Seattle/Tacoma KOA - PERMANENTLY CLOSED

As always, KOA park personnel are helpful and welcoming. This KOA appears to always be busy but there were plenty of spaces. We had made our 4-day long reservations a week in advance in mid-April. The site had an asphalt pad and grass, but was narrow. The power post was in good shape along with the water service. The sewer connection was topless but serviceable.

The welcome pamphlet has no rules on it but frequent campers should know the usual courtesies anyway. Our space was a pull through with 30-amps. We have a 35’ fifth-wheel and a Ram 3500 truck with an 8’ bed. The truck and trailer fit nicely. Unfortunately I didn’t park back in my space far enough to leave room for my unhitched truck and had to park with my wheels partially on the grass. We left the park for some activities and received a polite request to either park so we wouldn’t have our tires on the grass or use the overflow parking. Reminder received and corrected.

The location is excellent. Close enough or far enough to Seattle if you need to go there for some reason. I recommend avoiding the city of Seattle for any reason. The city council and mayor are doing their best to destroy this once beautiful and welcoming city.

However, the in park roads are bone jarring. From potholes to bumps the ride into and out of the park tosses you around miserably. They would really benefit from some road work.

We were desperate and ending a long drive through the night. Booked online. Showed up and night guard was nice and went out of his way to make it work for us. Whoever he talked to on the walk-in-talkie was less than awesome and kept barking like we had broken some unwritten KOA rule for wanting a space ... when spaces were clearly available. This KOA is a glorified parking lot in desperate need of some cleaning and updates. Pat was sharp-tongued and rude to another customer and basically called him and liar in front of me. It took 3 trips to the dump station to get it accessed (it was locked which they didn’t prep you for, then they gave us the wrong key, then Annie rolled her eyes and said she didn’t know they changed it when I said it was the wrong key. I had to go to the office 4 times to get someone to to fill the propane tank and are still waiting as I type. Got propane, climbed into my seat, was buckling you and got simultaneously honked at by and RV and told by an aged white man in a yellow KOA shirt that “They’re comin’ in for propane” with a move it gesture.

Also, there’s zero masks or hand sanitizer or any COVID awareness anywhere other than the paper sign on the door that “due to health concerns we are no longer selling individual showers”.

Just don’t to this KOA.

Yes, I hesitated. We have a certain affection for this weird campground. They do try hard. The staff are available, super friendly and eager to be helpful. There is so much here for kids! And the palm trees, what a kick! However our particular site (beware of #15 until they fix it!) had Issues. The grass was torn up (moles?) so it was largely dirt and mud. The neighbor’s septic hole and rock cover (“?!”) (see the pic posted below by Kathy A.! Kathy, am I right? YUCK!) were a few inches from our picnic table! Most frustrating, there was less than zero privacy. All that said, we did have petunias in full bloom to cheer us up! And other nearby sites appeared pristine with gorgeous well-kept grass, trees and flowers, a little bit of space, and a little shade (some with alot!) The major draw, beyond how great a place this is for kids, is that this is one of the very few campgrounds near metro Seattle. That is what we needed and we were grateful for a place to plunk, hot showers, running water, and electricity… Would stay here again, now that I have spied out the sites!  (… Besides, a certain portion of our trailer gear certainly came to us by way of the Amazon distribution center across the street…!)

If you just need a place to sleep, then it will do. Set up, do your thing, and move on. They will squeeze you into any corner left - literally.

But to stay, no way. The place is too muddy, the laundry room and showers are little better than free public sites. If you have to be in Seattle there are not many options. That's how they get away with such dingy offerings. They just want your money: charge a lot for sites, hope you will buy something in the boutique, and they do not spend any of it on basic structure (like fixing broken roads)

The bird sanctuary adjacent is also a bug factory. One person claimed 'this is not camping'. That's right. It's a cheap way to travel. And for some migrant workers, a cheaper way to live. The park is full of old RV's, permanently parked.

The staff is annoyed to deal with customers.

If anyone should be able to set up a new RV park, customers would flock to it! They'd leave this dump in a heart beat!!

As my grandma used to say, 'all dressed up with a dirty neck'. In other words, first clean yourself up. The dress nicely. This place dresses up with cute signs - but underneath its falling apart.

Fix the roads and learn that your customers are your best asset. Be happy to greet them and care for them. That is the secret to a long term business.