Best Campgrounds near Lake Forest Park, WA

I spent a weekend tent camping at Dash Point State Park, and honestly, it was a great time even though I completely failed to plan any meals. Thankfully, civilization is only about 15 minutes away. There’s a grocery store, takeout options, and even coffee if you're feeling soft(I was). 

The campground itself is tucked into a beautiful, forested area with plenty of trees and privacy between sites. Ours had a tent pad, fire ring, and picnic table. Not exactly glamping, but comfortable. It was quiet at night and bathrooms were clean, which is all you can really ask for. 

There were signs posted upon entry saying a Discover Pass is required. I wasn’t sure if that applied to campers too, but I already had one and didn’t want to ruin my weekend trying to interpret Washington State Parks signage. If you don’t have a pass, might be worth looking into before you go; I got mine at a nearby REI. The beach is a short walk from camp, just long enough to make you feel like you earned your sunset view, but not so long that you regret your life choices. It’s more of a rocky, muddy beach than a sandy one, but it’s still great for exploring, skipping rocks, or pretending you're in a moody PNW indie film (yes, I'm talking Twilight). There are also some nice forest trails for an easy hike or post-takeout digestion walk. 

Why only 4 stars? It's tucked into the city so it's busy. You might hear a bit of road noise, depending on your site. But it’s a small price to pay for a low-effort, high-reward camping weekend.

We arrived and the helpful staff was great. Told me about all the fishing spots and that was great. But when we got to the camp ground the lawn was overgrown and the put out also. The playground is fine but I'd say the playground was not sufficient for our kid that is autistic. The paperwork said we would be fined for moving the fire pit, when almost all the other patrons did this, so hopefully no fine there. The grounds are next to a farm, that brings a bad pig poop smell. I don't mind farms, but that is all u smell is poop. Pool wasn't cleaned so it was swim at ur own risk. Finally, the ppl here aren't temporary living, they have permeant campers. Fees for wifi are weird when it's free at the lounge.

It had been 15 years at least since I'd been to Jim Creek. Since then, they've done some nice upgrades. The rv pads are double wide concrete pads about 50 feet long with full hook-ups. All sites include a fire pit, picnic table, and grill with ash bucket and grill cleaning brush. The rv park is close to the recreation office that has a little gift shop with snacks and drinks. This is also where you can rent equipment such as bikes, fishing poles, boats, etc. They also have a movie theater upstairs that operates on Saturday. This building has a 24 hour lounge with free wifi, TV, dvds, books, markers, coloring books, games, and other things for visitors to use. The wifi was only supposed to work inside the building, but I could pick it up in my campsite once or twice during our stay. Verizon cell service is very spotty. When I did pick it up, I only had one bar. There are several hiking trails and you can drive about 5 miles back to Twin Lakes to fish or just take a rented boat out or just enjoy the view. Jim Creek is a Naval Radio station and is for active duty military, retired, DoD, and reserves. There is a gate and you must show id to get in. Because of this and the base police roll through once or twice a day, I felt very safe compared to a state park or even a private campground. We camped Tuesday-Friday and even when it started filling up in Thursday, it was still super quiet at night. Quiet like not even bug sounds. That was wonderful.

Often our first or last trip of the year, due to its proximity to the greater Seattle area.  Most of the folks we meet are from western Washington.  Small sites with little privacy but very well kept for a heavily used park.  That is the waterfront loop, the tent loop is also quite nice and a bit more private but we have not stayed there.  My chief complaint is that there are no restrooms on the waterfront loop, the two closest being fully public and free to use.

Otherwise, if you can score a waterfront site, this campground earns the loyalty of everyone we meet there.

• Potlach has a nice feel to it. The sites are a bit close together, but those that abut my site were empty. There was some road noise, but not much. The sirens, as emergency vehicles went by, were more noticeable.
• Most of my neighbors were one-nighters. Some were multi-day through Wednesday, but only two or three. 
• Most people had dogs. 
• The day use area was nice. There’s a small nature path, a rocky oyster shell-covered beach, and some grassy areas. 
• When I originally looked at the shower, I thought it still took tokens. However, on the token Machine, there’s a sign that says“NO TOKENS REQUIRED. FREE HOT WATER.” Had I read this correctly, I’d have taken more showers. There was only one shower in the campground; the other restrooms were toilets and sinks only (but were ADA facilities).
• The Lucky Dog Casino is less than two miles away. It has a restaurant, a gas station with a convenience store, and slot machines.