Find the best RV camping in the Olympic Peninsula with the advice and experience from travel experts Allie & Danella from Wander Free and Queer.
Olympic Peninsula: Wild & Free
The Olympic Peninsula remains one of the last truly wild places in the United States, a vast expanse of rugged coastline, dense rainforests, and snow-capped mountains largely untouched by corporate sprawl or urban development, making it one of our favorite destinations. We have visited several times and find that the small towns and rural natural landscapes remain steadfast in an ever-evolving world.
Shielded by its remote geography and protected within the bounds of Olympic National Park, the Olympic Peninsula offers a rare glimpse of nature in its raw, unfiltered state. Towering evergreens, roaring rivers, and quiet alpine meadows dominate the landscape, where wildlife still roams freely and human footprints are fleeting. Here, the pace of life is dictated not by skyscrapers or commerce, but by the tides, the seasons, and the rhythms of the natural world. These are some of the reasons why we chose the Olympic Peninsula to be one of our first adventures in our RAM 2500 Promaster van.
RV Camping Spots Olympic Peninsula
When visiting the peninsula in the past, we have dreamed of fitting our home-on-wheels into one of the campsites at Sol Duc Campground, Mora, Kalaloch. We dreamed of riverside dispersed camping spots we have seen on websites, blogs, and across social media platforms, but we haven’t managed to get to any of those due to the size of our fifth-wheel or the type of travel we were doing at the time of our visits.
We took GoGo the Getaway Van and hit the road with a list of campgrounds, site options, and backup plans. We included a few nights with no idea where we would stay to flex our skills for last-minute searching and strategizing, something we can get away with in our van, but never in our 42-foot home-on-wheels.
Here is where we spent our 7 nights as we traversed the peninsula counter-clockwise, starting in the southeastern corner, near Olympia, and making our way around to the Quinault Rainforest in the southwest corner of the giant peninsula.
Travel Itinerary: Spots & Activities
Night One
We stayed at the Tumwater Pilot/Flying J. We have heard about camping at truck stops in the past and thought we would give it a try. The blaring lights and truck noise weren’t ideal, but the immediate hot and fresh coffee at the store inside helped us get up and out quickly to make our way north after our first night in the van.
Night Two & Three
Here is where we let go and allowed ourselves to see where we ended up. We knew it would be hard to find a campsite on Memorial Day weekend. Spots like Dosewallips State Park and Staircase Campground were completely booked up. These are great options for lesser busy times of year and offer amenities if needed. We saw a few options on HipCamp.com and also scouted for sites on FreeCampsites.Net, but nothing felt like the perfect fit.
We knew we were taking the ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island early the following morning and then returning late that same night, so we went to scout out the area where the ferry terminal was. We were pleasantly surprised to see other vans, buses, and small campers parked in a lot nearby. We paid $22 for 24-hour parking and parked our van in the end parking spot, overlooking the bay and ferry terminal. It was a quick, quiet, and quirky spot to stay, and we loved it!
Port Townsend has several of these lots, small side streets, and many more campground options. We were also surprised at how cute the town was with restaurants, shops, and great walkability to some small beaches, historical sites, and even small parks.
Nights Four & Five
Here is where we got savvy in learning how to maneuver Recreation.Gov to book National Park Campsites. You can view on their website available sites, but also what options campgrounds have for first-come-first-serve campsites. We knew we wanted to stay at Sol Duc because we wanted to soak in the hot springs there, but there weren’t any campsites available when we looked ahead of time.
We arrived at the campground early enough to drive around the loops and claim an open site, likely one that was reserved but had a cancellation. We scooped up site 23 in loop C, which was close to the bathhouse, had a flat parking pad, and a private area for us to sit at the picnic table and hang out in. A bonus here is that if you do pay the $18/person for a session at the hot springs nearby, you get access to the showers and bathroom at the Sol Duc Resort as well.
Nights Six & Seven
The next campsite we booked ahead of time on Recreation.Gov. Mora Campground has been our top campground destination since we first visited Olympic National Park about a decade ago. We love the access it has to Rialto Beach, our favorite stop on the peninsula, and the sites are roomy and private.
Mora Campground has flush toilets and some cell phone reception on Verizon service. We got lucky with campsite 55 in loop C, and it was nothing short of perfect. A flat pull-through site with trees and bushes encircling it, creating a ring of privacy. Partially shaded and a short walk to the recently renovated bathhouse make this the best spot we stayed in during this trip. We took the five-minute drive to Rialto Beach several times to watch the sunset, walk along the tide line, and hunt for agates amidst the rocky shore.
Night Eight
Our last night was spent at Kalaloch Campground, which was perfectly positioned directly on the coast. Kalaloch Beach is sandier, offers visitors a great walking beach, the Tree of Life, a lodge with restaurant and gift shop, as well as many paths leading directly from campsites, over the dried driftwood, and down onto the shore.
We grabbed site 6 in loop C ahead of time on Recreation.Gov. We had a private path to the nearby bathhouse and a wide area to spread out in. We sat at the picnic table, made camp meals, and enjoyed the perfect weather while at Kalaloch for our last night. Although there was no cell service for us here, we found ourselves down on the beach again and again with only a five-minute walk from our van door to the driftwood logs. Truly a perfect ending to our Olympic journey.
Our Favorite Place
We both teared up the morning we left Kalaloch Campground. Van camping off-grid in Olympic National Park is an unforgettable experience that blends rugged freedom with stunning natural beauty. We vowed to plan more adventures in the van, including a trip to Crater Lake, the North Cascades, and a return to Olympic National Park for this summer. We love the flexibility and freedom that the van offers us as we explore. We love the ability to go to more remote places, to camp among the rivers and trees, and mountains, to be off-grid and in-tune.
Find more campgrounds in the area with our comprehensive list.
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