Graves Creek Campground — Olympic National Park

I liked this place a lot and I'd camp here again. Not everything is as good as it could be, but let's start with the good stuff.

First, the creek is clear and provides a peaceful white noise for falling asleep. I was in campsite #1 which is next to the creek, with easy-ish access. The moss covered trees and giant firs provide plenty of shade, if needed.

The campground was quiet, even though is was almost full. There isn't much distance or privacy between most sites, but the other campers were quiet and respectful.

The picnic table and fire pit were nice and clean, and there was wood in the fire pit! I didn't use it because of the burn ban and also I bring a propane fire pit.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon, and first thing Sunday morning a ranger came and cleaned the bathroom. It wasn't in desperate need, but still a good sign.

Okay, what could be improved. Well, there is only one (One!) pit toilet for all thirty campsites to share. Back in the day there used to be four bathrooms, but those others are locked and boarded up for some reason. So lines formed at the pit toilet.

There is only one bank of garbage cans, and they were almost full, even on Sunday morning after the ranger visited. Maybe they don't do the garbage pickup until later?

And finally, there is no potable water in the campground, so take note and bring extra.

The water in the creek is clear and if you look closely you can see fish in the creek pools. But they are picky fish, and didn't want to be caught. ;)

All told, it was a pleasant place to camp, and I recommend it.

Location: Beautiful. There's forest sites and creek sites with a few sites in between on the inner loop. You can hear the creek at all times and it's very calming. Huge trees everywhere and mountain views. The mist on the mountains at daybreak was gorgeous. We had a water facing site and drank our coffee on the creek. I can see why fishers come to the area, we spotted many large trout in the clear waters of the creek.

Getting there: Mostly flat, not particularly difficult road in dry conditions. However, do not be arrogant about this road. When you see signs that say "Unsuitable for RVs and trailers" they mean it. On day one of our visit, a tree fell in the middle of the road. Though it wasn't particularly big, we couldn't lift it and it still made the road impassible. Later that day, a fellow camper with an axe cleared a small path but the whole three days we were there, no one came to remove it or any of the debris. The road itself doesn't have proper gravel size variation, which forms miles worth of something that feels like rumble strips. On the last day, it rained lightly for a mere five or six hours and the road's otherwise manageable potholes became big ponds and there's also a spot that floods quickly (there's a sign to warn you). It was still fine, I have 4W drive and a high clearance car, but just be warned that conditions can change quickly there.

A word in regards to another poster who said it looked like they were building bathrooms. Quite the opposite, it seems. There had been two different bathroom buildings but they were obviously quite old and were boarded up. No big deal, right? At first I thought so too, but I've kind of changed my mind about it. This campground has way too many sites for there to be one vault toilet. The math just doesn't work out. There are too many people at this campground for that. Any time you need to use it, someone is in there. There was an ACTUAL line at one point. The vault itself was nearly full (puke). It wasn't until we'd set up our site and it was dark that we discovered poopy wipes close to our site. Yes, wipes that don't biodegrade.

Which leads me to another issue...trash. This campground is not pack in, pack out. But the bear proof dumpster was packed in so tightly, it looked like it hadn't been cleared in weeks. Fine, we kept our trash in the car, but it would've been nice to know that the campground is basically not being serviced at all. Why is there a ranger station at Graves Creek at all?

Lastly, our stay was during the fire ban. I can live without a campfire, but it does have its benefits. There were tons of mosquitoes and...other wildlife! In addition to the warnings about bears and cougars, there was a hand written sign warning campers that a bear was in the area and to watch your food. We were very diligent and kept everything locked away in the car (which yes, I know they can still smell). On our first night we had two coyotes sniffing our tent and peeing on the site! They were easy to scare off, but definitely gave us a bit of a scare.

I'll still go back to Graves Creek now that I know what to expect. It's a beautiful place and hopefully next time the fire ban will be lifted.

We enjoyed our stay, got lucky with our spot, ferns all the way aound us and towering trees made a warm day enjoyable. Steps away from the creek feeding into lake Quinault was cold and swift. Enjoyable all together.