Bay View State Park

Great night spent on the bay. Campground is spread out but not in an inconvenient way. Offers several different kinds of campsites at different price ranges.

Bayview State Park is about 90 minutes north of Seattle along Padilla Bay, a wide flat expanse of water with views of the San Juan Islands and even a bit of the Canadian coast near Vancouver. It has a beach (small at high tide) and is close to a walking trail around the south end of Padilla Bay. The beach is a small day-use park with picnic tables and lovely views, especially at sunset.

The full-time ranger team is very hands-on so the park is friendly, clean, and I found literally nothing broken at all, ever. The showers use tokens, which you purchase at the ranger station. The camp hosts are wonderful, full-timers who keep an eye on things, and came over to introduce themselves (RVillagers, when I was there).

The RV hookups loop circles a big field, which can host impromptu soccer games or be completely deserted, I had both during my week-long stay.

The park is 10-15 minutes to Burlington WA, which has all the stuff like grocery stores, shopping malls, and even a Camping World and a few RV dealers right off I-5.

The only downside is that if Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is running night flights, you can get a bit of jet noise for a few hours in the evening. This happened to me two nights, but inside my trailer it was barely noticeable.

Ok, I probably shouldn't tell you this is the place to stay for tulip festival, because now how am I going to get reservations for next year?? :) It's also a great jumping-off point for excellent road bike riding all around the area. For an extra bonus, you can drive down to La Connor to enjoy the snooty shop owners peer over their noses haughtily at you.

There are three areas: Sites 1-10 have partial hookups (W/E) and a view of the bay. From our site #7, it was fantastic to watch the sunset. Sites 4 & 5 have an unobstructed amazing view. Sites 11-30 have partial hookups, and encircle a large grass field. The field has poor drainage, so we didn't see many kids playing in it. All of these sites have excellent spacing, with vegetation between the sites. Sites 31+ are forested secluded tent sites. I did see a few campers in there, but the roads felt awful narrow, so I won't be trying that.

Burlington isn't too far away, but it FEELS far, especially during highly congested tulip festival times. We mostly stayed at the park and away from town.

There is a rocky beach to watch the sunsets a short walk down the hill. It would have been even better with a playground and sewer hookups in the #1-10 sites.

Great hosts, very accommodating--found me a different site when I didn't care for the one I reserved. Some gravel in the pitch but mostly dirt. Great access to the beach (rocky for those of you not from the PNW) and can walk to a nearby trail. Bathrooms were dated but clean. Only one shower per bathroom block, takes quarters.

We fit a 35 foot fifth wheel into spot 62.. they said it could not be done, but there is plenty of room. It was a little tough getting it in but i’m not super experienced with my 5er yet...
Bring a hedge trimmer or something because the blackberry bushes are taking over this place... there could be soo much more room and still have tons of privacy if they would trim back the thorn bushes. Ground is a bit unlevel but we made it work. Campground is in great shape and the ranger is super friendly. Had a great stay. Call ahead on busy holidays... they book up fast.

Spot 24 is pretty private. Treed and secluded. The trash bin is out front but that’s not an issue for me. The park is located in a great area. Ranger was friendly. One caveat with spot 24 is the setup. The majority of the space (including the fire pit and picnic table) is on the hookup side of the camper. Makes it a bit odd but we would still stay again.

The spots near the entrance and those that surround the field are nice for RV's. Once into the back loop its very tight and some are sloped that would make leveling a challenge. Just getting through the gates with an RV is a nail biter. Very friendly park staff.

Water is off for the season at the partial hook-up sites, but they have a spigot at the restroom building still on so you can fill up when you arrive. Being a relatively small park, and the off season, it was pretty quite. Very little traffic in and out. Friendly hosts.

What? So bummed out this Wa State Park! It’s overgrown and also groomed and the sites are impossibly close. Dogs off leash everywhere even though leashes are required. Our site had 3 ft bushes in between us and each site to our sides PLUS a site directly behind us. Take away the bushes and it was basically a parking lot. The beach that’s it’s close too is a tiny like outlook with a few tables and a bathroom. If this place was free I’m
Still not sure if I would go back.

Decent place if you have to be close to the ferry or are going somewhere else. Sites were close together. Bathrooms were always clean. Cute beach to hang out at. Very level spots. We ended up across from a site that had four tents at it. They should have to be in a group site.