Ozette Campground — Olympic National Park

Pretty Campground directly at the lake Ozette. We got there in July and there were only 5 other sites occupied, so we had a lot sites to choose from. Took number 2, with a direct path to the lake. Missed a station to do dishes and the restrooms were a bit of a walk away. Overall very idyllic and I recommend to take the 1 hour drive to this lovely campground.

It was surprisingly hard to find information on Ozette Campground before I went. There are a few mentions of it because it is actually within the Olympic National Park (not Forest) but not as much as, say, Hoh or Heart o’ the Hills or the Kalaloch areas.

There are actually 20 sites in this campground so it is not terribly small. The problem is that there is a lot of precipitation in this area year round (you know, what with the rainforest thing) and a lot of the sites are low lying or on slopes that cause them to either flood, or be prone to wash outs. So the campground itself feels a little like the NPS has given up on improving it and is content to just let campers figure it out as they go. That’s all well and good, but I would have been pretty annoyed to drive all the way out here for a first come first served site only to discover that it was not usable. I was not able to find anywhere you can obtain up to date information (even a call to the ranger was not very helpful, as the campground is also off their beaten track and they don’t necessarily know what it looks like on any given day).

$20/night. There is no potable water available in the off season although the campground remains open, so prepare to bring your own. Mosquitoes off the lake are also fierce and undeterred by citronella etc, but back off with the heavy duty DEET.

We had to find a site that wasn't not too swamped. We found one by the road. The bathrooms were clean and warm and near the trailhead to the Ozette triangle hike. Not many sites for peak season.