Fort Townsend Historical State Park Campground

Really nice campground, particularly for a base camp, or just an easy/quick getaway. I'm slowly overtime trying to visit all of Washington's State Parks, and there are a large number of them in the Port Townsend area. I was able to visit 6, including this one, where I made camp for the night. Got here kind of late so didn't get to explore to much, but did one of the trails down to the beach.

The RV spots looked pretty tight and not great, other's reviews seem to be right on with that. But the upper campground with no hook-ups had a lot of tree cover, the sites are all very large, and most of them offer a good amount of privacy. Clean campground, and clean bathrooms. I would visit again to explore more for sure.

The RV LOOP campsites are literally 15’ wide. As a result, our neighbor’s Tilt Out protruded into our picnic table. Additionally, every few minutes their propane furnace would kick on then vent GUESS WHERE? They list flush toilets, but in the RV area it’s one PIT TOILET. They list Showers, but they were PAD LOCKED which made them difficult to use because the Office Host was never on site. We had booked 3 nights but left after one. We could not cancel our unused nights, so the one night cost us well over $100.00.

We camped here during mid week shoulder season taking our first time RV on a shakedown trip. The park is really nice. Lots of good, medium difficulty hikes, as well as interesting history (old military graveyard, anyone). The sites for RVs out near the old parade grounds are pretty tightly packed. There was no one else here, so it was not a problem for us, but I could imagine it packed with kids, riding bikes around the loop and playing in the fields (good news if you have kids!). The sites in the forest on the hill are much bigger and more secluded, but the road would be tight for any trailer over 20 or so feet. Ours is 25’ and I would not try it back there. Overall the visit was good. It is 5 minutes from Port Townsend with lots of shops, eats, arts and pubs.

I stayed two nights. Did the Botany Hike. Very educational, but not overwhelming.

This nice little campground probably gets overlooked by people heading to Port Townsend or Marrowstone Island, but it’s well worth consideration. There are sites in the woods that are preferable to the more open sites near the day use area, which are very close together. The sites in the wooded loop offer better privacy, although heavy tree cover limits the sunlight if you have solar. Nice beach down the hill. Also not too far from the Port Townsend historic waterfront, which would be a nice bike ride but a long walk. Clean and well maintained. Would definitely go back for a night or two

A fine, perhaps underappreciated park. We hiked and biked the trails and napped like slugs on the beach (a short steep walk). Agree that the tight row of sites near the lawn and entrance station were not very attractive, but in the woods above, sites were pleasant and nicely spaced. Definitely worth a night or two. Just 10 minutes from historic Port Townsend and the Whidbey Island ferry.

We were in the 28-35ish strip of slots and they were narrow, 360 degree exposure and had no fire pits.  The spots up the hill were better, which would be why our spots were the last remaining. I would not come back here if these were the only places available.

Saving graces were:

• having the parking lot next to the lots for our cars to park
• A huge lawn in front of us to play games on
• Water access nearby 
• Restrooms were very clean. (could be because they're the restrooms used for events?)
• Next to their event barn where we were allowed to take our firewood down to and hang out there (thank you rangers!).
• Note: If this was a non-covid weekend, there would have been a wedding right next to our site, no doubt about it. 

All in all we had a nice time, it just wasn't the woodsy experience we desire.

Had a wonderful stay! We were there the last weekend of the season. Will 100% be back when it is open again. We loved hiking around with our kids and roaming the beach exploring!

Not my favorite kind of camping but the sites were clean and very well kept. We only spent the night and headed off early.

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!

The park and campsites are great. No complaints. But between our obnoxious neighbors and the constant drone of what must be the nearby paper mill, make for a less than pleasant stay. Nothinf says camping like being lulled to sleep by heavy machinery. Its not noticeable during the day, but by 1900-2000, it seems like it goes on forever.

I've come to expect state campgrounds to be crowded noisy and generally unpleasant but really enjoyed this one. Our site had woods behind it so there was plenty of space to set up a hammock. There was plenty of space between sites and nice privacy.

If you tried all the other campsites, try this one. It's more suited for rent campers and is a quote state park while the other surrounding parks are busy and can be loud at times. There is a steep trail down to the beach but beware you don't get caught out at high tide or you might get stranded for a few hours.