Scooters, alcohol, bikes, clothes drying racks, outdoor tables. All of these things are against the written rules of the campground. We didn’t see a lot of enforcement, but the written penalty is immediate removal from the site. The hot springs were fun, but pretty crowded, especially for pandemic times. It was like we were camping outside of someone’s health club. Free breakfast, but nothing my kids would eat. Yogurt and hard boiled eggs, a Danish of some sort. Can’t complain about free, but didn’t take advantage of it Day 2

Any place that has free to use canoes gets a pet high score in my book. The sites were on a hillside, but pretty level. There wasn’t much space on the sites themselves so you’re pretty packed it. Communal amenities were nice. Shared kitchen, dishwashing and recreation areas made it so you didn’t need to use your site for much more than essentials. The bugs were NUTS when we went. Can’t fault the sites for that. It was really cool but bring the bug spray and remain vigilant.

Pretty typical for a KOA, from what I’ve experienced. The little store has a TON of stuff, food, RV related, backpacking, souvenirs. It was clean it was well maintained. It was a little jam-packed. It did feel like half the camp arrived and set up camp after 9PM and half were breaking camp and leaving before 7AM. Just makes for a pretty noisy corrosion, but it’s the life of being so close to YNP, I suppose.

Cool campground. There’s a pool and spa. There’s also a lodge with a game room and laundry. Full hookups. Paved loop for kids and bikes. We visited during COVID so a lot of stuff was limited to reservation or closed. It was still nice. Great proximity to town.

Great campground. Close to the beach, nice amenities. Love being able to walk to the beach from the campsite. Good paved loop for kids to ride bikes. All stores are back in but there’s a decent bit of room between stores, especially compared to some PNW coast campgrounds. Showers and bathrooms were decent. No sewer hook up, so you had to use a dump station. Not a huge inconvenience. Overall certainly a place I’d return to. We had a place along the wedge and it appeared to be less windy. That’s totally anecdotal, though.

This place is great if you plan to spend most of your time on the river, or trails, but not so much on at your site.  The lots for most tents/trailers and RVs are pretty close together, not a ton of privacy.

On the plus side the river is beautiful, mostly slow, and shallow, and pretty clear.  BUT BRING A LIFE JACKET, accidents happen all the time on this river and I wouldn't put my kids in with out a life jacket. 

There are some cool yurts, cabins and platforms for tents on the other side of the river and plenty of hiking. Trails go along the water, and up into the woods behind the campground.  As of now it is clear cut once you get over the ridge.  This is sad in one breath, but gorgeous in very next.  There is wildlife in the area so come prepared (black bears, bobcats, coyotes). 

Overall a great place, but like most western Washington campgrounds it's better in good weather by a significant margin.  It may flood in the winter, and when it's rainy it's pretty soggy.

Carnation is a neat small town that the park is at the very edge of.  Plenty of options for groceries and laundry.

I really like this place, but a lot of it depends on which level site you want to spring for. I’ll start with the cons: camp sites are pretty close together. Tents sites are real close RV sites are so close that or picnic table was only 6 ft from the sewer connect for the next site. No grass at the mid level trailer hook ups, either. Also the dock was down (I blame COVID), but I can’t hold it against them. Fire pits at each site. Tons of amenities: Pool and hot tub (also COVIDized) shuffle board basketball court, Kids play structure, mini golf board and boat rentals, a store… The lake is great, though, once you get past the first 6 feet of muck. It’s warm, shallow, but appropriately named. The water tastes soap and has a film, but that’s the “healing” part, right? The premium RV sites are great. Bigger, some grassy areas, at least one even has a hot tub. There are also teepees and cabins. It’s a cool little space.

For what it is, it’s the best it can be. Nice large sites, lots of communal areas like grass areas and river access. Went during COVID so restrooms were closed, but toilet/shower rooms were there. Trees at every site for shade and picnic tables as well. No fire pits, but all of eastern Washington is doing that these days. Nice little lagoon on the river for kids to swim. Boat launch, lots of wind surfers. Of course that means a fair amount of wind, but it’s the Columbia and that’s kind of its thing. Waving Tree winery within walking distance, Maryhill and a few others is you’re up for a drive. Kids loved Stonehenge replica on the way out. Fruit stand walkable, too. Hosts were awesome super cordial. If you want full hookups, space is limited, but there’s a dump station with two spots.

We made the mistake of not being prepared for the ANTS!!! Campground looked pretty cool, so close to the beach, some trails nearby. Room for kids to ride bikes… but we picked up about a gazillion ants. It was pretty much a sheet of them. After trying to get rid of them we came in to find ants on top of ants having a party. We had camped all over the west and this was the fort tome we picked up an ant in our trailer. It was unbearable and we had to leave, ended up giving the trailer away in LA because it was going to cost more to tow it home and bomb it than it was worth (it was a pretty cheap trailer). We learns that comet around all points of contact with the ground keeps them down. I don’t know how tent campers deal with it, I sure hope they have a trick, too.

Mostly I stay at state parks when I camp, but there isn’t much of that around Jackson Hole. This place was great. We stayed in the RV area and it was as much as could be expected. Pull through sites, fire pits, enough space between sites to give you some privacy. The bathrooms and showers were top notch. Close enough to day trip around Jackson. Fun enough to stick around. Awesome tiny house style cabins. We didn’t stay in those but poked around and would totally stay there next time. They looked awesome.

Pretty cool lake. We went during a crazy drought so the lake was SUPER low, but folks were still catching fish. The sites are good, got some pull throughs. Pretty good for kids to ride bikes around. Otherwise pretty typical, on the high end.

This place is pretty cool. It’s close to Yakima and great for a place to visit while you’re in “The Palm Springs of Washington”.

Sites are decent, not crazy packed in, but not a ton or privacy. Fire pits, decent sites. Toilets and whatnot. The best part is the proximity to the other cool stuff around the area and great day hikes and activities.

Super easy walk in. It’s almost all boardwalk on the way in. The camp sites are rustic, and its beach camping on the Washington coast, so weather is unpredictable. Bring your rain fly.

I first went on this hike when I was in my early teens. Been back several times since. It’s a really great area with a reasonable hike-in. The lake is ice cold, which is nice if you’re just finished a hot hike in. There are some areas sort of cleared for camping, that have clearly been used before. You can hike on from Dorothy to another lake further up the trail (Bear Lake if memory serves me). There’s a a rustic open toilet in the bushes, but there’s no privacy. Not news for experienced backpackers, but a shocker if you’re new to it.

It’s a ways from anywhere unless you happen to live in the middle of nowhere. It’s a great place for big groups. Get a few sites together and bring your bikes. Many sites are in full sun which is not awesome, but there are some really cool lakeside sites. It’s cool for tow behind tubing, a little morning fishing, daytime swimming in the swim area. If you need a day trip there’s plenty of hiking and the town of Winthrop is pretty cool even though it’s pretty touristy, once we took a day trip horseback riding, too. It’s awesome, totally relaxing and gorgeous. Be advised that it is like all high altitude areas really hot in the day and reallly cold at night. Bring shorts and sweats.

I’ve loved Gold Basin since I was a kid. It’s a solid middle tier campground. Nothing fancy, but a lot of room. Bring the bikes, bring some sports equipment to play in the open field. Bring a swimsuit. The water is icy cold, but if you go downstream on the far side of the river there’s a clay patch that is there some years and not others depending on myriad factors. Try to get a spot on the river (not that it needed to be said) and you’re in for a sweet camp. Sit at the site supervise the kids through echolocation and it’s all good. I bet you could go fishing, but probably not a lot there for the most part. You could possibly even bring a small tube and find a little run into the slow water area.

This is an amazing campground. You cannot best Moran State Park. It is the perfect mix of seclusion, scenery, activity and town. Hiking, biking, swimming, canoe rentals. We had a spot right on the water with a very shallow area for about 20 yards out. My 2 year old spent the entire weekend wading around the shallows. Visit Mt. Constitution, walk around the lake. So much to do. We didn’t even get around to the boat rental or group swim area. We did make reservations at Rosario resort for dinner one night, too. That was a great bonus. Awesome food and didn’t stick out as campers crashing a resort. Well maintained amenities at the campground. Wildlife all over, only the geese were obnoxious. I cannot say enough good things about this campground. Only bummer is that it is a long trip to get from from anywhere and the ferry is not cheap.

We took the family to Twin Harbors during Westport’s Pirate festival. The festival was fun, the RV campground was not awesome though. First, it’s pretty tightly packed in. Even sitting at your picnic table feels like you’re intruding in your neighbors. Some folks had an RV or trailer and a tent and there was literally zero other space, it was hard to tel where one site ended and the other began. Fire pits are elevated grills at many sites, which I’m not a fan of. Additionally, we had to run to town because the water and power hookups are ridiculously far away from where they sit on anyone’s trailer or RV. And you have to cross a highway to get to the beach. Tents, though: sites looked better, bigger, more divided. Also they’re on the other side of the highway so beach access is easier. We decided that if we do return we’ll dry camp in our little trailer at the tent sites and feel Better about our trip.

It was a weird site. The reservoir was pretty low and I’m not sure if people actually go in it even when it’s high. Great shower and toilet. There was a fish cleaning station. A couple of good pull through spots. There’s a cool trail through a petrified forest that was neat. It was a bit long for the kids (elementary and preschool), and they’re not nearly as impressed by petrified deadfall as we were. We hiked Lower Calf Creek falls from here. The campground at the trailhead was is where we’d try to get in next time. There were a lot of ants, they didn’t get into anything and didn’t bother us much. Probably could though if you’re camping equipment is more tempting or your site is more appealing for them.