at Kalaloch. We camped there on a Tuesday night in August (so summer, but not a weekend) and of the 8-10 beach access sites that were available when I looked the night before I booked (six months in advance), every single one of them was gone when I got on within 10 minutes of reservations going live. It was INSANE. So I had to scramble, and booked a couple of sites next to each other (since we were camping with a group that was too large for a single campsite). I've never experienced anything quite like the speed with which this campground filled up. If you want a beach access campsite, I would definitely recommend being right on time and being ready to go! One disclaimer I should give is also that I didn't spend an extraordinary amount of time in this campground. We arrived pretty late at night (in the dark, around 10pm) and left early-ish in the morning (around 830/9). and didn't have much time to explore around the campground. So my review might not be the most complete, but I'll give it based on the knowledge that I have. My biggest complaint (which is a common-ish one for me, but this campground was the worst I've experienced) was that the tent area was absolutely rock hard. I'm by no stretch of the imagination an incredibly strong woman, but I really struggled to get the stakes into the ground for our tent. In a wet coastal environment where you want to stay dry, staking out your tent and fly is important, and it was really frustrating trying to get those dang stakes into that hard ground, especially in the dark. Another small gripe, that may have been magnified by the fact that we had just stayed in the very secluded Newhalem Campground in the North Cascades the night before, was that the campsites we stayed in (A055 and A056) were pretty much right on the side of the road though the campground. We essentially parallel parked, and set up our tents maybe 15 feet from the road. The sites were a little small (in fact one member of our group sneaked farther back into the bushes to set up his tarp and sleeping pad in a little more seclusion and space) and being right along the road definitely made at least those sites not a place I'd want to relax in. This is likely one campground where the site you're in can make or break your experience. My last small gripe is going to sound outrageously vain, but the bathrooms were a little small, there was only one sink, and the only mirror was above the sink. I like to have a mirror to make sure my face is clean and my hair looks decent, but I don't necessarily need a sink. When I went to the bathroom in the morning a woman spent almost 15 minutes standing in front of the only mirror, washing her face and doing her hair. It would've been nice to have had another mirror so she didn't "hog" the sink and the only mirror. The GOOD THINGS about this campground are the accessibility to the amazing beach, nice paved roads (so no dust), and lots of greenery. The air felt very fresh and clean here, and it was a cool experience for those of us from the desert to sleep in a place with so much green! The bathrooms were also very clean (if small) and the campground's directions were straightforward and clear.

  • Review photo of Kalaloch Campground - group — Olympic National Park by Jen G., July 1, 2016
  • Review photo of Kalaloch Campground - group — Olympic National Park by Jen G., July 1, 2016
  • Review photo of Kalaloch Campground - group — Olympic National Park by Jen G., July 1, 2016