July 7-12, 2024
This is a brand new camping destination for me. And now, like so many others, this one is yet another favorite! How can one state, the State of Washington, have so many beautiful campgrounds that also have such gorgeous areas surrounding them. Well, I don’t know. I guess I’m just so very blessed to live here. Come on along! 🙂
Let’s go camping!
Here’s Towhee the Trailer (below) in her campsite at Schafer State Park. You wonder where everyone else is, eh? Well, the campsites here are spaced very generously. It’s really nice here.
But, let’s back up. First off, where am I going? Ok, here’s the map …
Home is just east of Olympia. Jump on highway 8, head out past McCleary and past Elma.
Keep going past Elma. Take the exit to the very small town of Satsop. Turn left onto Old 410 Highway and head through Satsop west-bound, then take a right onto East Satsop Road, and follow that road all the way, winding along with the river, all the way up to Schafer State Park. It’s a gorgeous drive so take your time and enjoy it.
My campsite was easy to find, easy to back into, it was flat. It had electricity and water. And it had trees all around it. In the photo below, you’ll see another campsite off on the left. That was the closest campsite to mine … and no one was in it all week!
This campground is in an area that had obviously been de-forested (probably clear-cut) in the past few years. But it is re-growing nicely. In addition to this area of campsites, there is an older section of Schafer State Park, in amongst huge evergreen trees, but the campsites in that older campground are smaller, closer together, and the roadways are a little rough and narrow. I’m glad I chose the new campground for my first trip here. I really liked it here!
To take the photo below, I walked away from the back of my trailer, past “my” table, and found a very wide opening through the underbrush. I suppose that opening is kept clear so maintenance personnel have access to that in-ground service panel. But where I stood to take the photo (below), was on another blacktop roadway … not a full road, just a single lane blacktop roadway inside the campground. You can see just a tiny corner of that blacktop road in the photo below, right at the bottom of the photo.
So then I turned around 180-degrees and took the photo below. It shows one of a number of service buildings owned and used by state park employees. During the day, a few state park vehicles drove in or out, though I never heard any noise except for the very occasional vehicle. After 5pm, there was no noise at all, all night long.
There were a few other campers that I could see if I stood on the roadway out in front of my truck, but I couldn’t see any other campers from back inside my campsite where my trailer was. There were people near enough if I needed help with anything, but for the most part, it was just me and the trees and the flowers and the birds.
Happy camper! 🙂
As always, I’ll go see stuff and learn stuff and meet the nicest people over the next several days here. Stay tuned. Thanks for coming along with me! 🙂
Yay, camping! 🙂 Pretty flowers.
I loved it here, Ruby. So many flowers! 🙂
Really private campsites! Think what this will be like when the trees grow up again, wow! 🙂
Absolutely, Joe. When the new young trees mature, this campground will be exceptional … and it already is so yes, think what it will be! 🙂
In the fifth photo from the top, there are yellow (sort of) flowers on the right side of the photo. What are they?
What a perfect campsite!
I don’t know. But now I want to know too! June, I’ve looked at my original super large photo and I still can’t tell what those flowers/blossoms are. I’m going to send the LARGE photo to a friend of mine who knows plant things and who might be able to ID this one. I’ll reply back here if I find out. Good eyes. 🙂
I’ve waffled around about buying some kind of RV/tent-trailer for a couple of years now, partly thinking there are probably not a lot of places to go camping that I’d like. But you keep finding wonderful ones! I looked back through this blog and find that you’ve been camping since early 2017. That’s eight years, plus. And every place you go is gorgeous. In one of your blogs you mentioned renting a camper van. I’ve done it! I’ll be heading out in June for eight days. I’m nervous as hell, and really looking forward to it. 🙂 I really appreciate everyone else here (and on LC) who are RVers who have shared their stories and loved RVing. Thank you Ann! 🙂 Wish me luck.
Oh, Emily, that’s wonderful! I wish you all the best! I’ve sent you my email address in case you have questions, but do keep in touch with the rental company … they’ll know your rig better than I do. But if I can help, just say the word. Best of luck, my LC friend. 🙂
What a beautiful campground! I LOVE when the sites are big enough and have some greenery around them. That’s rare here, unless you’re in a rustic campground. I often camp in those just to get some sense of camping in the woods vs camping inches from a big rig and their 18 kids and 5 4 wheelers. If I ever get that far west I’m going to ask you where this campground is again, because no way will I remember. (I should keep a file of your posts!)
Oh my word yes, Dawn, when campsites are big enough and have greenery around them … they are so much nicer. I’ve often wondered if people in the past did NOT want that, and so campgrounds weren’t built with greenery privacy. But I can’t imagine that people didn’t want privacy back then too.
Ok, check out the “BLOG ARCHIVES” page on the right side of every page here. Every camping trip has an asterisk. That’ll get you started. If I ever get back to Michigan, you can bet I’ll be in touch. I’ve thought about keeping a list of yours too, ha! 🙂
That road goes up the east side of the river, to the campground, then the road crosses the river and then comes back south on the west side of the river. At the northern part of the road, there’s another road that leads further north, it goes a long way up into the Olympic Mountains, but it eventually reaches a hiking trail that leads a LONG way up into the Olympic Mountains. I’ve taken that trail all the way up a few times. The forests and lakes and views are stunning. I didn’t know the state had put in another campground across the road from the original one. It looks super. And yes, the trees will grow back and it will be even more beautiful. Did you get to walk along the river? Isn’t there a trail along the north side of the river right there at the campground?
Oh, yes, perfect description of the road here, Steve. Late one afternoon here, I drove up that road, WAY up into the Olympic Mountains. It was so beautiful. I didn’t take photos, just loved the drive, you know how that goes. I remember signs to a trail … bet it was the one you took.
Yes, there is indeed a trail on the north side of the river just past this campground, and yes indeed I walked it. Photos to come. 🙂 Nice comment, thank you.
Looks like a lovely park. I never heard of it. I like the privacy aspect. Looking forward to seeing more of this place.
I hadn’t heard of it either, Fritzi, until I kept looking at it online and wondering about it. Schafer State Park is actually one of the oldest state parks in Washington. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places. The Schafer brothers (and I’d bet their wives!) donated the land to the State Parks Committee in Washington State in 1924. More photos coming. 🙂
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Gosh darn, another beautiful WA State campground we’ve never been to. I think we need to install a digital tracking system on the roof of Ann’s trailer so we know where she’s going so we can follow her. 🙂
Seems like mostly we visit WA State campgrounds that are along the Interstate 5 corridor, or out on the Pacific Ocean coast, or Mount Rainier. But we haven’t paid attention to the smaller campgrounds, or ones that are somewhat off the beaten track. We now have 16 campgrounds that you have been to Ann, since you’ve been producing this blog, that we would love to visit. This year … if we Canadians are allowed into the USA!!! … we will be visiting some of them. Really appreciate all the work you do to produce this blog. Thank you. You’re super. 🙂
Jim
LOL! Good one, Jim. Ok, I’ll keep checking the roof of my trailer for digital tracking devices. 🙂
Four years ago, COVID kept all of us from crossing the Canada/USA border. Today brings us to a different place. My grandparents were Canadian (and Scot and Irish and Welsh). We are family! We are neighbors. We are friends. I just don’t understand the actions of the USA “leaders” (not leaders!).
Thanks for the very kind words, Jim. So nice to have you and Janey be traveling along here. 🙂
Perfect. Another perfect spot. You just keep repeating your behavior!! 🙂
LOL! Yes, I just keep doing the same thing over and over. Thanks you two. I will endeavor to repeat my behavior many times over! 🙂
Sounds like a wonderful place to go and camp!
Sure was, FG. It’s on my list for a return visit.