How to not get kicked off the beach for camping?

May 19, 2009 10:02 PM

Where can I find public access beach camping in Washington State?

I want to go on a weekend trip from Seattle to do some beach camping without driving terribly far, so within the state (or up in B.C. I suppose). I can't seem to find any resources that state where the beaches are public vs. private though. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

posted by pontouf to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

I've camped at Second Beach on the Olympic Peninsula. Check the National Park Service website.
posted by matildaben at 10:06 PM on May 19

I've camped on the beach near Lake Ozette.
posted by hortense at 11:00 PM on May 19

Hm, somewhere I have a book cataloguing free campgrounds in the state, but I can't find it right now. Another book I have suggests the national park's campgrounds near lakes Ozette, Mora, and Kalaloch as car-accessible (and others that you have to hike to, but it sounds like you want a car-accessible beach?)
posted by hattifattener at 11:18 PM on May 19

Penrose Point State Park has car-camping sites that are not on the beach but are just a few hundred feet from it.
posted by mbrubeck at 6:00 AM on May 20

Ditto Second Beach. It's a short hike through the woods to reach it but it's well worth it. Just watch the tide if you go to the little cove at the north end of the beach. If it rolls back in you can be cut off and have to climb the cliff to get out. Not that that ever happened to me, mind you.
posted by scalefree at 7:46 AM on May 20

Not to be a killjoy--Second Beach really is awesome--but the trailhead parking lot is pretty notorious for car prowls. Be sure that you don't leave one single thing in your car if you're going to park there overnight.

(Yeah I know. This is a problem to one degree or another at practically every trailhead.)
posted by sevenless at 9:51 PM on May 20