Larrabee State Park

If you pulling a trailer or driving an RV I requested you enter the park from the north ( Bellingham) the road from the south is narrow with lots of sharp curves. The entrance is well marked and the gate attendant was real helpful. Had a pull through site that was on an incline so we used chocks and wheel locks. Sites are narrow so if you have a slide you Neighbor can’t have a fire😑. Toilet and shower building was clean and well lit you had to $$ for the hot showers.

Are kids and grandkids were in site 47-48 and we spent most of our time there. It a short walk to the beach. Good spot for swimming, fishing and crabbing. Watch the tide chart because at high tide there is no beach. On the walk to the beach we found the play equipment and they also have a small amphitheater, and you can reserve the covered picnic area near it. I will go there again.

Did I mention the Train it’s loud but didn’t hear it in the trailer it is a very busy track!

Larrabee State park is a very nice park. This time of year we almost had the place to ourselves. WA state Parks offer free camping with a disabled veteran lifetime pass. The campground is keep clean and tidy. Some of the RV sites are very unlevel. The water is shut off after Nov 1st, but there is winter water available at the restroom. There are train tracks that run right through the park, close to the campground, and the train comes by multiple time throughout the day and night. If you are a light sleeper, it might bother you, but we actually liked it. The park is about 10 minutes south of Fairhaven, and Bellingham proper is 15-25 minutes away depending on where you want to go. The one thing I would give warning about is the south approach to to the park on highway 11. It is a very narrow road and at many points you are driving next to a rocky cliff and the oncoming lane is next to a drop-off, with almost no shoulder. I would recommend coming in from the north.

We stayed for two nights. The grounds are clean and well maintained. There are lots of hiking trails. We hiked to the beach, only .75 mi from campground. Then hiked Fragrance Lake trail to the lookout point, .9 mi. You could hike extra mile to Fragrance Lake, but we got a late start so we didnt go all the way. The B&N Railroad trains pass by every couple of hours and blow their horns If you are a light sleeper, you might find this annoying. But I liked hearing it and didnt disturb our sleep. We will be back for sure. The beauty of this place looking out to Samish Bay is awesome. 5 stars!

We were in Bellingham to move my son into his new house and had planned on "camping" in his driveway, that didn't work out so we scrambled to find a last minute place. We took a chance on Larrabee State Park and it worked out great. We didn't understand the reservation system in that you can't reserve for same day arrivals but they post on the board available or unreserved sites, that was helpful but we needed more than one night so we were able to tract down a ranger who was extremely helpful and we were able to settle into site T-10 for 3 nights.

Pros:
Great location; close to Fairhaven, hiking trails and beach
Helpful rangers
Sun and shade
Drive through sites
Clean bathrooms (didn't look at the showers)
Picnic table, Fire Pits
Full Hook-ups

Cons:
Drive through sites are unleveled and steep
Close together sites
Train runs through several times a day (didn't bother us, we liked it)
You can hear slight highway traffic as well

When I pulled into my site, there were two tiny metal trailers there because a big rock was blocking where their site pad was. So I spent my 2 nights literally 1 foot away from their trailers in my tiny trailer. No ranger to talk to and no one caught that they were only allowed 1 trailer per site, not two. And no ranger to handle the fact they left their dogs tied up at the site all day while they went off kayaking. And the people on the other side literally had 4 tents, 3 vehicles and about a dozen people in a single site. This was by far my worst experience with WA State parks and I spent most of the summer in their parks.

The beach is a short walk away, nice rocks and geology to explore, as well as some tide pools. There is a trail over the shoreline cliffs that provides nice views of the San Juans and up towards Bellingham proper.

The Larrabee campsite area is literally squeezed in between Route 11, a two-lane scenic road with lots of weekend traffic, and the Burlington Northern railroad line, which provides a half-dozen train whistles and rumbling trains to the mix. Between the two, and the close quarters in the campsite area, it can be hard to feel like you’re really escaping civilization.

Larrabee is an older, and very popular state park in Bellingham, WA with access to miles of trails and a quick walk down to the water. There are full hookup pull-through and back-in spots. Bring the leveling blocks, we needed two sets of lynx levelers in both spots we stayed in. The campground is located between the road and Amtrak tracks, but we didn't hear much road or train noise in our trailer. I'd definitely stay here again, but I'd book in advance for a a better choice of sites.