Dungeness Recreation Area

Wife and I stayed here in April 2019, during our tour of the Olympic peninsula. We stayed in many places from Sequim to Westport, and had a great time. The Dungeness area was great for bird watching, but I wasn't really a fan of the campground. Nothing wrong with it, just too big and busy for me. 

They do take reservations, I guess it's necessary with 60+ sites, and group camping.  At $26/night for non-Clallam county residents, and a $10 reservation fee, this place is no bargain. One nice thing is they do have running water, which is a rarity in the places I usually go, and coin-operated showers. A nice shower sure does beat the adult bath wipes. Firewood is available here, for $5/bundle of 6 sticks. Looks like one round split in to six pieces. 

For the price, I'd almost recommend staying at a VRBO or AirBNB in the area. 

Pets must be allowed, because there were plenty.

Crowded and kinda expensive, for a fan of dispersed camping

This campground is great for families and people with kids. There are playgrounds near the bathrooms.  The bathrooms have showers, and are clean and accessible. You can take a short walk down to the spit to explore the sandy beaches.  You are a short drive from the Olympic Game Farm, well worth a visit. Check it out online, the kids will love feeding the buffalo and elk. 

great for families

Campground was located a short walk away from bluffs overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca and British Columbia. Beautiful sunset views! If you want to head out onto Dungeness Spit itself, bring cash for the $3 daily entry fee.  

Gorgeous views

Dungeness Recreation Area is known as the portal to the Dungeness Spit, but there is a lot more to discover before you arrive at the National Wildlife Refuge. Picnic on the bluff, watch the shipping lanes and catch a glimpse of Mt. Baker. Providing the starting point of a great adventure, the 216-acre Park offers many amenities. The virtues include a 1-mile long scenic bluff trail with picnic sites, a pocket picnic area, a group picnic area with shelter, and equestrian trails.

There is a 5.5-mile natural sand spit which is the longest in the country, and serves as a peaceful place to go for a walk along the beach. The narrow strip of land juts out from the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula and encloses the beautiful Dungeness Bay.

The Dungeness County Campgrund is clean and the camping spots are private.  There are 66 campsites. No utilities at campsites. The campground is located on a bluff above the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is open all year long. There was a picnic table and fire pit available at each site. Clean bathrooms and pay showers. There is firewood available to purchase from the campground host. (cash only). 




Beautiful Campground and views 

First trip in the RV

We spent two nights here and loved it.  Camp hosts were very nice and so were the rangers.  There were two kids camped out a few sites away that had been fighting with each other.  The ranger was all over it which was nice to see.  Our site was clean and had a great fire pit.  Great trails around here!

Loved it 

Campground is lovely. I loved falling asleep to the sounds of the Strait and waking up to bird songs of all kinds Looks like most sites are fairly spacious and relatively private.  The shared areas are very clean. 

Lovely 

I foolishly took off to the coast during the month of July without a reservation to head to Fairholme or mora campground, thinking I could snag a first come first serve site - wrong. After making it up to lake crescent and finding the place was full, and then spending hours winding all the back to sequim and checking every campground I came across, I was becoming disheartened. It was 7pm on a Thursday night and I was about to just rent a hotel room when I stumbled on this place. Driving into the Rec area I was treated to the ocean bluffs, beautiful open fields with tons of deer grazing and a beautiful windy road into the campground. The full sign wasn’t up yet so I started scanning. There were two sites left in the whole campground so I jumped on one of them for the night. Site 28 I believe. It was small but had dense vegetation/a solid privacy screen. I planned on staying just one night before heading back towards la push, but I totally fell in love! I foolishly didn’t have cash on me as I usually camp at Fairholme and have been spoiled by being able to write in my debit card on the site deposit slip, so I left an IOU with my phone # and site # and the rangers were totally cool about it when they stopped by in the morning to check in with me. I ran into town to grab cash, paid the IOU and ended paying for the rest of the weekend. I got lucky and was able to move over to another FCFS site, #6 when the previous occupants took off and it was a killer spot. The campground was wildly clean, well maintained, quiet and the access down to the Dungeness spit was unbeatable. Plus falling asleep to the sound of the ocean was pretty dreamy. Spent the whole weekend combing the beach for agates and sea glass and had some pretty good finds. All in all, I didn’t mean to end up at this campground, but now I can hardly wait to go back. 

A total gem.

I loved this place. Beautiful spot.

My site was one of the closest to the bluff and in almost full sun (which I liked, because it was chilly). Others as close as my next door neighbor were in full shade with more of a forested feel. The website where you book your sites has excellent photos of each one, so choose according to what you’d prefer. FWIW, unlike the last reviewer, I had no mosquitoes.

In the middle of B loop there’s a great equipped playground next to the bathrooms. Oddly, there were a bunch of older kids there on a field trip who were hanging out the whole day, made for a crowded and awkward experience for campers.

On that note, there is a lot of day use at the campground because of all the scenic overlooks and trails to explore. There is some foot traffic through the campground; secure belongings. The gates are shut at 10 PM sharp, so it’s only campers inside overnight.

Choose wisely

Well-managed campground, very clean, beautiful location with excellent access to the beach and birding and lavender farms and the town of Sequim.  

Wonderful place! 

First night we overnighted with our RV and it was beautiful! Great views at the Bluff. Park ranger was very friendly. 

Beautiful spot

We camp here a few times, the last time in August 2021 during a self-supported bike tour around the Olympic Peninsula. The biker/hiker sites are quite nice, isolated from regular campsites but if sharing with other bikers/hikers you won’t get much privacy and may need to share tables or fire pits. If coming from Seattle you may enjoy riding on Olympic Discovery Trail. The campground has nice restroom with hot shower, which was quite appreciated after a long day on the bike.

Very nice Hiker/biker sites

We stayed for four nights.  Very helpful camp hosts.  Super clean bathrooms.  Showers are coin operated.  Nice hikes along the bluff.