Packwood RV Park & Campground

Convieniently located in the center of Packwood but slightly too close to the main road, It's a very big RV park. They have all the amenities a person could ask for, including a game room, small convenience store and laundry facilities. Each site have RV hookups and a barbecue pit and dogs are allowed but must be licenced and on a leash at all times.

It was the autumn of '13. We were younger, still dependent on full hookups in our old then-more-broken-down-than-now Airstream, and were desperate for some small town Washington.

Upon rolling into town, the service on our Jetpack and phones as dry as a Yakima drainage ditch, the park looked inviting. But 15 minutes to Mt. Rainier's southern entrance, a coffee shop and library next door, we used our cunning and charisma to secure WiFi from both establishments, that I could work away the mornings, and toil at the beauty of finding nature in the afternoons all through the National Park and Gifford-Pinchot National Forests.

That it was autumn and rainy, the RV park itself was empty. So the minuscule spots didn't seem quite as tight as when we just drove by a few days ago. The owners were a little strange, as remote mountain folk can be, but very friendly at the same time. One item of note was their apprehension at giving us quarters—to be used in their own washing machines—but no more so than the local grocery store. Quarters, it seems, are a rare delicacy this side of Randle, Washington.

Elk grazed just outside our door by the dozens. Sometimes it was even frightening how close they'd get. Elk are not easily spooked like deer, and tend to attack when provoked. What defines "provoked" is a shady grey.

But we survived for weeks unscathed. Meanwhile, an occasional sunny day would mean you could see the top of Rainier from the park, from just about anywhere in town. The coffee shop made us cupcakes for our youngest son's first birthday. The Blue Spruce bar came complete with craft brews, fried food and football, peppered with some video games and salty locals. Poker was played. The grocery store was adequate, and the proximity to trails through old growth, around pristine lakes, and into the mountains was sublime.

We'd stay again, but only if the national park campgrounds were all closed and/or if I needed to work during the week (as there is no service except US Cellular anywhere in the area, the closest AT&T is an hour away at White Pass, and Verizon's 4 bars of 1x is useless).

The only other item of note is the medics box full of used needles in the bathroom, which I'll admit scared me with our youngsters using the showers.

This is a very small park located in the tiny town of Randle, WA. The spots are level and plenty big. Elk wander through the campground at random intervals, which is entertaining. The staff is very friendly and helpful, a very small town attitude. The best thing about this place is its proximity to Mt Rainier.

The Good:

Easy to get to. Pull thru sites. Heavily shaded by giant trees. Grass pads. Quiet. Elk wander throughout the park. 34 bucks a nite Good Sam. Full hookups with Wifi.

The Bad:

Discovered from towns folk that the park has an absentee owner from Seattle. The park is run down. Electrical boxes and wooden posts are badly in need of repair. Signage is spray painted and stenciled, faded with note book pages bound to trees in plastic. Entrance sign has not seen paint in 30 years. Sites are in disarray and employees only work 6 hours a day (10-4) and not on Sundays. No tables or fire pits. It is a cash place.

The Ugmo:

The bathroom building needs to be repaired and renovated. Enlarged. It needs siding. It desperately needs a new roof and probably tin. The showers are cold. The interior is in bad shape. There is a laundry room which didn't look half bad but after not getting hot water in the showers- not expecting much in a washer. There are also huge stumps all over the park- I counted 10 to 15. They are an eyesore and should be removed by an excavator. The office building is far too small and virtually unusable by more than 1 guest.

Summary:

This could be such a great place. It would probably take a 150 to 200k renovation and some advertising to get it going. It is in a great location. Hate to see absentee owners who are not RV ers. It's a shame to see this property go to waste like this.

I am still gonna give it 4 stars based on its 82 years experience and my good nature.

We’ve visited the Packwood RV Park campground twice now and enjoyed our visit both times. It’s an older campground but is clean and well maintained. You can tell that the staff cares about the place and works hard to keep it clean and in good repair for guests. On this visit, we noticed that they are building a new office and managers living space as well as adding some small cabins for guests to stay in.

On both of our visits, we arrived on a whim without having a reservation. The staff was friendly and accommodating both times, and found a spot for us. They do prefer reservations though.
All of the RV sites have full hookups. There are bathrooms, showers, and laundry facilities, which were clean, smelled fresh and were in good repair. The driveways are well-maintained gravel, but the RV sites are all nice grass. This is a great feature in our book and we really enjoy being able to sit outside without shoes and not track a bunch of dirt or gravel into the rig. They have working wifi. There isn’t enough speed to stream, but there is plenty to check email or do some basic web surfing. Dogs are allowed but the manager also said they don’t allow some breeds. I think she said Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and Dobermans.

We really like Packwood. It’s a tiny little town and has a chill friendly vibe. It’s got all the basics that you would need for camping or RVing. We usually stay there when we are exploring Mt. Rainier National Park and all the campgrounds are full.

Because Packwood is all centered around Hwy 12, which runs straight through it, a little bit of road noise is normal just about everywhere in town. We’ve always slept well here though as the road noise is minimal and quiets considerably when it gets late.

Elk seem to like it in town and it’s not unusual to see them roaming around town, including ambling through the RV Park.

We look forward to our next stay at this park and lovely Packwood!

A fine stay for a couple of nights, and we would stay another couple if we had had more free time. We picked this camp as it was close to everything in Packwood.

Deferred maintenance and neglect was our only disappointment here... It could be such a lovely little place with the right owners/management. The bathrooms/showers were totally beat-up, dirty, and disgusting. (See my photos) At least the water was hot.
No one has given this place any TLC in a very long time.

Nice campground convenient to both sides of Mount Rainier southern portion. Host Donna is awesome and we got a nice discount for Good Sam and weeks stay. Looks a bit rustic but sites are well spaced, full hookups with no issues. There are bathrooms and free showers which we didn’t use. The laundry room is clean and reasonably priced - 1.75 in quarters each for wash and dry - folding table and chairs.
Free Wi-Fi and good cell reception (Verizon).
Town is an easy walk to well stocked grocery, visitor center, library, post office, coffee spots, shops, brewery and restaurants.
We enjoyed watching the Elk walk thru the campground.
You can expect some noise from the Main Street (WA12), airstrip and nearby race track, but it was very quiet at night.

We stayed for a quick stop over, all was easy and clean!

This campground is convenient to explore Mt Rainier from the south. There doesn’t appear to be any real defined boundary to this campground. Sites are not developed and simply marked by a post. We had plenty of room. It was quiet even though it’s very close to Hwy 12. Restaurants, gas and brewery close. It served our purposes for seeing Mt Rainier.

We arrived after hours but they left instructions at the front office. Easy to pull in site and had full hookups (the water was clean and pressure was perfect). We stayed here last year and again this year due to availability (they only take cash or check)

It’s roughly an hour away from Mount Rainier (paradise entrance). There’s a few mom/pop shops and restaurants in town but due note that most places close in the evening (highly recommend Cliff Droppers and Cowboy Coffee).

Best part is this campground had zero bugs!

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7/19/23