I know, I know. Over a month since we did our camping at Willaby, and I am just now getting this blog post up? Shame on me. You guys, though, July was tough on me in so many ways but mainly in Roxy’s health ways. Goodness. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another thing.
Things are happily clearing up, and I can see a bit of sun again. Thank goodness. Which means I can get back on my thinking cap, and actually throw out some work. Yay!
I feel awful that it has taken so long to get up this camping post, though. At least I am now, yes?
Sharing How We Absolutely Had the Best Time Camping at Willaby
For once in my life, I booked this trip way early, but then COVID happened – and the booking was in limbo for the longest time. Would it be canceled? Or would we luck out the campsite be open by our booking date?
We totally lucked out, and Willaby Campground opened the very end of May. Our camping trip was for four nights starting June 20th. There was some question if the bathrooms would be actually open, but thankfully there was no need for worries. The restrooms were accessible, and they kept them clean.
Now, are you ready to hear our adventures while camping at Willaby? We had so much fun, and I am excited to share it with you all.
Kayaking
One of the things Jason and even myself, were most excited about was being able to use our blow-up kayak in Lake Quinault. Last year I bought us a blow-up one from Amazon for our anniversary but didn’t take it out ever. Admittedly though, I was scared to get in, it was like doing it all for the first time again. I don’t row well, but we still went out twice two days in a row and had a good time. It was actually Roxy’s first time on the water, and she truly enjoyed it. Bonus win right there. Though, she really wanted to get over to the people she saw onshore. She sure is a social little girl, I love that about her.
The first time we took the kayak out, the weather was on the warm side. It sure made being out in the water even more enjoyable, though. Plus made for some stunning photos. The second day was a bit more overcast, and I was chilly, but Jason said it was humid. Roxy and I let Jason do all the rowing the second day while we just enjoyed the view.
Lake Quinault sure makes an excellent place to throw in a kayak if I do say so myself. And the blow-up kayak worked like a charm if you are thinking of getting one. Do it. I was going to link to ours, but it’s outrageously priced on Amazon right now.
Hiking
There are so many hiking trails around Lake Quinault. We walked only two. The first full day we were there, we started on one path that left our campground, it had many offshoots and only a few markers. Which led us to get a wee bit lost on where we were or when we’d come out somewhere. Plus, it was later evening when we started on our walk, never imagining we were going to walk for a long time. Starting at about 5:30 or 6 pm – I couldn’t tell you what time we landed back at our campsite, finally, but it was late. We did almost 4 miles. Ugh, when you are not meaning to.
The second night we did a portion of the lake view path. Which was relatively easy and straight forward. Thank goodness. I am pretty sure we didn’t do it all. Stopping at the Lake Quinault Lodge and making our way to the road so I could try to find a bathroom. Landing at Falls Creek Campground for it and looping our way back to our campsite back on the lake view path.
I know there are loads of other hiking trails, just the matter of finding them and heading out in the correct direction. Make sure you have a map in hand. Which we will 100% next time.
Camping at Willaby Site #13
Back in January, before I booked, I asked in my Washington State Camping group if site 13 at Willaby was decent. What was the tent size area? I kept reading that camping sites at Willaby tended to be smaller and we have a large tent. Because of that, I was a tad worried (go figure!) if our tent would fit. From what I gathered in the group, site 13 was one of the best at Willaby DO IT. The tent should fit. I should also state that I couldn’t find any real images of each site to give me a good feeling.
So I did it!
The site was perfection. What we saw from our campsite was all lake and nothing else. We did have a tree right smack in the center of our view, but it did little to distract our view. It now just makes it easier for me to tell which site people are on when they camp at Willaby.
Thankfully the tent area was plenty big for our big old tent and fit pretty great. For some reason, we didn’t quite get the shelter up correctly as it should have been, but it worked.
Happily, for me, the bathrooms were right across from us well. On the maps I found of the campsite online, it looked like the restrooms were much further down.
Because of me not being able to find much information/photos/videos of the individual site online before booking. I decided to do a quick video tour of the campsite before we left Wednesday morning.
A quick tour of our fun camping trip can be found below.
That’s It Folks
We had such a grand time, and I hope you got a bit of the feel of camping at Willaby for yourself. Willaby your next choice? Any questions, ask below, and I’ll try my hardest to answer them. Book here on Recreation.gov.
