Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

How To Nab A Last-Minute Summer Campsite

Benjamin Hollis
/
Flickr licensed by CC http://bit.ly/2r6d3VD
Campsite

For lovers of the outdoors, camping season is in now in full swing. It’s easy to book campground reservations online.  So easy, in fact that many Washington State Parks are booked up.  But don’t despair, there are always last-minute opportunities.

If you’re a planner, you know that you can book reservations at state parks nine months in advance. Holidays and weekends fill up first.  But if you’re itching to be out in the great outdoors, go between now and the end of June before kids are out of school. Typically, you can still nab a weekend reservation.  

Virginia Painter, communications director of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission says another tip is to send someone from your party out earlier in the week -- say on Thursday -- to set up camp before the rest of the group arrives on the weekend.

"There are still mid-week spots and then there are a few parks that keep a supply of first come, first served campsites, and others that are not yet on the reservation system," said Painter.

Rainbow Falls State Park and Camano Island State Park are not on the reservation system. Schafer, Cape Disappointment and Jarrell Cove State Parks all hold some campsites open for last-minute campers. Painter says you could also score a site if someone cancels day-of. Those vacancies don’t show up in the reservation system.  

For more adventurous types, Jessi Loerch, magazine editor at Washington Trails Associationrecommends taking a day hike on Forest Service land.  That is an excellent chance to do some reconnaissance for a camping trip this summer.

 

 
“I think what a lot of people do is they head out hiking, and they see areas along the way and realize, oh, this is a potential spot I could come back to,” she said. 
 
 
 
 
But if you camp on forest service land, don’t expect amenities. They tend to be more primitive, and you need to be self-sufficient. There are other tucked-away campgrounds that give a range of outdoor camping experiences. Some are located on Department of Natural Resources, and other state and national-owned lands.
 
 
Don't have much vacation time? Here's an idea: Pick a campground within an hour or hour-and-a-half of your workplace.  Virginia Painter, who works in Olympia, says her family has done that several times. It's a creative way to maintain your  workaday responsibilities and still maximize time spent sleeping under the stars.