Belfair State Park

Clean, convienent and well maintained. Even with paved paths and flush toilets and showers, this park felt like a forest wonderland. The sites with hookups and large RVs are on a separate loop from the tents. Be aware that many of the sites are pretty wide open, so you may not have a lot of privacy from your neighbors, but the views of Hood Canal 20 yards from your tent door make you forget all about it!

This was our very first getaway with our new molded fiberglass travel trailer, Toto. We made our way to Belfair State Park, which lies at the bitter end of the Hood Canal -- about an hour away from Tacoma, WA.

This time of year (November) you can't reserve campsites at most Washington State Parks, including this one -- you just show up and hope you find something you like.

There's a loop of sites, near the water, that (mostly) have full hookups. All the pull-through sites were taken, so we had to back in... good practice but we had wanted to keep this first outing as simple as possible. Oh well, we found a site, I backed in in only 1.5 tries, and we didn't hit or run over anything.

And only minutes later, we were relaxing with a view of the canal.We liked this park enough to want to come back in the warmer weather, and bring a kayak or two -- especially if we could snag a waterfront site. So I kept an eye on the calendar and we have a waterfront (pull-through!) site reserved for a few days in August.

I am told that it gets pretty lively there in summer... noisy powerboats, noisy canine and humanoid creatures. Maybe we'll take earplugs.

EDIT: We did return in August, and it was a lot of fun. But it is a lot more lively, and you have to be okay with being in a busy park full of kids of all ages having fun and making a bit of noise. Waterfront site essential in summer, to stay on the edge of the fray.

In the wintertime, at least, Belfair is a lovely spot. Spotless, plenty of birds to observe, and ideal if you get a break in the weather. Verizon coverage? Yes, but minimal. Bring a booster or, better yet, go off the grid and commune with nature.