Salt Creek Recreation Area

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!

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 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!

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.

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)

We visited Salt Creek Rec Area in early October just as the busy season was winding down. We enjoyed listening to the wind and crashing waves just a few feet from our site. Coming from Eastern Washington where there were drought like conditions, we actually enjoyed the moist air and rain during our stay. We also liked watching the shipping traffic in the strait. There are several good hikes right from the campground. The hike to Striped Peak follows a lushly forested trail along the water until it turns up the hill. A shorter hike to the old gun battery position follows the bluff from the campground. It was well worth the effort!

Arrival to our pre-paid site went smoothly. We got a reminder email a few days before giving us details about the park. The park manager responded quickly to a question I had about water by email.

The park looked about 70% full during the time we were there. We stayed on the western, wooded side of the campground in the non-hook-up area. The sites in this part of the park are just a few steps away from a cliff above the water and most have a great view of the strait. The non-hook-up/tent sites provide more privacy and are closer to the water. The sites are still packed pretty close together but the layout is more relaxed we didn't feel too close to our next door neighbors. The non-hookup sites are limited to RVs of about 25 feet. One of our neighbors in a travel trailer didn't have enough room to extend her slide outs on both sides because of trees in the site. On the other side of the park the hook-up sites are larger, paved and able to suite bigger rigs. We saw motorhomes and 5th wheels 35+ feet in length. These sites also had decent views of the water. But for us it looked too much like an RV parking lot.

The entire park was well maintained and friendly. Although there were lots of dogs and children around we did not have any issues with noise. We were surprised to find good 4G Verizon service at our site.

Not many negatives to report. This park is very popular and it apparently gets much busier and louder during peak season.

I've camped here before in the autumn and it was wonderful. My grandson and I stayed three nights this week and it was very crowded. I would camp in all seasons EXCEPT summer unless you like crowds, dogs barking, etc. Kids are all over, including our site, with minimal to no supervision. Very frustrating. Hosts came round in the evening selling firewood for $5/bundle.

The site: The utility sites are in a wide open space. The tents sites are in a forested area. Our site was quite level with plenty for space fore and aft for our little camper and TV. We could have easily fit another vehicle in the site. The site was approximately 85' long. We had a nice grassy area about 7' wide that ran the length of the site. Our views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca were partially obstructed by trees for the first two days then a big motor home for the remainder of time. Site 37 is in an area slightly away from the majority of the utility sites. There was a little bit of trash left over from previous campers; small things like bottle caps and pull tabs that we picked up. Nobody ever checked on us to make sure we were who was supposed to be in the site.

Cell Service: The Canadian towers will grab your phone! After receiving texts from AT&T that I had over $300 in international charges, I ended up texting my husband so he could contact AT&T to let them know I was in the USA. Service was 80% iffy. Near the play ground, there was a bit of service. In our campsite, it was hit or miss, mostly miss.

Restrooms: Clean and tidy. Extra Porta Potties to help minimize exposure to others. Signs on the doors asking people to limit to 2-3 in the restroom at one time and to wear masks per the current requirements in Washington. Pay showers. The Camp Host was there each morning cleaning, which was much appreciated.

We discovered this park by accident almost 30 years ago and I was happy to find that it is still a great place to camp. Close to Port Angeles and the Olympic National Park Visitor Center, it is located on the banks of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. The sites that have water views are reservable; when we arrived on a Thursday in June, these had all been reserved (although not all were occupied). Many of the non-reservable sites were available. No hookups in the loop but there are three tiers of 39 RV sites that have decent water views. Each of these has an electrical and water hookup and a paved pad but you are stacked up as you would be in a typical RV park. Restrooms are reasonably clean (but no garbage receptacle) and there are showers but there is a fee. If you have a water view site and the weather cooperates, you will enjoy a glorious sunset. There is a playground for children, but the best feature are the tidepools that area accessible at low tide; our girls had a blast exploring these when they were young.

Stayed the second week of March 2019. All the winter maintenance has been done. On this Tuesday night there are only four sites taken, one being the camp host. We are in the area with trees and no utilities. Excellent day view of the Juan de Fuca, and Vancouver Island. Ptich black at night with only the sound of the waves. Heavy cedar smell due to the trees. Clean bathrooms, quarter operated hot showers available.

Receiving decent T-Mobile LTE service from Canada.

Receiving excellent 5 bar AT&T hotspot service.