Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [314]
Camping
Many campgrounds here are open only seasonally, and their exact schedules are subject to change. Campgrounds at higher elevations may be snow-covered (and closed) from early November to late June; seasonal campgrounds at lower elevations may open earlier.
There are no showers or laundry facilities inside the park; the Log Cabin Resort, on the north shore of Lake Crescent at the northern edge of the park, has both.
The park has no RV hookups, and many sites can accommodate RVs of only 21 feet or less. Use of the park's RV dump stations costs $3. The Log Cabin Resort offers RV sites with hookups (see below).
NORTH- & EASTSIDE CAMPGROUNDS
The six campgrounds on the northern edge of the park are some of the busiest in the park due to their proximity to U.S. 101.
Deer Park is the easternmost of these campgrounds (to get there, take Deer Park Rd. from U.S. 101 east of Port Angeles); at 5,400 feet, it's also the only high-elevation campground in the park. The winding one-way gravel road to the campground will have you wondering how you're ever going to get back down the mountain. (RVs and trailers are prohibited.) Deer frequent the campground, and hiking trails head out across the ridges and valleys.
Because of its proximity to Hurricane Ridge, Heart O' the Hills is especially popular. It's on Hurricane Ridge Road, 5 miles south of the Olympic National
Park Visitor Center. Several trails start at or near the campground.
Two campgrounds are on Olympic Hot Springs Road, up the Elwha River, which is popular with kayakers and anglers. Elwha is the trailhead for a trail leading up to Hurricane Ridge. Altaire has a boat ramp often used by rafters and kayakers. And, yes, there are hot springs, a 2.5-mile hike away.
The only national park campground on Lake Crescent is Fairholme, at the west end of the lake. This campground is popular with power boaters and can be rather noisy. South of this area, nearby Sol Duc sits amid impressive stands of old-growth trees, adjacent to the Sol Duc Hot Springs (and the resort there). Not surprisingly, it is often crowded.
Finally, you'll find RV sites with full hookups at the Log Cabin Resort, 3183 E. Beach Rd., on the north shore of Lake Crescent (☎ 360/928-3325;
www.logcabinresort.net). Because there are no hookups at any of the national park campgrounds, this is a good choice for those with RVs. Tent campers aren't allowed. The resort accepts credit cards (DISC, MC, V) and is open year-round.
SOUTHEASTSIDE CAMPGROUNDS
Along the Dosewallips River, you'll find the walk-in-only Dosewallips Campground in a forested setting. RVs and trailers are prohibited.
The remote Staircase Campground is inland from the Hood Canal and is a good base for day hikes or as a starting point for a longer backpacking trip. It's up the Skokomish River from Lake Cushman on F.S. 24 and is the trailhead for the Six Ridge, Flapjack Lakes, and Anderson Pass trails.
SOUTH- & SOUTHWESTSIDE CAMPGROUNDS
If you want to say you've camped at the wettest campground in the contiguous U.S., head for Hoh, a busy campground near the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.
Queets is farther off the beaten track and has good hiking and white-water kayaking nearby. This campground is 14 miles up the gravel Queets Road from U.S. 101.
East of Lake Quinault, North Fork and Graves Creek, reached only by an unpaved road that is prone to washouts and not recommended for RVs, provide access to several long-distance hiking trails.
COASTAL CAMPGROUNDS
Along the peninsula's west side are several beach campgrounds. Busy Kalaloch, at the southernmost portion of the park's coastal strip, is the only national park campground that accepts reservations, and only for the period from mid-June through early September (☎ 800/ 365-2267; http://reservations.nps.gov). But being assured of