Best Tent Camping near Friday Harbor, WA

We made a last minute decision to stay here, when our ferry from Friday Harbor was delayed by several hours. Very quiet campground, with lots of trees. Bathrooms do have showers as well. And despite details on this site, RV sites do have electric hook up as well. It was absolutely everything that we could have hoped for, for a very good price.

We camped there doing a guided kayak 3 days trip from Friday Harbor in June of 2022. Weather had been iffy the prior few days but we end up being lucky and had close to perfect weather for our short trip. We camped on the north east side of the island, next the marina, to be protected from the heavy wind that was coming from the west that weekend.

This island is just east of San Juan Island and about 3.5 miles from Friday Harbor. It offers two beaches for camping. The north beach has at least 4 mooring buoys for sailing or motor vessels, in addition to nice beach sites. The west beach is better for sea kayak landing or small boat haul up, with about 12 or so sites. Great for sunset or sunrise.

No water or power is available at this island, however the composting toilets are kept clean, and the island is extremely cute. Be forewarned the raccoon situation is serious, they know how to get into your food. All food should be in hard sided containers, or boat hatches. We flipped our boats over on the beach after witnessing 2 big fellas trying to pull at the hatch covers.

Cost: $12 /night

Hello and welcome to my review on Lopez farm cottages and tent camping. My name is Aaron Wakefield. I am a new member to theDyrt community. When I say it is my extreme privilege and honor to give a five star review on this campground, you better believe if there were more stars I would give them. That being said, I hope you all like to read because this is going to be a bit of a lengthy review. I only say that because I’ve been known to have the gift of gab.

I have already done a short video on the specific area that I am camping at within this campground. I hope you will like it and that it will provide some information for any of you that should come up this way and decide to camp here.

I am camping at tent site 11. This is one of their drive in sites that will accommodate your vehicle next to your campsite. There are three of these sites in my area. They are very clean, they’re organized and plenty spacious for your tent camping needs.

I have met two people here and spoken to three that work and run this campground. This morning I met John the owner. He is a very kind man. He works very hard at making this place outstanding for his visitors. I have spoken with Cathie his wife and she is also a very kind and hardworking person. Any questions that I have asked have been answered with no details missed or left out. In many instances, I have been given suggestions and resources that will also accommodate my stay here.

Lopez farm cottages and tent camping is exactly that. There are cottages to be rented, nests, which are something between a cottage and a tent. Then you have your tent sites. Some of these sites you can park and walk in, others you can backpack in while even others like mine you can drive to your site with your vehicle and have your vehicle right there. I don’t know, but this is quite a great selection in the area of camping and just getting out. I have also met Triana. This wonderful lady has the task of keeping the bathroom and the general area of all these campsites cleaned up and ready for their next guests. Again, I have created a short video that shows this campsite two others and the building that they share. This building I am informed is only two years old. So John is doing a lot to accommodate his guests. It’s more than I have seen in any place for just camping.

Thanks for being patient and reading this very wordy review. I hope in someway you found it informative and that it will provide some information to you should you decide to come and stay here on your next visit in the Pacific Northwest.

Just remember, if you come to Lopez Island, make your stay here a wonderful one by visiting Lopez farm cottages and tent camping on Lopez Island of the San Juan Islands in Washington state.

Aaron Wakefield theDyrt -

There are 2 areas an RV section and a tent camping area, I drove through the RV area and it seems nice enough but there is no separation.

The tent section is really nice and while it does lack as much separation between sites the sites are very spacious, lots of room for bigger tents and most sites have enough trees that hammock camping shouldn’t be a problem. Several of the tent sites are on a bluff and you can hear the ocean all night, great white noise.

DOWN SIDE: it rained pretty hard my second day here and half my camp site was flooded! If I’d have put up a tent it would have been right where the water was pooling. Not all the sites had this problem, but the ones along the bluff seemed pretty wet.

ALSO - RACCOONS!!!! Lots of them and they will come right into your site and climb up on the table looking for stuff.

There are several ways to access a beach and tide pools during low tide!

To top it off there are flush toilets and showers!!!

Stayed for two nights at a tent site. It was lumpy and very unkept. It really needed some basic clean up landscaping. For the $100+ each night - I was hoping for something a lot nicer. Only almost filled portable toilets near the tents. Trash cans were overflowing.

The focus is more on the lodge, cabins, yurts, and rv sites. Those looked pretty nice.

We were told that because of a Jazz festival - the cost included admission and so higher - Surprise - it was free! and awful! Would have left but there are very few tenting campgrounds on the island.

Won't go there again - even at the other accommodations.

Really disappointed.

If you're looking for a serene woodsy place to tent camp this is it! There are RV/trailer sites which are what you would expect - all in a line with no privacy between them. The tent sites all have moderate to high privacy, especially the perimeter sites. If you're in the middle of the loop then unfortunately you have people 360 degrees around you but still not terrible. I noticed that all the sites have fire pits with grills except for #2 for some reason. I would also avoid #2 and #3 as they are literally directly next to the bathrooms and there is a bright metal halide light outside the bathroom. The pull-through sites generally are more secluded and offer more natural buffers than the back-in sites do.

Within walking distance of the tent sites are large grassy fields with plenty of room for activities and games and there are several miles of easy walking trails that parallel the shore line with beautiful vistas overlooking Port Townsend Bay. One of the trails leads down to the shore which has a nice picnic table right on the shore. An added bonus for history buffs are the placards on one of the walking trails that tells the history of the park when it was an active Army base in the late 1800's. The trails are all wide and well-maintained as well as heavily shaded which is nice in the hot summer. Only of a few of the lesser used trails were quite narrow (shoulder width wide).

All in all my wife, daughter and I fell in love with this park and will definitely be reserving #1 again!

Tent camping

Tent camping

Tent camping

Living just north of Seattle, Deception Pass State Park was a great stay for us in WA! We enjoyed a quick one night tent stay at one of the parks tent sites. The campground was equipped with nice restroom and shower facilities, as well as a trail and nearby store/restaurant walkable from the tent site! We look forward to returning again soon for a longer stay and to explore more of the area!

I was tent camping, ao it was a little anoying to pay for the showers, but at least they had some!

Its a nice campground at the bay. Great place to explore part of the peninsula.

Very clean, rangers were nice. Very crowded camp ground, but it was peak season so makes sense. Large enough sites for big rigs and some smaller tent sites.

We have tent camped and most recently taken our travel trailer to this park. It my fav! Wake up early in am take your warm beverage and sit on the logs & listen to the wave come in. Also you can occasionally spot whales from the shore.

Absolutely beautiful sites both near and almost at the beach. Some say that the beachside sites can be windy. We had a beachside RV site without any issues. The tent sites are tucked into the woods.

Jake from the Dyrt here!  Cedar Groves has some great tent sites surrounded by tall dense trees, with tons of wildlife all around you!  Check them out and share some pics from your stay on the Dyrt!

Loved staying here and will be back for certain. Quiet in town and on the unbelievably warm waters of the shallow Birch Bay just across the street. Typically close RV park with tent camping as well. Wonderful manager and camp host. Clean!! Easy to get to as well. Lots of places to walk and bike to. Kayaking? That, too, of course.

This part is in Port Townsend which is a beautiful town. The park  is on the ocean which is great for walking in the sand , it does mean however that the wind can be vicious  in early spring. We were glad we were in a our small RV rather than tent camping. There are beautiful big homes for rent for groups.

RV and tent sites available. No hook-ups but fire pit and picnic table. We camped here 3/23/21 and felt like we had the park to ourselves. A fun little playground for the kiddos and plenty of trails to explore. Hot Tip - make sure to check out the sunset at the bluff area. Amazing views.