Fairholme Campground — Olympic National Park

A relatively quiet campground. Zero cell service with Verizon and Sprint. There is one outlet in the bathroom, flush toilets and running water.

Love camping in the national parks. Has 3 restrooms with electricity and flowing water. Campsites close together and noises echo. Not a lot of privacy. Fantastic view of the moon at night and stars!! Came on friday around 8:30 pm and less than half campsites available. Arrive as early as possible.

This dense verdant rainforest is dripping with moss, lichen, Goliath trees, flowers, fungus, fauna, cloudy light beams straining to reach the forest floor, trails and oxygen; all adjacent the mysterious Lake Crescent. The easy to access Fairholm Campground Loop Trail is only .7 miles long but routes away from the grounds and is very secluded. The drive around the lake is beautiful with many pullovers for taking pictures and exploring. I encourage you to visit the general store and read the book The Lady of the Lake for a bit of spooky history. Dine at Crescent Lodge for simply amazing food and then hike Marymere Falls (more strenuous) or stay low and explore the natural area. I love this place and it’s vibe so much I think I’d like to be a camp host here someday.

After moving to the PNW, I remember my first drive up to the national park with big plans of seeing all the famous beaches. Instead I came around the corner on the 101 and was treated to the view of the magical Lake Crescent. Right then and there it became my favorite place in the state. I’ve been regularly camping at Fairholme for a few years now and I LOVE this place. Road noise kind of sucks at night because of how close you are to the highway, and GOOD LUCK finding a spot during the summer months as this place doesn’t take reservations and is strictly FCFS, but if you manage to get a trip in during the off season, you won’t be disappointed. The walk in sites down on the lake are totally worth all the trips back and forth to the car carrying gear, and it gets surprisingly empty during the cool season. One visit that I made in October, I practically had the place to myself. This campground is a serious gem.

It was really cool honestly! I went during Memorial Day weekend and got one of the last spots on Saturday morning! It was really packed since it was the holiday weekend but it was very pretty otherwise. The lake being right there is super cool. Walking distance from anywhere on site.

I like the location of the campground which is next to lake crescent. Watching night sky lit with stars above the lake is amazing.

Cannot burn fire due to fire ban.

90 sites, and thurs-Sunday they are claimed by 8am. The lake sites are all walk in down steep hills, the drive in sites are very close together with little to no privacy.

Three bathrooms. No cash needed. Hosts don’t sell wood, it’s a 5 mile drive to a local who sells out of their front yard. Closest store is 13 miles East on mountain road.

Pros: -beautiful lake view and access -free food storage containers, no need for bear canisters -plenty of trees at campsites for hammocking -walk in and drive in sites -choose your own site -proximity to lake keeps the campground cool in the summer months

Cons: -campsites very close to one another -horrible road noise at all hours -lots of bugs (bring bug spray!)

Showed up late (around 9pm) and there were still plenty of good camp sites. We got one right on the water, which is the prettiest lake I've ever seen.

A beautiful campground with campsites right on the water. Well kept. Our spot was a little on the small side but you could walk down to the lake.

We stayed at a beautiful drive-up spot that overlooked the lake. Neighbors seemed closer than if we were in a spot on the interior and away from the water.. but the view is definitely worth it. We will definitely be back!

Bathrooms were well spaced throughout the campground and clean.

A lot of space with a lot of campsites on the shore of Lake Crescent. Great lush launching point for so many ONP adventures.

This is a great campground by Lake Quinault. There are walk in spots right by the lake and you can go down to the dock to catch quiet early mornings and beautiful sunrises.

This was a great campground with lots of spots. We camped in front of the lake which was beautiful and unique. The big drawback for us is that the tent spots close to the water are near the highway and it’s very noisy. There’s a lot of truck traffic and it’s quite loud. I imagine that the spots farther from the water are less noisy but we didn’t try those out.

Clean facilities, well spaced sites, and a stunning lake - all ruined by incessant truck traffic noise.

Fairholme sits above Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. The lake is a clear, deep blue lake. So pretty. The campground sits on the side of a hill, so if you’re in an RV, van, or tent trailer, bring your levelers. The sites for camping are awesome...some are right on the lake. All the other sites are up on the hill, forested, with no views of the lake. All sites are a short walk to the lake though, which was nice. We stayed one night here. We stayed on Thursday and were able to get a spot by arriving at 11:30 am.

I arrived on a Thursday around noon and it was already full. I could see why people might like it because it’s right by the lake. But, while walking/driving around trying to find a site, I could hear the road noise. Also not much privacy for most sites. Very busy campground and I was glad to have found a site at another campground close by. This campground had the feeling of a circus.

This is by far my favorite campsite I’ve been to in WA. Lake Crescent itself is one of the most beautiful places, but the camp spot we landed made it all the better. There’s plenty of RV and car camping spots, but we chose a walk in spot right on the water and WOW!! We had the end spot so we were basically alone, but it was conveniently only 40 yards away from the little store and kayak rental shop that’s outside of the campground. Sites range in size so there’s something for everyone. Would go back over and over!

Such a wonderful camp area, nice and wooded but some spots still right on the lake. Love the lake, great swimming and hiking right there. Fun to go by lodge for dining and could rent kayak and such. Lived in Forks and would camp here all the time.

So, the campground is fine and has a swimming beach. What you want is one of 6-9 walk-in sites on the water. They are amazing. Steep but short walk to the sites. First come first serve.

I stayed here for two nights, and enjoyed some great hikes in the surrounding area, and even popped over to Lake Crescent lodge to watch the sunset on their porch with a cocktail. The campsite was crowded, but rightfully so. It's right on the shores of the Lake, the facilities are clean, and the sites are nice. Not much privacy as the sites are small. There's a nice little convenience store at the entrance to the campground for marshmallows and beer and sunscreen other necessities. Definitely looking forward to comping back.

Camped 2 nights - Thursday and Friday - after Labor Day. The sites are first come, first serve and it was pretty full by 3pm that Thursday (which surprised us). Never the less we snagged a great walk in site, #70, with views of the lake a short scramble down to the lake, and woods on one side. I loved this place - only down side was road noise across the lake at night. Will definitely be back!

We showed up at the campsite around 11am on Sunday. We were afraid of not getting a good spot because it was first come first served, but going early on a Sunday we absolutely no problem finding an amazing spot!! We were able to fit three tents on our campsite. Our neighbors were not too close to us and felt like we had privacy. I truely believe we had the BEST site at the camp ground 72!! Highly recommend!!

Great car camping situation. Able to rent kayaks at the lake. Little convenience shop too!

Really nice. Another beautiful lake. Went paddle boarding. Water was soo clear no wind. Gorgeous Nice sunny spot for our tent.

The campground is right by the lake and offers walk-in sites that are literally on the lake shore. The best site in my opinion is 72, which is not directly on the lake shore but has a great view and good tree coverage. All sites have a fire pit, tent pad, and picnic table. There are very clean bathrooms close to all sites and clean running water. The campsites are very close together and can be next to RVs. Walk-in sites are less likely to be next to RVs.

fairholm campground is very well maintained and hidden in the trees just off of the lake. There are multiple bathrooms but no showers, dock for swimming and a store located on the campground.

We stayed for two nights. On first night (Friday) we didn’t get there until 730pm but there were not too many people and we were still avail to get one with water view. There were many sites right by water open but having a puppy with us we figured to stay little fat from water. It’s $20 a night, and depending on which loop your site is in pay station differs (it’s all right by bathroom) one of the book we have says this place offers shower but we did not see one.

Size of the site was pretty big. There were 4 of us plus dog we had 3 tents (4p and two 2p tent) still had enough room for us to have cooler around etc. first night said lowest was 45 but it definitely felt colder. We had our winter sleeping bag but our friends said it was pretty cold. View of lake was beautiful and you can walk down to boat launch with wasn’t too far from my site (80). Some people had hammock but some sites like ours had trees too far from each other so if you’re thinking about hammock make sure you get a set with decent tree for your needs.

There is not many pet friendly hikes sadly. But there are plenty of short hikes near by for those without. If you go back to where the ranger station is there is hike for waterfall which is pretty easy and towards the end there is stairs but very easy hike.

Sites were busy on Saturday there were definitely more cars and people. Even there is quiet hours some people got loud pass midnight which woke me up. Please be considerate of others! (Sites were close to see each other but can’t hear conversations or anything)

Check out time is 11am. Sunday wasn’t too cold at all didn’t need my jacket in the morning to go use bathroom and we only started fire to cook, actually had few logs left over.

I wish I had my kayak or something. Water is definitely cold to swim but would love to be out there. View of stars by the boat launch at night was beautiful as well.

I think it was pretty quiet and not too clamped considering it’s only the second weekend after they open for the season. Would love to go back there in the summer hopefully there isn’t too many people lol

This campground is one of my favorites even though it is pretty hard to score a spot. The upper area seems to have a lot more RV’s. It has amazing walk in spots right on the lake. It is a truly beautiful lake. I kept my kayak at the spot and just carried it down to a launch spot. There is a small market out on the main road. The facilities were basic but well kept. Super forested camp ground so privacy was pretty good.

This site has some fantastic well put together trails. They are well marked, well defined, and the area is spectacular with lots of vibrant green and brown colors from the moss, grass, and trees. This particular hike that I did here called the Marymere Falls was beautiful as the trail opened up right to it. Highly recommend you visit. Watch out for nettles though.