Salt Creek Recreation Area

There are two sections to this park. The full hook-up section is several tiers of well-spaced sites in a row, each with sweeping views of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. The dry camping is a couple beautiful loops of private, treed sites, many on a cliff with filtered views of the Strait, where you can here the tides lapping against the cliffs. I would have loved to stay here longer, but had to leave after one night because of the lack of Verizon reception. The number of bars was wildly erratic, from no signal, to 1 bar of 1X to 3 bars of 3G at any given moment. However, even at 3 bars of 3G, hardly anything would load. If I didn't rely on my cell reception to work during the week, I would have loved to stay here longer.

There are some nice scenic trails, tidepools, and an old fort in the park. It's also a good central location to many of the attractions in Olympic National Park.

There are two distinct places to stay here. There is a "campground" which is wooded and serene, intended for tents and small campers. There is are "RV sites" with concrete pads and 50A+Water hookups, and a stellar view across the strait. The sites are pretty close together, which normally I don't like, but when we were here, it seemed to be one big roving social hour with lots of families and activity going on all weekend.

The kids had plenty of fun exploring in the tide pools, and hiking through the old WW2 fort. There are also DNR trails accessed directly from here which we did not explore.

Port Angeles is 30 minutes away, making it a quick hop if you're yearning for a bit more civilization. This is also an excellent place to overnight before jumping on the ferry to Victoria.

Sites 1-5 are the best hookup sites, as they are a little away from the main area, and a bit more shaded. Plus, they're close to the playground which is good for us. Unfortunately, they are not available for reservations.

Sites 50-51 are the best dry camping sites, especially for motorhomes. You can fit a 36-footer, yet they're completely private and enclosed.
http://websrv7.clallam.net/parks/campsite.php?campground=Salt&siteno=50
http://websrv7.clallam.net/parks/campsite.php?campground=Salt&siteno=51

We are a family of four traveling in a 33-foot motorhome. Here's what we're looking for: A playground, stuff for the kids to do, somewhere to ride my mountain bike, beautiful scenery, fire rings, plenty of separation between us and neighbors, shaded and private sites, easy to get in and get level, electric hookups, water and dump station on site, clean showers, and not terribly expensive.

This park delivered most everything we're looking for, I just wish the reservable sites had more privacy.

The campground itself is just as you would imagine any State Park. It does the trick, has the amenities, but comes with crowds and tons of restrictions, regulations, and rules. For example, in Washington it is illegal to open or consume any alcoholic beverage, including within the privacy of your own RV. Nevertheless, the park was as expected of any wilderness in the Pacific North West – especially considering we were only a few dozen feet from the Strait of Juan De Fuca – wet, cool, and lots of overgrowth. It made for some nice photos at times, but I could easily grow tires of being cold to the bone all the time. Be sure to take the time to hike to the Bunkers, the beach below, and the tide pools during low tides.

Staying at the Westernmost side of the campground (non-hookups area) you can get a good Verizon signal. In the hookups section there is little to no signal.

However... on the weekend we were leaving the park there was a running competition coming in. For some reason the organizers chose a weekend to host a running competition in a State Park and even planned the running route to go directly through the one and only dump station (and this was somehow OK with the State Park and the runners?). When we went to dump on our way out, we were hassled by the event organizers to move out of their way. The organizers, and especially the State Park Officials, need to use some more common sense here.

We were pleasantly surprised of how beautiful and clean this campground was. Although our site was long enough to fit our travel trailer and truck, it was pretty close to our neighbors. And by early evening all the sites were occupied. We were told by the camp host that this is a extremely popular park for locals. Even though the park was full, it was very quiet at night...probably due to the no alcohol beverage regulation.
We had plenty to do see and do during our stay without even leaving the park. We walked down to the cool tide pools and beaches at Tongue Point Marine Sanctuary, hiked up toward Striped Peak and explored the remnants of World War II Camp Hayden.
There are 92 campsites here, which include two camp host sites, located on a bluff above the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There are 2 restrooms buildings with fee showers. There is also a dump station.
The campground is divided into two distinct camping areas. Campsites 1 through 49 are on the exposed bluff just as you enter the recreation area. Each row of camp sites are tiered higher than the row below and thus provide wonderful views of the Strait. This section of the campground feature both pull through and back-in sites large enough for big rigs and offer water and electric hook-ups.
Sites 50 through 92 are located in a forested area loop. The sites are smaller, but will accommodate not only tents, but small trailers or truck campers. We noted that the forest sites can be pretty dark during cloudy or rainy days.
We did not turn on our phones as they picked up the Canadian cellular towers, which were a clear shot to Vancouver Island across the strait. However we did notice that we picked up 2 bars from Verizon.

I reserved one of the non-hookup sites. After traveling up the coast with days of no sun, rain & fog, the Ranger Was nice enough to let me move to a full-hookup site. Not much space but I got some sun and beautiful views.

Cell coverage is fluctuated between 3 bars 4G, 3G & nothing. Verizon was Picking up from Canada.

We did our maiden voyage of our new rig here right in the middle of a snow storm. The park is gorgeous. We will be back for sure. The sites might be a bit tight during busy times. Obviously this particular weekend... we had plenty of space. I have heard it is packed in nice weather and I can see why. Tide pools to explore, kids play area, just gorgeous everywhere. So... lovely. We had pretty good TV reception out of Canada. We also had good Verizon service for streaming with out Pepwave Router. NO T-MOBILE at all. Also... Great pie at the little cafe called Blackberry Cafe in Joyce (about 3 miles)

Most of the previous reviews remain true. Your cell phone will grab Canadian cells, with limited data capability. Voice cell was fine, but remember it's international. AT&T and T-Mobile cells totally unreliable from our site.(thankfully, unless you really need that). Park was busy all day but quiet at night. And the bonus for us this time of year was the unusually warm days. Daytime temps in the high 60's, clear skies and no wind the entire time.

Lots of families and day users, but no issues with any of them. Utility spaces have no privacy, but spacing is adequate and the design lends itself to having your table, well kept grass area and fire ring to the back side of your neighbors rig. No issue maneuvering our 32' rig and room for our toad in the space. Not true for every space, but parking was only a two minute walk if needed. Several 40' rigs fit easily. Easy to level.
30/50a and water at site. Dump station very easy to use for any size rig.

View from our site was excellent, however we only had very small trailers in front of us. The site rows are terraced, so you will see the water, just partially obstructed if you're in the middle row. Beach access is a hike down steep stairs, but the tidepools and a small sand beach are close. Interesting history of coastal defense bunkers. They're a close and easy walk or drive and within park boundaries. Park staff very friendly and helpful. Overall a great weekend and we look forward to returning.

This is a hidden gem. It was just a quick stop-over but ended up being the best of all the places we have stayed. The camp host was very helpful and informative. He was present whenever we had a question or needed anything. We stayed on a site directly on the cliffs but it had plenty of trees for shade and helped with the wind. The restrooms were very clean and well stocked. NOTE: bring quarters for the shower! We thoroughly enjoyed the tide pools and our dog loved the campground walks and bouncing around in the water. Will definitely be back!

First come, first serve sites #1--15, #40-49; # 69-70; #74-92. Sites 1-15 are on the front row with a view of the water. The other first come first serve sites are back in the trees with lots of shade. Some have water views. The park is well maintained. There is a large playground and numerous trails in and around the park. Some of the bunkers from World War 2 are located within the park. Water and electricity are on sites 1-15. They have a dump station on the property. We saw deer every morning in the field next to us. This is a popular park. The reserved sites were taken back in January. The reserved sites that are available for the week will be on the board when you enter the park. Show up early if you want a site on the front row. We were roaming of from Canadian cellular companies as Verizon service is pathetic. We were limited to .5 Gig of data on our roaming service through Verizon.

This place is an out of the way, trek up through what feels like the middle of nowhere….and it’s soooo worth it! Stunning views for days! We took one of about seven open first come/first served spots on a Tuesday at 2pm. There were many other “reservation” sites that were also open for the taking. Sites aren’t level, but easy to get there on pavement with blocks. Respectful neighbors with limited space between sites. Nice playground that the kids loved. Water and electric hookups with a free dump on site for registered campers. Only come here if you plan on walking the grounds to take in all the beauty! Tide pooling off Tongue Point, say hi to Canada across the strait, watch deer on the many green trails and listen to the waves slap the rocks below! 10/10 would recommend!