Almost Free Camping in Washington DNR and WDFW Managed Lands

[rvwandering]

A few years ago Washington state decided to start charging a day fee for visiting their state parks. A fee is also required to park at trail heads, at pull offs by fishing holes and even at some overlooks. Needless to say this was not a popular decision but the state needed the money to keep all of these places opened. At first we resisted buying a pass but we  knew that we'd be spending a lot of time in the state this summer so it made sense to get a annual pass. One nice benefit of the pass is free camping in DNR and WDFW campsites.

  The pass is $30.00 if you buy it at a park or $35.00 if you buy it from a vendor. There are 74 campgrounds listed on the DNR website. Some are cabins, yurts, hike-in or boat-in only but most have campsites where vans and RVs are welcome. They have tables, vault toilets, fire rings and are very similar to primitive state parks except that they're free when you have a Discover Pass. A stay of 10 days per 30 days is allowed in a campground.  

  The WDFW sites are more of a boondocking experience without tables and many times without toilets. I haven't found an official link to the WDFW sites that allow camping so it takes a search of each lake to get the information. WDFW

 The information is also available at Campendium if you filter for just DNR and WDFW campgrounds.

  So far we've stayed at three different campgrounds - Mina Falls, Aeneas Lake and Margaret McKenny. We plan on staying in many more as we travel around the state.

 A big thanks to forum member and friend, Nelda, who told me about these campgrounds!

 

[SoulRaven]

Washington is absolutely one of my favorite states for camping, and $30/yr is acceptable to me. That's close enough to free that I still consider it to be free, with just a small donation to help preserve all of the marvelous places.

 

[rvwandering]

Just wanted to bump this thread because I noticed a few new members from the Pacific Northwest. We're camping on the Olympic Peninsula this summer and are finding that the DNR campgrounds are very nice and not as crowded as the National Park campgrounds. There are enough campgrounds that you can go from one to another all summer and only spend $35.00 on camping fees.

 

[mockturtle]

I've just stayed at a couple. One was a WDFW campground and one a DNR. Both were free with my Discovery Pass. There are quite a few of these and I have definitely gotten my fee's worth in just a couple of months. Some of them would be tricky to get a big rig into but most are very accessible and most are very nice.

 

[TrainChaser]

OP: "...the state needed the money to keep all of these places opened."

I think it was more of a case of just wanting the money. There might be places open in the Olympic Peninsula, but they've closed down many of the others. They've gone through them with heavy equipment, downed the trees, removed the tables and toilets, and shoved the firepits off to the side, and installed No Camping signs.

Margaret McKenny is about the only one that appears to be open.