This Olympic National Park Campground along the Washington coastal route is highly coveted, and frequently packed. If you’re lucky enough to get a reservation, or a cancellation (see the Dyrt Alerts), you’ll be treated to some of the best sunsets that the Olympic NP has to offer, if you don’t mind a little traffic noise.
Many of the campsites are tucked away under the spreading canopy of trees and moss, and little sunlight filters in. While others face the ocean and have more expansive views of the sky. We were lucky to grab one of the latter and had plenty of open sky for solar power and satellite internet.
The bathrooms offer clean flush toilets and sinks, but no showers. The sites all have the typical picnic table and fire ring, but pay close attention to size limits within each site on recreation.gov because the sizes vary widely as does the space between sites.
Activities abound in this park of the park, road cycling, nearby hiking in the forest, or miles and miles and miles along the wide sand beach. The shore is quite shallow here so the tidal flats are very wide. Many different beach access areas within a short drive bring you to different types of beaches, some with sea stacks, incredible tide pooling rocks and backcountry trails. Head to the Kalaloch Lodge for a great dinner out, then walk along the beach at sunset.
Many NPS Park Ranger programs meet at these different beach locations. The Hoh Rainforest Visitor’s Center is about an hour and 20 minutes from the Campground. Also be aware of the traffic congestion at any of the visitor centers in Olympic NP, which can have you waiting for several hours to get into the park.
The nearest town with groceries, laundry and restaurants is Forks, about 45 minutes away, but the nearby Kalaloch Lodge served an excellent table, reservations suggested.