For our March Best Campgrounds Series, we asked Laura from Riveted Blog, Kate from The Scenic Route and Kerri aka @asolojourner to share with us their favorite campground with a water view. Be sure to check out their blogs and Instagram accounts!
South Beach Campground
I have three favorite water view campsites in the Pacific Northwest. They are all different, and range from cheap no frills spot on the water, to fancy, more expensive spot on the water, so I’ll tell you about all of them!
South Beach Campground, near Forks, WA on the Olympic Peninsula. This campground is first-come first-served, 10 bucks a night, and it’s perfect. The view is spectacular, and we saw whales and otters right from our campsite. There are no fancy amenities, but it’s great for solar and there’s tons to explore nearby. I’d stay here a week. – Laura, Riveted Blog
Point Hudson Marina & RV Park
Point Hudson Marina & RV Park in Port Townsend, WA. Overall, the campground isn’t anything super special. We’ve never stayed in any of the spots close together or in any of the spots with hookups. We’ve never done laundry here or used the showers. Our favorite spots are the dry camping spots out on the point with a view of the marina AND the bay. We like to watch the marina action from our dinette office during the day, and then relax with a cocktail at the end of the day from our camp chairs on the way with a gorgeous sunset view of Mt. Baker AND the Olympics. It’s a 5 minute walk to town, and town is lovely. $28 for non-hookup site. I’d stay here a week. – Laura, Riveted Blog
Sea Perch RV Resort
Sea Perch RV Resort, Yachats, OR. This is the fancy spot on the water with all the amenities (~$75/night). The waterfront sites each have large, immaculate concrete pads, a picnic table, and no fire rings, but incredible views and direct access to miles of beach. The opportunities nearby for hiking, exploring tide pools, lighthouses, and gorgeous coastal scenery are plenty. I’d stay here 2 days. – Laura, Riveted Blog
Crystal Cove State Park
Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach is one of California’s most scenic state parks. For as little as $35 you can enjoy the view that your neighbors paid $4 million to see from nearby homes. For a campground in such a prime location, it is really refreshing to have large sites where you don’t feel right on top of your fellow campers. The sites have spacious areas at the back of your parking area for eating or relaxing. Best of all the campground is tiered so everyone gets a view of the Pacific Ocean. The sites are on a bluff and a short walk allows you to access an expansive trail system that leads into the hills behind the park. A steep five minute walk will land you down on the beach with miles and miles of pristine coastline to enjoy. A mile or two along the beach is the Crystal Cove Historic District, where you can enjoy breakfast, a sunset cocktail or dinner. With so much going for it you will have to plan months ahead to score a weekend spot, but winter weekdays may be a little easier to get. Half of the sites are dry and the others have electric and water hookups. Prices go up in the summer, up to a maximum of $75 for a hookup site. Not a bad price top pay to live like a millionaire for the weekend. – Kate, The Scenic Route
Orrs Island Campground
I stumbled accidentally upon Orr’s Island Campground when looking for a campground close to Portland, Maine after all the nearby campgrounds were full. The campground was mostly seasonal campers (with extremely well-maintained, lovely sites), so there weren’t a lot of available spots. I lucked out and got the last one, and though it wasn’t a waterfront site, it was beautiful, with full foliage and flowers on three sides, with a feel almost like an English garden. I asked the very friendly and helpful owners to let me know of any cancellations, and sure enough, one of the two waterfront sites they keep open for short-term campers opened up in a couple of week’s time. The campground was such a joy, I chose to bide my time for a week elsewhere and return to take advantage of opening.
Well worth it! The waterfront site was gorgeous. The sun set over the bay each night as I watched boats of all kinds, from tiny lobster trawlers to sailboats to tall ships float by. I was able to dock my kayak down at their private cove to take out whenever I pleased. It was one of the most pleasant and peaceful sites I’ve stayed in. It was also pretty much equidistant to Portland and Rockland and all of the sites (and good eats) in between.
– asolojourner
