Puyallup Fairgrounds

Offseason ★★★★☆

There's nothing real special about this place other than its location, if you need to be in this area. The other advantage is that it isn't a run-down hovel like many of the RV parks in this town. It's a simple grass field with gravel roadways, and full 50A hookups. All this for $25/night plus a $5/night surcharge for paying the host, instead of arriving during business hours and paying in the fair office. Note that the host only takes cash, which we weren't quite prepared for, so an ATM run was in the mix for us too.

I might not normally give four stars to a place with zero amenities, but you have to consider the context. Alternatives anywhere else in Puyallup are pretty depressing. This place is clean, cheap, and diligently patrolled by a camp host couple.

Finding the lot is pretty simple. It's the "Orange" lot, right across from the wooden roller coaster. Staying here for the fair would be pretty convenient.

But, during the busy season ★★☆☆☆

At first, I wondered what all the negative reviews were about on other sites. Reviewers complained about the lack of space, some not even being able to put their slides out. Yet it seemed to me, we all had a ton of space. Plenty of room for our patio furniture and outside games.

Then I realized that every rig was given TWO spaces. So here we were enjoying our 'campsite', but now imagine a whole second unit in that space!

I can only imagine how difficult of a place to stay this must be during the busy season.

Like most Fairgrounds it's a field with full hookups. Good location as I we were working in the Tacoma area. The commuter train runs by but don't hear it at night. We were in the very back row in the spaces are large but there was nothing going on at the fairgrounds.

We stayed here for a week and used the spot as a base to explore Seattle and Olympic National Park. This is a typical fairgrounds RV Park. Basically no amenities.....no showers/restrooms, no tables/fire pits. You have full hook-up parking in a field. The fair was not in town during our stay, but the rate is higher if it is.

The town of Puyallup is a huge suburb of Seattle with every kind of restaurant and shopping. We have ATT and had super fast LTE at our site for working.

The campground host was really nice and you pick your spot upon arrival. She did have a bunch of rescue cats which roamed about and even climbed on our roof a few times. Also, trains pass by frequently if no you are bothered by noise.

It takes about an hour to get into downtown Seattle from the fairgrounds and traffic is always awful. To get to Olympic, it was a little over 2 hours to get to the first visitor center. From that point, you still have hours of driving to explore the park. We went backpacking for the weekend and felt safe leaving our rig at the fairgrounds.

We would stay here again simply because we didn't see many other options in the Tacoma area.

I was scheduled to arrive this past Saturday and stay for 2 nights after driving over the mountains from Ellensburg, WA. This was to be scheduled stop #32 of 122 on a 14-month, 16,500 mile journey across the country that I've been planning for over 2 years. I had called to book reservations 12 months prior and was told they didn't take reservations, it was first come, first served but wouldn't have any issues finding a space even though it was a week before the state fair started. I followed up 6 months ago to confirm details and was told the same thing, just show up and they'll find me a spot.

We arrived around 2:30pm to a 90% vacant field, called the camp host Amy who promptly told me there was NO WAY I could stay as they were 100% FULL with fair vendors arriving into town. I asked how come there were 50+ empty spaces and was told it didn't matter as she wasn't allowed to accept anyone else. Said she had no idea why the office had told me to just show up during this 'crazy time' but there was nothing she could do and recommended I check out the Majestic Mobile Manor RV Park at 2x the rate down the road. I did and ended up staying here, very appreciative of them squeezing me in!

Out of curiosity, I drove back over to the fairgrounds park around 7:30pm on Sunday evening to see how full they'd become in the 30 hours since we'd first arrived and the place was still 85% vacant!!! Only about 5 other units had arrived and set up. Amy was onsite this time so I asked what was going on and she told me there was 'nothing she could do' and she had her orders with apparently allows zero room for common sense or honoring their commitments. I would never considering attempting to stay here again as it is too much hassle when I need someplace I can count on with competent staff.

Picture shows just how crazy packed the rv park was at 7:30pm on Sunday. :(

We needed a place relatively close to Seattle. Most RV parks in the greater Seattle area are full, overpriced, or are dumps. This is typical fairgrounds camping in an open field. Had full hookups (50amp) that worked great. Reservations and check in were a breeze. A few tips: there is a shopping area a couple miles from the campground that has it all. There is a new Starbucks half a mile away and the Sounder train station is right down the street. We took the very clean, inexpensive, and efficient commuter twin into Seattle for the day. Also, the ATT service was outstanding.

In town for business and decided to bring the trailer with. Reserved ahead with full hookups. Check in was easy. Sites are on grass and fairly level. Short walk to downtown Puyallup with a lovely farmers market on the weekends. There is also a commuter train downtown which can bring you right into the city. 5 MPH speed restrictions within the park are enforced, you’ll be scolded for anything faster. We were happy with our experience.

Simple check-in process. A grass field with hookups. Is clean and level enough. Some air traffic and train noise in the distance, but not troubling. Had plenty of room, wasn't crowded since the fair was cancelled for the first time in 100 years. Close enough to a variety of amenities (restaurants, grocery, retail, etc.) Safe, quiet park.

Amy keeps a good eye on everything and is a decent person. Would recommend and stay here again.

We came to WA because we needed to have something fixed on our Rv. Without reservations and everywhere was booked we were stuck at the fairgrounds. Host was minimally helpful, more sarcastically rude than anything. Grounds are not that level and barely can tell where to park for a spot. Full hookups, place squeezes people in more than a Rv park. Zero privacy and didn’t feel safe in this area. Careful because some people are not careful when parking their rig or cars here. I got 3-4 bars with Verizon we have a booster too. Yes your close to stores and anything you may need. We left 2 days sooner because we could not wait to leave. We definitely won’t be back.

I travelled here with a 35’ 5th wheel and parked in site #127 which is a FHU PT spot. This is a large open meadow type of campground next to the Washington State Fairgrounds. The road is gravel and the sites are grass with some gravel mixed in. It was easy to navigate around. Hookups may be on either side of you depending on which way you go into the site (sites are self-selected.) The back-in sites have all the connections at the back of the site so some rigs needed 30’ of sewer hose to connect. Or there is a dump site near the camp host. Spacing was pretty close (10-12’ on my door side and 6-8’ on my hookup side.) There were a few OTA stations and 5G Verizon. No wifi. The host was helpful – I needed a mobile tech and she got someone who would come out right away to help me with a refrigerator problem. There is a fair amount of road noise since you are right in the city. It is not the prettiest campground I have been in, but it is a good value compared to other FHU campgrounds in the area. It was also near family and only 30-35 minutes to Sea-Tac airport (non-rush hour…) I would stay there again.

Sites grassy and mostly flat. Host will help you figure out which site to take. Speed limit is vigorously enforced. Cats were fun to watch out the window. Grocery stores within a mile or two and can walk to the downtown. Tacoma less than 30 min and Seattle about 45 min (double during rush hour.) No WiFi but able to stream with AT&T. For being an urban park it’s pretty quiet.