The state of Washington’s southern coastline offers miles of sandy beaches perfect for beachcombing and walking. The northern part of the coast offers a more rugged experience, complete with rain forests that meet the sea. Both areas offer a variety of RV campgrounds that give you easy access to the beaches and all the other activities the areas offer.
The Long Beach Peninsula makes a great destination along Washington’s southern coast. The 28-mile long peninsula offers a variety of recreation including trails to the North Head Lighthouse and the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.
The nearby towns offer restaurants, art galleries and a variety of boutique stores. The Sand Castle RV Park in Long Beach offers RV campers all the amenities. The campgrounds offer full hookups, cable TV and free wireless Internet. The park offers great access to the beach a block away as well as the local boat launch if you want to fish offshore.
Fort Canby State Park offers a variety of hiking trails close to the water and through old-growth forests thick with cedars as you walk down to the beach. You can use the boating ramp at nearby Baker Bay on the Columbia River to launch your boat.
The park offers RV campers plenty of sites, including 83 with electric. Other amenities include a dump station and showers.
For a more rugged camping experience complete with crashing waves and forested mountains that drop down to the coastline, the remote town of La Push makes a great choice. Managed by the Quileute Nation, the campground offers excellent views of a small inlet surrounded by rock pinnacles.
The inlet is perfect for whale watching or surfboarding. You can also explore miles of beach starting right in front of your campsite. The sites include full hookups. Other amenities include sheltered picnic areas, a dump station, restrooms and a convenience store for last-minute camping supplies.
Several locations in Olympic National Park offer great opportunities to hike and explore the rugged coastline and the rain forest that hugs the beaches. South Beach, open in the summer, offers quick access to the beach, and Kalaloch offers sites located on bluffs overlooking the ocean.
Mora Campground offers close access to a variety of trails including the Rialto Beach Trail, 1 1/2-mile hike to explore tide pools. You can learn about the rain forest on the .8 mile Kalaloch Nature Trail that starts at the campground.
All three campgrounds offer running water and vault or flush toilets, but no electricity or dump stations, so you might need a generator.
If you plan to fish, you’ll need to buy a Washington State fishing license, obtained at local sporting goods stores. You’ll also need to buy a National Park Pass if you visit Olympic National Park.
The passes are available at the entrance stations to the Park. The weather changes very in the park, so carry plenty of food, water and layers of clothing on the hikes.
