Cama Beach State Park Review
Cama Beach State Park is set in a spectacular, 433-acre waterfront location against a forested backdrop. Visit the state parks website for more info here.
Heading to Cama Beach State Park is like stepping back in time. The drive through the country side seems foreign yet like home. It is what I imagine a place like Ireland would be like. Rolling green hills after rolling green hills.
Photo credit Joe Mabel
We decided to stay in a cabin during our stay as it looked to be a pretty wet weekend, and boy did we make the right decision!
Photo Credit Joe Mabel
There are two types of beachfront cabins you can stay in. The Standard and the Delux. The only difference being the Delux has a private bathroom with a toilet, shower and sink. In the Standard you have to high tail it to the nearest bathhouse, which is nearby, don’t you worry your little face. All cabins have 2-3 beds that will house 4-5 people. They have a kitchen sink, fridge, and microwave. Bed linens and cooking items are not included.
Photo Credit Joe Mabel
The thing we really enjoyed about the cabins is that on the shelves you will find games and books that have been left behind for you to use, take, or exchange. There was also a very nice laminated hand out describing the flora and fauna of the area. I think we obsessed over this for quite some time as we are very interested in all the new things to see and were so happy we would actually be able to know what we were looking at.
The one thing we were a bit shocked to find out was that we were unable to drive down to the cabins. You actually have to catch a ride on the shuttle that takes you down to the cabin rows. It was pretty painless. The shuttles are large vans and buses with plenty of room to pile your things into and there are carts at the bottom for you to load up and take to your cabin. The shuttles do not run 24 hours so it is best to time your arrival and departure for when the shuttles are running.
Be sure to check the schedule when you arrive to see the activities going on while you were there. The Juniors were able to build wooden boats during our stay. Most activites are free but do have a suggested donation box to help keep the programs running.
Things To Do:
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Beach combing
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Visit the old boat house and build wooden boats
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Swing on the Swing Set
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play in a Sand box
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walk the Trails
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eat at the Cafe
There is an information desk/park store to buy suveniors at and the have stacks of toys and games to rent out during your stay. The park store does not sell food items, so come prepared in that aspect. But they are well equipped to handle entertainment ideas for your stay.
While in the area be sure to make a stop at Freedom Park. It has to be one of the best playgrounds we’ve seen.
Even though it was rainy the boys…all 3 of them had a blast!
We love visiting other state parks and this one we thoroughly enjoyed!
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Cape Disappointment State Park Camping Review
We spent 2 nights in April camping at Cape Disappointment (Cape D) State Park on the Long Beach Peninsula. Cape D sits at the mouth of the columbia river, the Pacific Ocean kisses its edges and Oregon is a quick 4 mile bridge away.
Cape D is just shy of 2,000 acres. It offers year round camping right beside the Pacific Ocean.
- 137 standard campsite
- 60 full hookup sites
- 18 sites with water and electricity
- 5 primitive campsites
- 14 Yurts
- 3 Cabins
- 1 dump station
- 8 Restrooms
- 14 private Shower rooms
Cape Disappointment State Park Camping Review
There’s two miles of ocean beach to comb, two lighthouses, a beautiful interpretive center located on a stunning 200 foot high cliff, and loads of hiking trails. Visitors enjoy beach combing, crabbing, clamming, salt and fresh water fishing, ship watching, and exploring the area’s natural and cultural history.
We stayed in one of the Yurts and were lulled to sleep each night by the crashing waves of the Pacific.
The Yurts are pretty standard. They have a bunk bed that sleeps 3 and a Futon that pulls out. We had a table, two chairs, and a night stand. They do have electricity, with one outlet, a small heater that just keeps the chill off, a mirror, a hanging light, and some hooks to hang your rain coats….yes, bring your rain coats. They all have a covered porch, a fire pit and a picnic table.
All in all they were nice and cozy. If you sleep hot you’ll be fine but if you tend to get chilly at night be sure to bring an extra blanket or two.
There is a skylight in the Yurts which I thought would be really awesome, and then the sun came through at 5:45am and woke the kids up. So that was a little downfall.
(curtains, rug and string lights not included, it was my attempt at ‘Glamping’)
The restrooms were less then a minute walk away and were cleaned daily. 3 stalls and 1 shower.
If you take a minute or two drive you’ll reach the shower house that has private shower rooms and private restrooms that are also cleaned daily. All restrooms were a little chilly and the water takes a bit to warm up so bring an extra quarter with you when you shower.
The Rangers and Park Aids were all very friendly and so helpful with any and all questions.
Check in is a breeze, even if you arrive after hours. There’s no self check-in envelopes most parks have. All you do is pick up the yellow phone at the contact station and check-in with them. Super easy and painless.
In order to get to the Park you need to go through Illwaco. This is a very small fisherman’s town that they are determined to keep it exactly the same as it’s always been. There is a very small grocery store and pharmacy on the corner as you’re headed to the park if you happen to forget something you absolutely need.
There is also a Park Store right in front of the main park entrance. It wasn’t open when we were there but their hours are listed on their site http://capedisappointmentstore.com/.
The park store offers Camping supplies – Beer & wine – groceries – ice – fire wood – gifts – and more. It has a café offering summer foods including artisan pizza, salads, sandwiches and local seafood. I heard they even deliver to your campsite. Seriously!
DON’T MISS:
- A visit to the 2 light houses
- The Interpretation Center-great place to learn the history and catch an amazing view
- Nearby coastal towns- long Beach and Astoria has many fun events spring/summer
- Nearby State Parks
- Looking at the Jetty-use caution!
If you’re at Cape D you might as well check out the other State Parks nearby.
Visit the Nearby Coastal Towns
Continuing up north along the Long Beach Peninsula you’ll run into Long Beach, a cute little coastal town with a fun strip of shops and seafood joints. You’ll find a few day-use only State Parks such a Loomis Lake and Pacific Pines which offer beach access and picnicking. Then at the very tip of the Peninsula is Leadbetter Point State Park where there’s 7 miles of trails that will take you from the Ocean to the Willapa Bay.
If you head down the Columbia about 25min from Cape D you’ll run into another day-use only park named Fort Columbia that was active for almost 50 years starting back in 1896.
It’s one of the few intact coastal defense sites left with old buildings, bunkers and batteries to explore. There’s 5 miles of trails through mature forest and you can also rent two of the old homes as vacation rentals, both of which will give you a million dollar view!
From Fort Columbia Oregon is just a 10-15min drive across the mouth of the Columbia. It offers some bigger named stores and shopping. Oh by the way….they pump your gas for you in Oregon, AND there is no sales tax!
Cape Disappointment is no disappointment at all. In fact while you’re there i encourage you to find the historic meaning of WHY it is called Cape Disappointment. The park has so many things to offer along with the other day-use parks in the area. Enough to fill a family vacation with wonderful memories.
Be warned though…if there’s a storm passing through be sure to take rain gear, extra sets of dry clothes and shoes, and tarps to rig up if your cooking over the fire pit. Get a hold of me if you need to find a laundry mat to go dry all your stuff in, we know where they are 🙂
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Camano Island, Puget Sound, Port Townsend- The West Side
There is something about the west side of Washington. If you’ve ever talked with us i’m sure you’ve heard it in our voices. You’ve heard us say “There’s something about the other side….we love it there…it feels like home”.
Being 4 hours from the other side we don’t go over often but when we do we find ourselves falling in love each and every time.
View from our Cama Beach cabin
Once a year there is an in-service that all the state Rangers have to attend. They go through and test their physical endurance, their defensive tactics, firearm training and a few other fun tests and countless hours of classroom learning. Each year it’s in Port Townsend and I try to find any excuse to go over there with him. I don’t think i had a good excuse this year, but we went anyways.
Beach combing at Cama Beach State Park
We left a few days early and headed to Camano Island where we had booked a small cabin at Cama Beach State Park. Checking out the other parks in the state is something we all really enjoy. I personally try to seek out the other Ranger houses just to see and snoop.
Across from Camano Island State Park
We reached new territory as we’ve never been to Camano Island.
Arriving to the island we found it sleepy and serene. We were given the keys to our cabin and had to catch a shuttle down to the beach because they don’t allow vehicles down by the water. Here, two rows of cabins sit only feet from the shore line. With a deep breath in we all sighed back into the air with a feeling of gratitude.
Cabins at Cama Beach State Park
It was a beautiful sunny day and we could see the nearby mountains. We walked the beach, checking out the birds, the shells, barnacles, and any other creature we noticed. Breathing in the smell of the sea. We were home again.
Building boats in the old boat house at Cama Beach State Park
True Washington weather crept in over night and it was rainy and windy the next day so we tucked ourselves inside. Building boats in the boathouse, reading, and going for the occasional walk when the weather allowed. By evening we didn’t care what the weather was because Freedom Park has to be one of the coolest playgrounds ever. So with the cold wind and rain we ran around that playground until our hands and faces were numb.
Freedom Park on Camano Island
We had to leave before dawn as we had quite the treck in order to catch the ferry to get Ranger to his training in time. It was early but the view of the Puget sound is breathtaking at dawn, and riding a ferry is always fun no matter what time it is in the morning.
Port Townsend is a place we could see ourselves. It is such a quaint little port town. The atmosphere is something you won’t get anywhere else. It’s oddly familiar and it just is a place that feels good. You’ll know what i’m talking about if you’ve ever been.
We wound our way into Fort Worden, an old 19th century military fort. It’s a historic park with so many old neat buildings and barracks. An old lighthouse. And 2 miles of shoreline.
The Juniors and I had a 6+ hour journey home ahead of us and we’d already been on the road since before daybreak. But we took a little time out and wandered around the light house a bit before hitting the long road home.
Fort Worden Light House
The salt water. The air. The birds. The waves crashing into the rocks. The cliffs. The Puget Sound. The sounds.
We all need to have a place. A place that calls to your soul. A place that lies deep within your heart and that pulls you there, without reason, without judgement. It’s a place where you feel whole and rested and energized. Find that place your soul is pulled to, and go there. As much and as often as you can.
Baby Seal we saw as we were on the Port Townsend Ferry
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For goodness Stakes!
You may have read about our less then ideal camping trips and even more backwoods Camping.
We even have a whole page for camping tips that we are adding to!
Here is just another one you might be able to use.
We use a lot of tarps when camping, mostly to shelter us from the lovely rain of the Pacific Northwest.
If you’re like us then you’ve left a trail tent stakes at every place you’ve ever camped. Great find for the next camper, not such a great find when you go to pitch your tent next.
Naturally Ranger is pretty innovative and solves most problems with a few tools from nature herself.
So if you find yourself with a few less stakes then you had before give these Tent Stakes A Try!
Tent Stakes
Take your handy dandy hatchet, and flip that sucker around so you can beat up and splice the top of a stick. This will prevent your rope from slipping off. You can also sharpen the other end of the stick like a real tent stake so it will dig in to the ground better.
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12 Tips for Camping in the Backwoods
So you want to get away for a bit, get outside of the city, reconnect to nature. I am right there with you. Just don’t leave without reading these 12 tips for camping first.
Normally you would pick the really cool…really crowded park everyone always goes to. But this time, you want to do something different! Forget the fact that the ‘cool’ campgrounds charge upwards $15 a night for a tent site. And an additional fee for extra vehicles, extra tents, etc etc…
Don’t get us wrong, we LOVE state parks and all the people who camp at them and pay those fees. But when we choose to go camping we want to get away from the crowd and in turn we sacrifice amenities like pavement, modern toilets, and dumpsters.
So if you’re brave enough to take it to the backwoods and go camping we’ve come up with a few tips for camping in the great outdoors.
1- Off Roading
You’ll want an ‘off road’ vehicle. This isn’t a requirement but some of the roads leading to the sites get pretty rough and are not for the faint at heart.
2- Find the Campsites
The best place to start looking is http://www.fs.fed.us. Pick your STATE. Then in the left side menu pick RECREATION, then choose CAMPING. Click DISPERSED CAMPING. Here it will bring up a list and map of some of the better known dispersed campsites out there. And shhhhhh….a lot of the sites are fee free! That means free camping! This is by no means an exclusive list. Just about every forest service road we have driven on we have come across some dispersed campsite free for the taking. Sometimes it just takes a little driving.
3-Stay Dry, or un-charred
Whether you live in a rainy area or not…bring tarps! They work great as shelters to keep dry under, or shade to cool off in. Here in the pacific northwest we use them to stay dry obviously.
4- You’re going to want to eat
Bring easy food! Don’t try to get all fancy. Most of the sites only have a ring of rocks for the campfire. No grate, no nothing. If you have a portable stove, by all means BRING IT. But if you don’t, then think about finding a dutch oven and do things like Beef Stew, or Chili. Roasting hotdogs is always a safe way to go. Bring packets of condiments instead of bottles. Go with instant coffee or tea. I did manage to cook pancakes in the dutch oven, so i’m pretty sure anything is possible. But it was lunch time by the time we had breakfast.
5- H2O
Bring it! I have yet to camp at a dispersed site with running water. So make sure you bring enough to drink, wash dishes, wash hands. If you can camp near a fresh body of water that is ideal. Bring along a water filter or a way to purify water if you’re using a local source. But if not grab a couple of the 5gal Culligan containers and fill those bad boys up.
6- TIMBER!
Although not needed…a chainsaw or axe. We’ve come across fallen trees and have moved them out-of-the-way so we could pass. We’ve often thought ‘what if a large tree fell and blocked us in’. Sometimes these roads go weeks without anyone driving on them. The last thing you want to do is be stuck in a primitive campsite for longer than your prepared to do so. A lovely camping weekend turned survival situation, no thank you.
7- Be Bear Safe
If your camping in the backwoods you’re more than likely going to be in bear (or other wild animals) territory. http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/bearsafety.htm has some great tips. I’ll add one: if you are able, put your camp to bed before it gets dark. So cook dinner, eat, and clean up the area before the sunsets. It will make your life easier, i PROMISE!
8- Nature Calls
Everyone has to go at some point. Depending on where you are there may be bathrooms. I use the word bathroom very lightly. It is more like a hole in the ground, with a toilet seat, and four walls and sometimes a roof on top. Not glamorous, but hey, you’re in the backwoods. There’s also sites that have nothing of the sorts. So if you don’t want to invest in a portable toilet then you better bring a shovel and start digging. You should dig at least six inches deep and at least 100 feet from water sources, camp areas, and trails. Then pop a squat and get comfy.
9- Fire in the hole
You’ll want to research the park or forest you’re staying in for regulations on firewood. If you can cut your own. If you can used fallen trees. But there will be no ‘firewood sold here’ stands nearby. So your best bet is to grab some at the closest town or campground to you. You want to make sure the wood is local so you are not bringing nonnative pests into forests where they don’t belong.
10- Lounging around
Some will have picnic tables but for the most part plan on rolling up to a designated spot with only a fire pit. So bring your own chairs or lazyboy otherwise you will be subject to finding logs and rocks as your seating.
11- Sharp Things
Have an assortment of knives. Ranger carries a minimum of 3. I’m not going to tell you the exact number because i find it slightly overkill, but what do i know. He has one just for making tender to start a fire. One for carving. One that’s real sharp that could be used for skinning or gutting a fish.
12- Hey Ranger
Visit a Ranger station (or Forest Service Station) in the area for local maps of the area you wish to go. They should have up to date road closures and info they can give you. Make sure you have any passes you may need to park legally. And above all HAVE FUN!
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*most pictures taken at Icicle Creek-Leavenworth, Wa Forest Service
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Nature calls and it doesn’t care where you are
Real life happens, and when it does its usually not very pretty. But it’s a part of life and sometimes it’s ok to get mad, cry, laugh, or throw your hands up in situations.
Real life happens everyday whether you ask for it or not.
We celebrated our 4th year wedding anniversary!
Normally this isn’t something you usually drag the kids along with, but the kids didn’t have a choice but to tag along. We were going camping!
I found a campsite alongside a beautiful creek, in the mountains, with a swimming hole near by. We were staying for 2 nights and super excited!
12pm:
Arriving at our choice location, we failed to find the swimming hole. But that didn’t matter much because it was 50 degrees and raining. So we threw that plan out, drove on an overgrown forest service road in search of a dispersed campsite. JACK POT!
2pm:
We found a great spot, by a roaring creek, with mountains in the background.
The rain kept coming.
But we just laughed in her face…because we brought along our top shelter building Ranger. Who can also build a pretty mean campfire…despite the fact we forgot matches.
7:30pm:
Ate a warm meal and tucked two tired and crabby kids in bed.
5:30am:
“moooooom, mooooooom. I went pee”. Great honey, thanks for sharing. Oh wait…you didn’t make it out of the sleeping bag. Ya, that’s Life calling.
One Sleeping bag down. Along with the only pair of PJs the kid has.
The rest of the day was a mix of rain and children fighting and crying.
Happy Anniversary to us!
8:30pm:
Settled down with a big fire, hot coco and bedtime story.
Then an argument about hanging the trash up in the tree, and tent to fire proximity, and which bears roam this area.
3:30am:
“moooooom, moooooom. I peed”. Well hello again LIFE!
This was followed by a scramble to get the wet clothes and sleeping bag out of the tent as to not attract unwanted visitors. A wake up call for the other child to go pee so we don’t have yet ANOTHER accident. Accompanied by cries and ‘i don’t wanna’s’ because it’s too dark and scary outside of our paper-thin tent. And yes, 40s and still raining.
Two sleeping bags down. Along with the other childs Pjs. *side note* our kids have been night-time trained for YEARS! I blame it on the late night hot coco and the rushing creek right next to us.
So now two smelly kids pile under the one blanket Ranger and i share. Luckily body heat kicks in so we all stay nice and toasty.
6:30am:
“moooooom, moooooooom”….What now LIFE?!?!? Go away i’m sleeping. “I gotta poop”.
Now this particular area we were camping in isn’t equipped with any sort of toilet and is miles to the next toilet. So rubbing our eyes and cursing the whole way coach the child how to do his business squatting. Needless to say, we lost another pair of underwear in that particular situation.
9am:
We were on the road home. And I’ve been doing laundry ever since.
Life is messy, literally, it’s stained with tears, blood and, urine. Even in the most beautiful of places life is messy and hard. Take life lessons from each smelly and unpleasant situation you wind up in. From here on out I am now bringing extra pairs of underwear for the boys and at least one extra bottle of wine the next time we go camping.
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Back in the BackWoods
Camping in the US Forest Service area is a whole different ball game then going into some nice laid out, running water, real toilets, garbage service, populated campgrounds.
We armed ourselves with a tent, two sleeping bags, a rifle, and a couple cans of spam.
We should’ve known what we were getting into when ducked off the paved road and continued forward down the road marked “Primitive Road: No warning Signs”. Only 16 miles to our planned destination site, this shouldn’t take too long…
This road is not for the faint of heart. On one side: a sharp drop-off with remnants of burnt trees from past forest fires to break your fall. On the other side: sheer rock cliffs.
There’s nowhere to turn around even if you wanted to, and meeting another car head on would result in some pretty precise reverse maneuvers. The narrow road is unpaved and lined with fallen rocks and burnt trunks. The smell of regurgitated dog food fills the inside of the truck cab due to the bumpy ride and elevation change. One and a half hours later, and a few stops to move the obstacles out of our way we reached as far as we could go.
We were stopped one mile short by a snow-covered road. Apparently 6,300 feet was as far as we were getting. Bummed we couldn’t continue any further we stopped for a brisk snowball fight and an amazing few of North Lake. Stehikin seems even more appealing now that we’ve glanced even further up lake.
Luckily the road widened a bit and after a 7 point turn around, and we were headed the opposite direction again. Winding down through the fire destroyed forest.
We pulled in at 4,300 feet and a brisk 52 degree Fahrenheit and set up camp with an excellent view of the Lake.
With the tent up and a fire started we boiled some water to sit down for a cup of noodles. Sure out here you could have your traditional hot dog and hamburger campground feast, with the baked beans, and potato salad. If you want to share with the bears while you’re snoring away safe inside your nylon tent.
The sun started to set and the wind kicked up. Sure a nice brisk breeze is welcomed while you sit around a campfire and roast marshmallows. But there was nothing nice or brisk about it. It was the bone chilling, blow anything that isn’t buckled down type of wind. Tarps were rigged up to block some wind just in time for the wind to switch directions and come in from the other side. After moving the tent three times, and figuring out we should use the truck as our wind shield since it was much easier to move with the indecisive wind situation we had going on.
Tummies warmed, dirty faces wiped, book read and the fire dying down and we headed off to sleep for the night.
Sleep is a relative term when you know what lurks around in the darkness. The boys slipped into a single sleeping bag and after a few moments of giggles they were oblivious to everything around them.
Ranger and i slipped a little more snugly into our other single sleeping bag and closed our eyes.
It had been so peaceful.
No other people around for miles. No cars buzzing by. It was so quiet. But once night hits the noises come out. The wind howls and roars like the crashing of ocean waves. The trees creak and wine as they bend with each blow of the wind. The tent flaps whip up and down acting as if they will fly away at any moment. And with every slight brushing noise you jerk awake waiting for a’roar’ to follow. Sleep is a relative term.
Morning comes early in nature. The wind dies down. The little squirrels think it’s their duty to sing as the sun rises. Sitting on the tree. Right outside the tent. Cute little constant squeaks. Never ending squeaks. Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.
They aren’t so cute at 5:30am.
But whether your ready or not the sun rises.
A simple “How did you sleep last night?”. Is followed with “Awful. I was too close to you. I couldn’t get away.”
The feeling was mutual as we both laughed. *Must buy at least one additional sleeping bag.
Breakfast and a hike came after coffee. Up there it’s chilly till afternoon hits so find ways to keep moving. And when a little boy comes to you saying “mom i have to poop” you know it’s going to be an interesting next few moments.
Fried Spam and peanut butter were on the menu. Not because it’s what we choose to have, but it’s all we had. If you think it sounds repulsive you are not alone. But when you’re alone, in a forest everything seems to taste a whole lot better.
We didn’t do too bad for our first real backwoods camping trip. We were about half prepared i guess you could say. It was worth it though. We didn’t see a human soul the entire time we were out there and that is what we were wanting.
It was a nice break. We were free.
As we rolled into the Park friday night cars were lined up to camp, fires were blazing, people were screaming, and we longed to be back in the wind changing, bear infested mountain we had just left.
Simply The Wild Side 