Penrose Point State Park Campground, near Lakebay, Washington, is a fantastic spot for families and nature lovers alike. With its tall old-growth trees and spacious sites, you’ll find a peaceful atmosphere perfect for unwinding and enjoying the great outdoors.

This campground offers clean facilities, including well-maintained bathrooms and free hot showers, which campers appreciate after a day of hiking or beachcombing. Many visitors have enjoyed the nearby trails and beach access, with one reviewer noting, “The sites are decently spaced with tall trees and ground cover between.” You can also explore tide pools or take a kayak out on the water, making it a great place for fishing or just soaking in the scenery.

While the campground can get busy, especially with families, the wooded setting provides a sense of privacy. Some campers have mentioned that the beach is a short walk away and is warm enough for swimming, which is a nice perk for those looking to cool off. Whether you’re roasting marshmallows by the fire or hiking along the shoreline, Penrose Point State Park Campground has plenty to offer for a memorable outdoor experience.

Penrose Point State Park Campground

The Dyrt is here to help plan your best camping near Lakebay. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in, as well as sights to see and explore. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Lakebay and user-submitted reviews.

Lakebay

The Best Camping Near Lakebay, Washington

Our family of four tent camped for three nights in this happy go lucky campground. This campground seems to be popular for group camping and is a great place for socializing. Although the grounds were busy, the densely tree-lined sites provided privacy. Campsites are just a short walk from a calm cove of Puget Sound and our family had a great time playing in the water each day. The grounds, including bathrooms, were well maintained and the kids enjoyed taking part in the junior ranger program. Our family camps often, and Penrose stands out as one of our top experiences. 

Happy Go Lucky Campground

This park is on an east-facing peninsula in the south of the sound. Views are rolling wooded hills, with some shorelines to explore. It’s not the most exceptional park in this area if you’re looking for classic PNW experiences, but it is a great camping site if you just want to take your boat out. The campsites are very shady and in dense forests with ok privacy. 


PNW beauty & shorelines

Penrose Point State Park is a great place close to Seattle to go camping in a small or large group. It's tent or camper friendly with plenty of spots for busier seasons.

The park is very kid friendly with a slow road between camp sites where you'll often find kids riding their bikes during the day. Bay lake is a short drive away with open access for boats, SUPs, and order water fun.

The campgrounds are right on Mayo Bay so you have great access to the Sound, and if you're willing to sit in the car for less than 10 minutes you can drive down to Lakebay Marina and Resort where you can see plenty of clams, crabs, and more plus enjoy some Fish and Chips on the dock.

Don't forget to stop by the shell station on Key Peninsula Highway. They have fire wood, snacks, drinks, and any other last minute needs you might have.

The camp site is also dog friendly. All in all a great place for everyone!

Close to the water, surrounded in trees. 

The campsites are about average but the water view is great. For an hours drive (or ferry ride!) From the city, it is so worth it.

So beautiful!

Well placed sites offering both privacy and openness depending on how you set up.  Great mature plantings, well paved, trails to hike, beach a hike away, bathrooms a little dated but fully functional.  

Terrific campground!

Pros: group camp is very close to beach front area, GREAT CLAMMING AND OYSTERING! (makes for great eating), big pavilion, private bathroom, lots of camping spaces that are spread out so still privacy from your group, good sized fire pit with benches around it, lots of picnic tables
Cons: on weekends durIng clamming season the beach front area is packed, not a ton of activities close by

Group Camp

Perfect for solo camping, couples and families.  Well laid out, not too big but big on ambiance with decent sites.  We loved our four night stay here.  Tip- pick up fresh eggs and firewood at My Mother's Garden on the road before checking in!

Just terrific!

We had a great time. Restrooms were clean, the sites were clean when we got there. Over all we had a great time. 

Great time 

Went here for a few days and loved it. It's, it's own little piece of heaven. It's quiet and serene. The water of the sound is quite warm here as well.

Beautiful and quiet

Sites and restrooms were clean. We had a great time exploring the beaches. Sites were reasonably private and quiet at night (except for a brief invasion of 6 raccoons at our site one night!)

Beautiful campground

Spent a weekend here in October. Campground is wooded and quiet, spots are nice and private.  Penrose Point Park nearby has a great beach and a fun interpretive trail to do with kids.  Facilities were clean.

Quiet, great little beach close by

The campground was full with lots of families with young kids (guilty as charged) but the sites felt relatively private and the whole park is heavily wooded.  Bathrooms are clean!  Caution: the showers are not near the entrance. There is firewood for sale, lots and lots of shade. The beach is a medium-length walk and very warm and swimmable for NW standards. Our site was near the entrance so traffic was heavy at times. Next trip we’ll stay farther in. Cell service can be spotty but who cares?  Crack a beer, kick some wood in the fire, and chill. 

Lovely but busy

Penrose State Park has some of the best shoreline access in the Puget Sound area with good trails inland as well as great coastal access during low tide around the entire Penrose State Park point.

  

Bring a kayak to tour the bay and the Puget Sound or a fishing rod to fish for Searun Cutthroat or Salmon off the point.

  

Its busy like most State Parks, but, you will find the WA State Park system to be maintained well.

Campground with Great Hiking along Shoreline at Low Tide

People don't come here to camp, they come here to party and there is a big difference. Loud partying all night long! While there is nothing wrong with partying, this should be designated as party central not as campground. There are no camp hosts or park rangers  so when someone violent starts harassing you, there is nobody to help. While you might have a good luck on your visit here and all the campers are decent people, it doesn't change the fact that since there is nobody to enforce the rules or keep you safe you are at the mercy of good luck. Bathrooms are not well maintained either. No warm water for shower, no place to wash dishes. Drug addicts come at night to use restroom and showers and while lots of spots are far from showers, mine was right there and nobody around me so it feels really scary when one of them tried to look into my tent to see if I am there. They come here because they know there is no camp host or rangers or anyone watching over the campground. 

Not a safe campground

Tall old growth forest. The camp spots are all over a hill and valley. Nice water spots and hiking. 

Beautiful 

This was our first time at Penrose Point State Park.  We are so fortunate to have so many State parks along the beaches of the Sound.  Penrose Point is located across Carr Inlet from Gig Harbor and Fox Island. There are trails and beaches to explore. Lovely large campsites. No hookups available but isn't dry camping just taking us back to the purity of camping?  There are showers and flush toilets.  Nearby Joemma Beach State Park offers even more to explore with a wonderful dock for fishing,  crabbing,  loading your boat,  or just watching the sea life in the waters below. 

A Gem of a State Park on Puget Sound

We really loved the forest setting of this park. There are great hammock trees at nearly every site. Overall, it's beautiful.  The bathrooms were just ok.  There's only 1 shower per bathroom, and you have to pay to make it work. One night, the meter in the men's shower was broken, so I had to take a cold shower.  Also, it's tokens, not quarters.  The hiking trails views onto the sound are nice as well.  I'm not sure if it was just our weekend, but the campground was kind of noisy and loud.  Rangers came around to make sure our fire was propane, but they didn't make any trips around to enforce quiet hours.  Still, we liked it and would come back again.

Good, but not perfect

The sites are decently spaced with tall trees and ground cover between, trails for hiking and beach walks are clean and easy to navigate. Theres tide pooling on the sand bar. A small amphitheater was fun for the kids to put on a show. Bathrooms were clean and stocked and the showers were free (no tokens or quarters) and water was hot. The rangers cruised by periodically which seemed to help with quiet hours. About 1 mile away is a small lake for fishing where we caught a bunch of little trout (catch and release) with the kids and kayaked around while ospreys dove. It gets a bit windy in some areas and sprinkled but the old growth trees did a great job of blocking out the rain. Our kids were only one of many groups of roving kids so its a very family friendly setting.

Woodsy paradise

I thought it was quaint.  Only one other camper, which is always nice.  I don’t think I’d camp here peak season due to the potential congestion.  Trails were pleasant as were the shoreside views of the Sound.

Photos of Penrose Point State Park Campground

Real photos from real campers