Camping in the Olympic National Forest

Seafair weekend is the best weekend in Seattle. That is, if you have a boat. Unfortunately, Mike and I were unable to find a boat to mooch off someone, so we decided to head out of town for a camping trip with some friends instead. Best to make the most out of our summer!

Mike's friend Brian used to be the neighbor of my college girlfriend Kristen. These two are the reason Mike and I met, and also the friends we headed out of town to camp with for the weekend. For this trip, we brought Caden again. Brian wanted to camp in the Olympic National Forest, so we agreed and packed up the car to follow him on adventure.

We drove across the Tacoma narrow bridge, down US Highway 101 toward Sequim, the Dungeness Valley, Olympic National Park, Port Angeles and the Hood Canal. Don't worry - we managed to cover it ALL to tell you about here!

You can drive down Highway 101 or you can take the Edmonds-Kingston or Seattle-Bainbridge Ferry to Kitsap county. All these routes will get you to the same area! Driving adds 60 miles to the trip if you're coming from Seattle, but the ferry has looong waits in the summer, so pick your poison!

A popular spot in this area is the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and the 5.5-mile Dungeness Spit. We stopped in this area at a campground, which I think was the Sequim Bay State Park, but we didn't like the openness and feel to the campground, so we continued on. Plus, it was cold next to the beach! After driving for at least an hour through the woods and twisty forest roads (seriously, I thought we were going to get lost and die in the woods), we finally came upon the Dungeness Forks Campground. Turns out we took a super big roundabout way to get there, and it's actually easily accessible from Highway 101. Reminder: don't follow boys' idea to trek through the woods and find "a remote spot." Luckily we put the kibosh on that idea, and they agreed to head to an actual campground.

Dungeness Forks Campground is super nice! We found a vacant spot (at 4:30 p.m. on a Saturday) right next to the river! The campground is at the confluence of the Dungeness and Gray Wolf Rivers.

Our spot was so large, it would have fit atleast four tents! And we had a large, awesome tree in the middle to provide some shade.

I loved the proximity of the river and the size of the campground... also because the campground is so small and the sites so large, there is tons of privacy from camping neighbors.

The facilities are less-than-awesome though. Just a one-room bathroom, without a light, and more of a Porta Potty type toilet in the middle. YUCK! The campground only has nine spots, but it's not reservable, so I don't think it gets a lot of traffic! My only big complaint would be the amount of bugs since we were right next to the river. Bring your bug spray! And lots of it!


The next day we headed back and stopped off in the Olympic National Park to head up to Hurricane Ridge- the entrance is just past the heart of Port Angeles. Hurricane Ridge is a huge lookout point in the Olympic National Park - the view is beautiful! The park has tons of hiking, scenery and camping options - just bring cash cause it costs $10 to enter!

After checking out the Olympic National Park, we headed back down Highway 101 to catch the ferry back instead of driving over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Turns out we missed the turn somewhere, so accidentally had to drive ALL the way down Highway 101 to Olympia then back up I-5 to Seattle. We probably added atleast a couple hours plus weekend traffic to our trip, but I was secretly happy we were able to take the drive through the Hood Canal. (Don't tell Mike). The little waterfront towns, seafood shacks and scenery was SO charming! Hoodsport is one of my favorite little places on the Hood Canal... it'd be great to have a summer home in the area. Or at least know someone who does some day! We stopped at a little oyster and seafood shack to check out the goods before making our way back home. (Slowly but surely).

Final Verdict: Probably go back. This area has SO much to offer - and so many campgrounds to explore, I don't feel like we saw the half of it! The hiking in Hood Canal is also abundant. A couple years ago I headed to Lena Lake with a friend, and I'd like to do that again. With so many options and sites, we'd definitely recommend the area. The cooler temps and waterfront options are a welcome change to hot and dry Eastern Washington!