Penrose Point State Park Campground

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. 

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

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!

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

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

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.