Requesting advice for first visit to Olympic Peninsula

[wanderlust4evr]

We're planning a trip to Olympic peninsula (and other places) July 2023. Looking to stay about 12 nights +/- on the peninsula. We enjoy hiking, biking, rockhounding, and definitely want to check out tidepooling here. We're pretty active, day adventures every day. We're thinking maybe 4+4+4 nights at 3 locations to have time to settle in and also not be driving all the time.
Any suggestions for places to camp? We like medium-high end places, full hookup is nice but elec+water would be fine for 4 nights. We enjoy quieter atmospheres and nice views like most everyone.
Thank you!

 

[TonyL]

We did the Olympic Peninsula on our first trip back in 2019 and absolutely loved the area. So much so, we will visit it again. We started from Tumwater and drove to a site at Salt water creek near Elwha. I know we had electric and I think water, what we did have was stunning views across to Vancouver Island. We also had deer every afternoon wandering around the campground and sea otters at the waters edge. We visited Hurricane mountain from there and Cape Flattery, the furthest west I believe on the contiguous 48.
We then stayed at South Beach campground near Queets. The only facility was a restroom but the evening views over the Pacific were priceless.
We then stayed at the Quinault beech casino, again, no facilities but a great place to stay all the same.
I know you were after high end campgrounds, and they are there but we would stay at all the locations again. All of them at the time had first come first served sites.
Happy travels.

 

[jackiemac]

We started at the quaint Elwha Dam RV Park for a few nights to go to Hurricane Ridge which was closed for catching mountain goats. Check for closures if you plan to go there.

We hiked part of Lilian Ridge (from Obstruction Point) which was beautiful. Wildflowers, peregrine falcons and marmot.

Some folks recommend the camping at Fort Worden in Port Townsend which looked OK. Also saw the fairgrounds but they didn't look great to us.

We then got a site at Mora in the Olympic National Park Campground. Forks is the town and featured in the Twilight movies. It was lovely. Not sure there were any hook ups though. One thing to consider is that you are in the Rainforest and it is damp. A dehumidifier would have made it a bit more pleasant.

There might have been an RV Park there if I recall correctly. Edit - Riverview RV Park.

Nice beach hikes close by. Lots of rock pools and the tide tables were posted at the visitor's centre.

Forks is a pretty small town so go prepared. It did have a grocery.

Ozette Lake had a nice campground depending on size. We reckoned we could have gotten into a couple of the sites.

We went to these places whilst there:

La Push Beach - 1st Beach
2nd Beach
Rialto Beach
Ruby Beach
Hoh Rainforest
Cape Flattery
Neah Bay
Queets Lodge
Largest Sitka Spruce

We camped next to Tony at South Beach and loved it - great Beach. We saw bioluminescence in the sea one night.

There is another campground close to this one - Kaloha - but it seemed a bit tight in places, although we did use the dump station there.

We also stayed at the Casino but unfortunately had very noisy campers next to us which spoiled our stay. Despite the security guy speaking to them a few times they just ignored him. It was very foggy for the few days we were there at the end of August.

Pics of
Obstruction Point hike
Mora campground
3 of South Beach

 

[wanderlust4evr]

We did the Olympic Peninsula on our first trip back in 2019 and absolutely loved the area. So much so, we will visit it again. We started from Tumwater and drove to a site at Salt water creek near Elwha. I know we had electric and I think water, what we did have was stunning views across to Vancouver Island. We also had deer every afternoon wandering around the campground and sea otters at the waters edge. We visited Hurricane mountain from there and Cape Flattery, the furthest west I believe on the contiguous 48.
We then stayed at South Beach campground near Queets. The only facility was a restroom but the evening views over the Pacific were priceless.
We then stayed at the Quinault beech casino, again, no facilities but a great place to stay all the same.
I know you were after high end campgrounds, and they are there but we would stay at all the locations again. All of them at the time had first come first served sites.
Happy travels.

Got it - thanks for the info! We're not super fussy, we boondock when moving and for a day or 2 here and there, but looking for basecamp/laundry/comfort while we're out exploring. Thanks again!

 

[wanderlust4evr]

We started at the quaint Elwha Dam RV Park for a few nights to go to Hurricane Ridge which was closed for catching mountain goats. Check for closures if you plan to go there.

We hiked part of Lilian Ridge (from Obstruction Point) which was beautiful. Wildflowers, peregrine falcons and marmot.

Some folks recommend the camping at Fort Worden in Port Townsend which looked OK. Also saw the fairgrounds but they didn't look great to us.

We then got a site at Mora in the Olympic National Park Campground. Forks is the town and featured in the Twilight movies. It was lovely. Not sure there were any hook ups though. One thing to consider is that you are in the Rainforest and it is damp. A dehumidifier would have made it a bit more pleasant.

There might have been an RV Park there if I recall correctly. Edit - Riverview RV Park.

Nice beach hikes close by. Lots of rock pools and the tide tables were posted at the visitor's centre.

Forks is a pretty small town so go prepared. It did have a grocery.

Ozette Lake had a nice campground depending on size. We reckoned we could have gotten into a couple of the sites.

We went to these places whilst there:

La Push Beach - 1st Beach
2nd Beach
Rialto Beach
Ruby Beach
Hoh Rainforest
Cape Flattery
Neah Bay
Queets Lodge
Largest Sitka Spruce

We camped next to Tony at South Beach and loved it - great Beach. We saw bioluminescence in the sea one night.

There is another campground close to this one - Kaloha - but it seemed a bit tight in places, although we did use the dump station there.

We also stayed at the Casino but unfortunately had very noisy campers next to us which spoiled our stay. Despite the security guy speaking to them a few times they just ignored him. It was very foggy for the few days we were there at the end of August.

Pics of
Obstruction Point hike
Mora campground
3 of South Beach

Awesome thank you for taking time for the detailed reply and pics - it helps a lot and we appreciate it!

 

[Ray-IN]

i liked to walk around in the small towns, shopped a little, mostly just took a walking tour of the town. Every time I've been there I saw few visitors. That is the only rain forest in the U.S.A. best I remember. My first drive around the loop was in Oct. of 1966, just after I was transferred to Ft. Lewis WA., and before I got orders to RVN Jan 3,67
Actually not much had changed our last trip in 2012, towns were larger. That drive is not a place to hurry, too much to see and do. I like your schedule.

 

[JudyJB]

One of my favorite places is the beach campground at Fort Worden State Park. Good views of ships going by and the fort itself is very historic. It is on the northeast corner of the Peninsula, near the town of Port Townsend, where a lot of ferries leave from. I would also recommend the town of Sequim which is nearby and a big producer of lavender. Also neaby is another state park--Fort Flager, which is a on a nearby peninsula and farther east.

 

[TonyL]

We also stayed at the Casino but unfortunately had very noisy campers next to us which spoiled our stay. Despite the security guy speaking to them a few times they just ignored him. It was very foggy for the few days we were there at the end of August.

Just to clarify, I don't think Jackie was referring to us being the noisy campers, except when we were all drinking together.

 

[TonyL]

If you don't fancy staying at the casino, there's a state park less than a mile up the road. I think it has electric hook up and I know it has a dump station.

 

[JudyJB]

And by the way, Sequim is pronounced "squim." If you say it wrong, you might get corrected!

Also, there is a nice laundromat in Port Townsend. It is just at the southern end of the town on a side street. Very good curbside parking across the street. Also, I enjoyed this laundromat because the owner had posted signs on the machines that did not work. They said things like, "Sorry, taking a break from working today." and "Not feeling well today."