Best Tent Camping near Olympic National Park, WA

Poised on the precipice of the worlds biggest dam removal project, this incredible campground is a front row seat to nature’s pushback. Nestled in the Olympic National Park and surrounded by towering forest this has to be one our favorite parks to date. Dog Friendly, people friendly, and neat as a pin. Very professional and accommodating staff. All manner of sites from tent camping to pull throughs for 45 ft juggernauts.

These sites are situated right next to Lake Crescent. They are open from May to October and have fairly standard amenities that you would find in other primitive sites. There are picnic tables as well as fire rings at every site. There are tent sites as well as RV sites. The entire Olympic National Park area is beautiful! Be sure to give this site a stop if you want to stay in the park.

We stumbled upon this campground by chance and were quite happy to have done so. We came early in the morning and were able to get a tent site (first come first serve $20/night) before setting out to explore the Staircase area of Olympic National Park. The campground hosts were super friendly and gave us great advice on where to go in the area. Our tent site had a fire pit with grill, picnic table, and nice gravel parking pad. The spots here are well dispersed and set back in the woods for the most part so they felt very secluded and peaceful. We didn't spend a ton of time around the campground and this was just a one night exploration base but overall it was clean, offered good basic amenities and was very quiet and tranquil.

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!!!

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!

The absolute closest campground you will find in the Hoh Rainforest to the most iconic trails in all the rainforest, the onsite campground is one which truly is a gem in Olympic National Park.

Because of its location prepare for rain!!  I planned a stay here only to find I was basically rained out of my initial site which was slushy and slimy.    On a good day however this campground really shines!!  And when you are preparing if you prepare with an additional tarp you can still comfortably sleep here without issue in a tent.   

I did see the advantage of those who were in hard sides however.  They stay could be much more universal than it is in a tent as there would be no assembly.   Sometimes in this area it can rain for days on end so a tent can pose an issue within those circumstances even with a tarp shelter.    

Personally I would recommend checking the weather for the slightly less rainy season if tent camping based on my own personal experience.    

Overall the facilities were clean and nice and offered standard amenities.   However the restrooms seemed to be heated a bit which was very nice.

My favorite part of this campground however was the proximity to the trails.   At any time you could venture a couple hundred yards and be in the middle of something spectacular.   Green isn't even the color, it is beyond that it is electric.   

You also have a very high chance of an elk sighting in this area is you are quiet, which is beyond words if you enjoy photography.   Just take heed from the visitor center on proper safety measures however.

Tent camping

Lost Resort Campground is near the end of the road at Lake Ozette in Olympic National Park - super close to the official ONP Ozette Campground. While the Ozette campground is great because its directly on the lake, the Lost Resort campground is great because it doesn't turn anyone away.

There are some great, quiet and wooded sites at Lost Resort. There are also several very open areas where they can put campers who turn up when everything else in the neighborhood is full (ie. the NP campground and backcountry are the only other options here)

Lost Resort has a little camp store that's open into the early evening most days and serves full meals as well as coffees, espressos and has a pretty well stocked shop with camping necessities. Firewood is available for sale on an honor system even if the store is closed.

The campground is a horshoe/U shape up a hill with some private cabins that can be reserved. Sites are not numbered. Be sure to check that your site has a flat spot for your tent footprint if you're tent camping.

All sites have fire pits and tables and the ones on the far side are more wooded and dark if you like to sleep early or are hammock camping. Ozette was the only place we encountered mosquitos camping in ONP. (The store sells bug spray too).

The store also has wifi which reaches the closer parts of the campground. There isn't much of a signal anywhere in the upper NW peninsula, so this is a nice chance to connect if you need to research where you're hoping to sleep the next night!

There are 3 toilet options: One in the store open during hours, an outdoor full service near the store - open 24 hours, and 2 port a potties on top of the hill closest to the upper campground sites. There are showers available during store hours for a fee- 3$ if you're camp at the site, 6$ if you aren't.

Sites are $25 a night here (5$ more than the NP campground), and they take credit cards!

Tent camping

Tent camping

Tent camping

Spot is great, it’s a little tight for a truck but tent camping would be easy. Reception was pretty good as long as you stay near the asphalt road

I’ve been coming to this state park for as long as I can remember. There’s so many activities to do; clamming, shrimping, hiking, hunting for oysters, and there’s even places to rent kayaks. No shortage of bald eagles here either. Plenty of group tent sites as well as regular RV and tent sites. Each site comes with fire pit, hook ups, and a picnic table. Showers and bathrooms are clean and only costs a quarters for a shower with hot water. Great way to bring the whole family together. Will continue coming to this state park and campground for as long as I can.

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.

We were surprised when we pulled off to find such a nice place to camp. Great tent sites and free hot showers. Would definitely come back!

While it’s quite basic it gave an amazing nature experience. We usually do tent camping, but we opted for platform tents here as we were only staying one night. The tent was much nicer than we expected and had a good amount of space. We enjoyed hiking to the near by rivers. This was a great place to stay!

Most campsites are woven in amongst old growth rainforest trees. Bathrooms are basic, no showers. Water spigots at bathrooms. Tent, rv camping allowed with some sites on the beach bluff overlooking the ocean. $22 for tent camping comes with fire ring and picnic table. There is a general store .5 miles away at the lodge.

We've stayed here a couple times. Love the walk-in tent sites by the lake, they’re a lot quieter than in the upper loops. Convenient to lots of trails, hot springs & the ocean.

This is a nice little campground. Mostly tent sites or really small campers. There are a few larger events sites. Nice trails right from camp. No dump. Flush toilets with running water. No electric.

Our site is one away from from the toilet/ bath house there are 6 combo rooms. There are 3 cabins, 12 full service sites, tent sites some w/ electric. Laundry 1 washer and dryer.