Best Glamping near Elma, WA

I have camped here a number of times over the years. This is a nice woodsy campground just south of Olympia, WA located on Deep lake. It has a very old growth forest feel to it. This campground offers many activities: hiking trails, fitness trails,fishing, boat rental, and even a concession stand. The fishing is good for trout,bass, and sun fish. This park offers both hookup and non utility tent sites as well as glamping tents.

Cons: most of the hookup sites are in a field with zero privacy but there are a few that are much better like the last spot I stayed at.

The primitive sites are better but the roads are quite narrow with limited access for RV's.

The "Glamping tents"are very nice but crazy expensive at over $300 a night. Like most of the State Parks reservations book up quickly so it pays to plan ahead

Pros: fishing is pretty good even from shore. The day use area is great but pretty rustic. Lots of trails to hike but not as well marked as I would expect. Really close to Seattle so it is ideal for a weekend getaway Friday after work.

Beautiful spot, though tightly packed and crowded/noisy. We stayed in spot 59 on a Saturday night. It was rainy and the fire pit area had plenty of puddles. Lots of folks came in later in the evening with multiple cars and sat out talking; plenty of them packed up and left before 8 am. We walked the fen trail, which was spooky and different from our home of Colorado! Reservations needed. There are also glamping cabins. Nice clean bathrooms with flush toilets, water available at multiple locations, showers available with tokens.

This is a very nice, typical Washington state park with plenty of trees, greenery, hiking, pathways and even a lake. There's a camp store along with several large outdoor kitchens that would be good to use for groups. Many of the structures like the kitchens and even bathrooms were built back in the 1930s by the CCC, which is pretty cool. It's just far enough off I-5 to not have the freeway noise, but close enough to be convenient. It's also nearby to Great Wolf Lodge if you're looking for a place to stay near there.

On the other hand, the RV sites especially are basically in a big field with a cement road going around it. The sites have tables and fire pits, but no privacy what-so-ever. The tent sites are slightly better, with more trees, but still very close to one another.

The campground also has glamping available (canvas permanent tents) that looked cool.

One of the few places we were able to walk-in late in afternoon and find a great spot. Friendly staff helped us pick a quiet spot perfect for us and the pups. Clean facilities and grounds. Potable water. Token showers. Quiet hours were enforced. It is a large park with a lot of spots but nearly as cramped as some of the other state parks in Oregon. We loved our stay and would definitely go back next time we’re in the area. We stayed in a site without utilities so maybe those bad reviews were from people who were looking more for a glamping experience. For us dirtbaggers...it was perfect considering we normally try to avoid large parks if we can help it. Make sure to check out the fun learning/kiosk trail that explains the sand dunes and ends at a great view of the ocean.

They have glamping! Or as the campground calls it: pampered camping. This is a beautiful park located on Deep Lake just outside of Olympia.  The park itself is huge offering lots of options for campers.  Super easy to get our trailer in and out of the spaces and there was lots of extra parking for our larger group.  A quick walk around the grounds offered a nice hike and showed us some pretty awesome sites Id like to stay at in the future.  They are on a progressive price, meaning depending on the site is what your price will be.

The canvas tent option was one I didn’t know about until I got there.  The tents are cabin shaped and have a few chairs and BBQ grill outside it.  Great option for families.

The park also offers a cottage right next to the lake.  This is a nice alternative to traditional camping.  One thing that was great about the park was the various kitchens around the grounds.  This offers a great way for larger groups to have a set space for meals.

Great PNW experience minutes from Olympia!

Campground review: First off this is not a primitive experience by any means. However this is a really interesting state park that has something for EVERYONE. The campground itself is separated into 3 separate sections. There is a larger trailer loop down by the main entrance, standard tent camping and lastly "glamping" and yes you heard me right. This campground also boasts a beer garden AND a boat house with kayak and canoe rentals. If this is all sounding a little much I understand. Surprisely though the campground was almost completely filled when we were there and do to it being densely vegetated and how it's laid out. Our campsite was very private and spacious. The campground itself was very clean and well kept and rangers were on regular patrol. It was a great fun local escape for us and our kids loved it!! They also have a few trails but we did not check them out this visit. My only complaint would be the restrooms are few and far between for how large the campground is just know this before your visit. Happy Adventuring!

Gear Review:

HellaGood Belmont Blanket

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I occasionally get products to test- today I am testing the HellaGood Belmont Blanket. Right away I was surprised by how light weight and extra durable this blanket was. Easy to pack in a backpack and bring to the water front with us and made a great blanket to cozy up under after a few hours of paddling. It was also a great additional play space for our kids at our camp site. The bottom is waterproof and the top is a soft fleece like material so I didn't have to worry about washing it when we got home. In the past we have just brought a beach blanket camping but this is for sure our new go to! www.belmontblanket.com

We go once a year and stay in a yurt. This is a family favorite. We love Yurt 62. It’s on a little cul-de-sac where the kids can ride their bikes and scooters around. There’s a trail to the beach and bathrooms very close. It is quiet and clean and you get cell service.

This made a great 1 night stay. Seems like they had a decent amount to offer. Saw some cabins and yurts. Bathrooms were semi clean, but sites were small.

Millersylvania is located South of Olympia on Deep Lake. The campsites are nice, they have both RV, Yurts, and Tent sites. The RV loop does pack you in their like sardines. Deep Lake is a murky lake but is stocked with fish and has designated swim area.

This is a fairly large site with some yurt and walk in campsite options, besides the normal type of spots. This campsite gives you open access to the beach. Though there are many better and more remote coastal campsites, don't pass this one up if your looking for simplicity.

Pros: Close to the ocean so you can hear the waves at night while you fall asleep, lots of clean bathrooms with lots of showers, close to downtown Westport where you can fish and crab off the dock Cons: Campsites are very close together, not much privacy (I could hear neighbors having conversations through the yurt walls)

Been comin to this park for years. Absolutely love the place sights have always been clean, most sites have good privacy kindling and firewood is for sale at some of the sites. Yurts are available near the dunes. The dunes between the campground and the beach make for a nice walk and an awesome place to explore and for kids to play.

The vibe of this town and park reminds me of the coastal towns on the East Coast.  Excellent wildlife (especially birds) and endless beach and dunes to explore. The campsites are surrounded by short trees and are very close to the beach, with some having views of the water. There are some yurts to rent too! Bring kites, surfboards, kayaks, and binoculars.

Hidden gem on the coast! Just south of Westport is Grayland Beach State Park. Perfect spot to dig for razors or to just get away to the beach. Great tent and yurt sites, lots of water access, and trails in the area. Visit Westport for a few hours and enjoy the small beach town vibe.

Great for families and short getaway trips, rain or shine.

Coho Campground sits on the Wynoochee Lake at the Wynoochee Dam. Lush forest, tall trees, and moss make this place so beautiful and a magical campground for kids to play in! Campsites are private and shady. In spring, piles of wood are stacked in piles all over, from those which fell in winter. The lake has a great day use area and the campground also has yurts, with a lake view.

My family stayed at Grayland beach, our first camping trip after moving from Minnesota to Washington. So glad we didn't go to Ocean Shores, you can see all the tourists across the water from the observation tower in Grays Harbor.

Saw my first banana slug, a huge yellow one that crawled out from the water spigot post at the campsite!

We went back several times, including for one winter storm in January that cleared out all the campers but us, until we realized the yurt had no power (hence no heat) and found that there was no power all the way to Aberdeen! The pounding of the surf all night sounded like a freight train on the other side of the dune, we didn't get a very restful night but that's not because of the park- it's always exciting. We spent hours chasing waves, collecting sand dollar shells, and even found the remains of a large ray washed up on the beach.

We have talked to campground hosts who RV full time, seeing the whole country- but who say Grayland is their favorite!

Interesting to go down to the cannery road, and see the shoreline disappearing year upon year...people's houses lost to the waves.

There isn't a lot of privacy between slots but this campground offers RV, tent and yurts. Electrical HU only but dump site available. It's right off the beach with a little shop in walking distance. There's also a motel with an accessible laundry room nearby. There is a huge expanse of beach to play on when the tide is out. Most campers leave dogs off leash on the beach. Tons of kites flying through the summer days, it's beautiful. Campfires on the beach allowed. Camp hosts are great and facilities upkeep is well managed. Two shower tokens per dollar, each token = 3 minutes. Summer books up quickly, need to secure 9 months in advance. Cell service is very spotty and campground WiFi is as well.

I was really excited about our visit to this part of Washington and the coast but the sad part is that once again there's a lot of families and kids and the beach had people who like to drive trucks on the sand doing donuts nearby.

There were great huckleberry bushes, but beware of the people who don't pick up after their pets--there was huge piles of dog doo along the shoulder where you walk to the beach trail and by the restroom where people tie dogs up and use the facilities.

The campsites are often used by people who book several sites at once for huge family gatherings so the bordering bushes that supposedly create some sense of privacy have huge holes in them--so your neighbors can hang out with you whether you want that or not.

The rangers who man the place are very young and I don't think they excel at cleaning and keeping guests inline with park rules. They dump trash, check people in, check people out, clean fire pits, change the TP and not much more. Their ranger station is so nice, maybe they would rather just stay in there.

The campground is mostly set back from the beach although the sound of the sea is still heard and that's great if you don't have a noisy loop. The walk to the trail is on a paved road, then the actual walk to the beach is long long long long. Lots of dunes, lots of soft sand and long flat little waves to walk through. You can walk a long the beach for a long time, but once again, weirdos in trucks speed by randomly and this spoils the sense of vastness we came here for.

I would not go back here again, although the folks who had sites right on the beach and in the yurts looked happy.

This is the spot to camp if your heading to westport, wa. The A side, sites 192-299 are the best for summer camping but in the late fall and winter this side can get flooded out and it is often closed. There are trails that lead thru the woods out to the beach and for the less adventurous you can follow a paved road just to the north. There is a winery/restaurant within walking distance that was recently rebuilt. There is a gas station just down the road for the few things you forgot and right beside the gas station is a great help yourself firewood seller with very reasonable prices for the area.

The A side has two bathroom buildings with showers that are coin operated but you have to get coins at the ranger station at the main entrance on B side. Make sure you pick up a few to save a walk. You can also rent cabins or yurts on the A side.

The B side offers better RV access with hookups and a dump site. The tent sites on the B side are slightly more closed in with a cozy woodsy feel.

Bring the bug spray, the mosquitos can get rampant during the wetter times since there is often standing water thru the bogs and marsh nearby.

Down the road is the cute town of westport where you can catch your own fish or buy fresh caught right off the docks. If you missed Brady's oyster farm on the way in you can pick up some at Merinos along with a great selection of seasonal local caught fish.

One of the prettiest lakes in Washington. Can get pretty busy in the summer but mostly empty otherwise. Little to no cell service. lots of options for camping and backroads all around.

Campsite Review: The Coho campground in Olympic National Forest is pretty interesting as it’s just off Lake Wynoochee, formed by the Wynoochee Dam (I don’t think I ever really got the Indian names down quite right). This portion of the National Forest is really cool and feels very secluded as you drive for miles and miles from any real civilization into some wonderful old growth forests. The 46-different pull-through, back-in campsites are all fairly separated and you’re not at all bothered by your neighbors. There are also 10 walk-in tent only sites and a handful of Yurts (which looked interesting). Since you are off quite a way down an old logging road (paved one way, unpaved the the other) you have absolutely no highway noise to deal with and no one is coming and going at all hours of the night. All of the campsites themselves are a decent size with nice flat areas, huge tables, fire ring, etc. We stayed at site 41 in loop B which was open to the road, but we had no one behind us or on either side. When getting your site be careful about the exact size allotment if you’re in a big RV or have a 5th wheel, etc. Felt really bad for the guy trying to back into site 38 beside us. He tried for 30+ minutes pulling around and trying to get a better angle 2-3 times before they found the camp host and to move to site 40 which was empty. While the site might say it’ll fit your vehicle, the roads are narrow and there are random boulders here and there which may impede your maneuvering. The sites which are “on the water” aren’t really on the water, but overlook a pretty steep decline to the lake with the 16-mile lakeshore trail in between. If you’re a boater you’re also not too far from the boat access ramp.

The toilet facilities in Loop B were nice and clean. The facilities right by us seemed to have been properly maintained and no guests had come in and destroyed them. There was hand soap and plenty of paper towels and toilet paper (in case you forget to bring your own).

Amenities: Definitely larger than standard picnic tables, fire rings, plus flush toilets, potable water, & trash cans which were emptied first thing in the morning |Prohibited: pets off-leash

Nearby Hikes: Wynoochee lakeshore trail, which goes by a couple waterfalls & Working Forest Nature trail, which gives you a little insight into the life cycle of the forest

Gear Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt I sometimes get the opportunity to test out products and the highlight of this particular camp site was my testing of the Belmont Blanket #AdventureBlanket The best all-purpose blanket ever!! This is a truly fantastic blanket and completely different from the other “outdoor blankets” which either are supposedly waterproof or keep you warm. This blanket does it all. I felt like this was designed specifically with mastering the outdoors in mind.

• I was really impressed with the size that this rolls up into. Was thinking it wouldn’t be nearly as warm with such a small packed size for a 6’ x 5’ all weather blanket.
• Similarly, this blanket is huge. I’m 6 feet tall and this blanket can cover me from head to toe. So many times with an “outdoor” blanket, I can’t fully stretch out.
• The #AdventureBlanket is really soft on the plush inside, it’s very comfy and has actually become not only our outdoor blanket, but also our couch blanket.
• Can’t attest to the waterproofing in the wild (thankfully haven’t yet had to test out if we’d get ‘wet butt’ or not), but our makeshift water bottle rain test proved the blanket was fully waterproof (not resistant) which is awesome.
• Really like the design with the awesome leather accents. The colors are really sharp and make the blanket pop.
• Probably one of the best features of this blanket is that it’s Handmade in the USA!! How many companies or products can claim that now a day.

I give the Belmont Blanket #AdventureBlanket 5/5 stars and it's my go to "blanket" for any picnic/fest/outdoor activity and I actually got myself a second one!

Our Trip down the coast ended at Pacific Beach Washington, camp or rent a cottage and walk off deck to your own private ocean front spot!! Beautiful sunsets, though the coast can be cold certain times of the year I love the Pacific Ocean!!