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Washington State Campground Report!

This post finds us visiting a few choice campgrounds in Washington State. First up is Rainbow Falls State Park near Chehalis.

Wrapping up my respite in Oregon, I rambled down to the beach to watch my last pacific sunset for some time.

Trail-1 Trail-2 Trail-3

It was well worth it. I couldn’t pick a favorite picture so here are seven.

Beach-1 Beach-2 Beach-3 Beach-4 Beach-5 Beach-6 Beach-7

OK, enough of that.

Rainbow-Falls-Sign

Rainbow has 47 sites plus two horse camps.

19, 32, and 41 are good examples.

Rainbow-Falls-State-Park-Campsite_019 Rainbow-Falls-State-Park-Campsite_032 Rainbow-Falls_041

The falls do not fall far.

Rainbow-Falls

A ranger told me that a flood several years ago leveled the river a tad.

Back at camp it was time to whip up another batch of tacos.

Fred, my new puppy, loves tacos and was very excited.

Tacos-1

Not sure about the cheese dip sticker.

Tacos-2

He also enjoys playing hide and seek in the cilantro.

Tacos-3

Finally dinner was ready and Fred dug in.

Tacos-4 Tacos-5

I decided to mess with him and added a bunch more hot sauce.

Tacos-6

The next eight state parks I visited were all in the southern Puget Sound region.

First up was Potlatch.

Potlatch-Sign

It’s 72 sites are near the west shore of the Hood Canal.

I liked 18 and 20 in the lower loop and 74 in the upper one.

Potlatch-State-Park-Campsite_018 Potlatch-State-Park-Campsite_020 Potlatch-State-Park-Campsite_074

The day use area is right on the water and if you wake up early enough, it offers a nice sunrise view.

Potlatch-Day-Use-Area Potlatch-Sunrise

Twanoh was right around the corner.

Twanoh-Sign

There are 46 sites with a nifty creek running alongside.

Twanoh-Creek

That much green requires a lot of water and mother nature has been most obliging, dumping buckets full almost daily. I looked forward to crossing the Cascade Mountains where the eastern side had been in the 70’s with abundant sunshine. Surely that would last until I got there, right? Hah!

Back to Twanoh.

4, 14, and 30 were nice sites and the shore at low tide was festooned with oysters for the picking.

Twanoh-State-Park-Campsite_004 Twanoh-State-Park-Campsite_014 Twanoh-State-Park-Campsite_030 Twanoh-Oysters

Belfair is the Big Kahuna in these parts.

Belfair-Sign

It’s 167 spots included several full hookup sites right next to the beach, such as 30, 31, and 32.

Belfair_030 Belfair_031 Belfair_032

There are also waterfront sites for the tent crowd. 149 and 150 being good examples.

Belfair_149 Belfair_150

Umbrellas are very popular in the PNW.

At least when I visit.

Next stop was Scenic Beach.

Scenic-Beach-Sign

Of it’s 50 campsites I liked 15 and 34 among others.

Scenic_015 Scenic_034

The beach lived up to it’s name.

Scenic-Beach

Offering spectacular views of the Olympic Mountains.

Scenic-View

I spent the next night at Kitsap State Park.

Kitsap-Sign

The 38 sites are in two distinct loops.

1-18 have full hookups and look like this:

Kitsap_007-011

The rest, such as 19, 31, and 37 offer more privacy.

Kitsap_019 Kitsap_031 Kitsap_037

You will also find four cabins, a play area, (it was fun, Fred loved the slides) and a view of the Olympics.

Kitsap-Cabins Kitsap-Play-Area Kitsap-View

I made a brief stop at little Illahee.

Illahee-Sign

It’s 25 sites contained gems like 6 and 8.

Illahee_006 Illahee_008

Manchester was the site of several structures from the Spanish-American war.

Manchester-Sign

The torpedo warehouse was the largest, and currently serves as an indoor day use area.

Manchester-Torpedo-Warehouse

I used it to take a break from the rain. It’s located next to the beach, which was pretty good planning by the government.

Manchester-Beach

There are 49 sites with about one third offering power and water. I splurged and bought the electricity so I could plug in a small heater. 14, 17, and 18 were my favorites of those sites.

Manchester_014 Manchester_017 Manchester_018

My last stop before crossing over Stevens Pass to the sun and warmth (hah) of central Washington was Penrose Point.

Penrose-Point-Sign

Pretty Penrose Point has 83 campsites. I thought 18, 49, and 63 were good examples.

Penrose-Point_018 Penrose-Point_049 Penrose-Point_063

You will also find a great picnic area with a beach and pier to clam or fish.

Penrose-Point-Picnic-Area Penrose-Point-Beach Penrose-Point-Pier

I bid ado to the cold and damp of Puget Sound and headed over the Tacoma Narrows bridge in search of warmth and sun.

Tacoma-Narrows-Bridge

Driving through Bellevue the prospects looked good.

Civilization

I turned east on Highway 2 and after 170 miles ended up near Leavenworth.

Campsite

Yep, 70 degrees and sunny.

The next day the temperature dropped 40 degrees but at least it didn’t rain.

Snow-1

It snowed.

Look for new reviews/photos of 4 more Washington State Park campgrounds in our next post!

Regards and happy camping, Park Ranger

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