Best Tent Camping near Renton, WA

Wanted to make some headway leaving Mount Rainier towards Seattle and stay somewhere in the middle. Should have camped at Cougar Rock and driven further today. Expensive (30 plus tax) tent camping prices afford you an unlevel pad of weedy haphazardly maintained grass that's actually just the back yard of a house converted into way too many tent sites and two cabins. No fire pit, no picnic bench for my site, not raked after cutting the weeds so grass in EVERYTHING. The best part? The advertised wifi which would add some redeeming quality to the price tag doesn't reach the camping area (even though I could throw a rock to the reception desk from there) AND in the morning you have the blessing of COIN OPERATED showers after already paying for your stay. One single toilet and one single shower at the camp store for all campers.

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. Not worth your money when there are plenty of decently maintained forest service sites around with flat camping pads. I only give it 1 of 5 stars because I found something worth about 30 dollars in the parking lot. Otherwise it's 0/5.

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!

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.

Decent, but the facilities are a bit rundown and there were three tent sites 5 feet from my door. Staff was friendly enough and 20 mins into Seattle.

This campground was alright to stay in. The highway right next to the KOA was very busy and noisy all night long, bring earplugs. The tent sites were a joke. You get a small square in a grid of 16 or so squares. Our 10x10 tent took up more than half of the tent site. The neighbor’s tent was 4 feet from ours, offering little to no privacy. The WiFi barely worked, but the showers were nice. The back showers are private rooms which are really nice, especially when camping with little ones to keep them contained. There’s no water or electric hookups for tent campers in the little squares, I had to fill my jug up from a hose on the side of the main building. To access the WiFi you have to make an account, which was annoying also.

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!

Stayed in the tent sites ONLY area. Lunch green grass with a fire pit. Shared shelter if needed due to weather with 2 grills for use. Great trees to hang the hammock!

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.

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.

We stayed in the tent camping area. RV section looks very nice too. Had a great time, but next visit will select a site in the lower loop, further away from the interstate noise. Lots of trails for walking/biking and a swim area. Access to the upper stretch of the Yakima River. Clean restrooms and varied site size.

This is a large campground with all the of camping options. They have tent sites, platform tents, cabins and RV hookups. This is located on both the Hood Canal and the Dosewallips river. This provides lots of activities like hiking, fishing, clam digging and exploring. There are several camp sites located on the river. The campground is well maintained year round.

The hike and Bike area is not easily located because it is set apart from the other campsites.  Showers are included in the fee and restrooms are clean. Tent site includes a table and fire pit.  Campground is right on the water with a convenience store about a quarter mile away. Seems to be popular with day visitors.

The tent sites are right off the parking lot; I was a bigger fan of the backcountry camping. But the lake is this amazingly clear, turquoise blue. You can see the fallen dead wood sitting at the bottom of the lake. Hiking into the alpine was too beautiful for words. I loved the area, but I didn't like the parking lot proximity

There are several pullout towards the end of the Middle Fork Road that offer access to the river and dispersed tent campsites. These are in National Forest Land NOT in DNR land where dispersed camping has different regulations.

Great views of the river and the mountains above. No facilities and no cell-reception.

Plenty of FHU sites and loads of camping sites. There are 11 cabins and 3 Platform Tents - combined with RV and tent sites - all of which must be reserved online. Restrooms and Outhouses are numerous and dispersed throughout. Pay Showers ($.50 token) are in central Restrooms. Only 1 shower per Restroom. A new large central facility is under construction. Hiking trails and river access are accessible through the campground and Day Use area. RV sites are blacktop and level. Some sites have partial hookups w/o septic. Dump station is on site.

Nice clean, spacious and private sites. Peaceful as well with the only noises being the expected kids playing and normal campground noise. Bathrooms were clean and well maintained. The showers were pay to use, probably our main complaint since for $35 for a tent site usually means it includes free showers at state parks elsewhere. The kids loved the playgrounds and the beach, which had great views of the Hood Canal and the Olympics. AT&T service was good.

Our family of four tent camped for three nights in this happy go lucky campground. This campground seems to be popular for group camping and is a great place for socializing. Although the grounds were busy, the densely tree-lined sites provided privacy. Campsites are just a short walk from a calm cove of Puget Sound and our family had a great time playing in the water each day. The grounds, including bathrooms, were well maintained and the kids enjoyed taking part in the junior ranger program. Our family camps often, and Penrose stands out as one of our top experiences.