Kanaskat-Palmer State Park

After an 8 year hiatus from camping, we decided to get back into the swing of things. We picked Kanaskat-Palmer SP because it's close enough to where we live that someone could run home if anything major was forgotten, but far enough to feel like a weekend get-away. It's also about 8 miles from a Safeway if you forget butter and olive oil like I did.

The campground is nice and clean. It's 2 loops, a mix of pull-through and back in sites, the second loop has electric. There are also quite a few yurts if you don't have a tent or rv. Bathrooms are in the middle. We did not use the bathrooms.

We have a 32 ft 5th wheel and were in spot 1 (pull-through), right next to the entrance. I was dreading this since it was Easter weekend and the campground was full, but it was surprisingly quiet! We had a very enjoyable 1st weekend back to camping. We definitely want to come back!

General: 50-site campground (including six yurts) plus a group campground. The campground is in two loops: one with electric hookups and one without. 

Site Quality: All sites are level and are a mix of back-in and pull-through. Site 24 was a pull-thru. Sites in the tent (no hookup) section are gravel while sites with electricity have paved camper pads. ADA-accessible sites (one in each loop) are completely paved. Heavily wooded sites afford good privacy between sites. 

Bath/Shower house: one building between the two loops with six all-in-one (toilet, sink, shower) units. They were clean. At first glance, it appears you need tokens for the shower but upon closer inspection, it did look like they were free. However, you were asked to conserve water and that the hot water was turned off at night due to vandalism.

Activities: Several trails that are open until dusk. Several places to put in and take out boats but you are warned that some sections of the Green River are Class III or IV and where you should take out if you are not a highly experienced boater. We also saw some people fishing.

This was our final stop on our North Cascades loop trip. The campground is located about an hour outside of Seattle yet it was very quiet (except for several trains throughout the day and night). Surprisingly we had zero cell coverage(Verizon).

We had a great one night stay at this park with short notice. Found a opening online and it was still available when we arrived. The bathrooms were clean and maintained. Pretty easy drive to town and Safeway for groceries and supplies.

It’s exactly what you’d want/need out of a state park. Quiet and private. Lots of areas to adventure on and off of the state park. Great fishing down on the river.

Stayed here for a quick overnight trip and it was delightful. Not a super long drive from Seattle and the park is nice. Bathrooms are clean, sites are decent size and mostly private. The salmon were swimming upstream and jumping the rapids which was really cool to watch! Came on a weeknight so it was pretty quiet. Would definitely return.

We stayed 1 night here for the maiden voyage of our recently purchased travel trailer, which was nice since it's only about an hour away from our place near Seattle. Arrived Friday early evening and it wasn't busy at all.

The check-in process was easy, even though their reservation system was down at the time. Filled up w/ some fresh water at the dump station, which was clean and well maintained.

Campsites in the RV loop were spaced out enough with vegetation between them so as to provide some privacy. Our site had a pull-through driveway, 30amp hookup, a fire ring and picnic table. Bathrooms in that loop were pretty nice... heated and very clean.

Took a walk down to the day use area by the river, which was easy for us, but some portions of the trails closer to the river were slightly overgrown w/ a few obstacles, which could be problematic for some. Didn't see any kids play structures down there, which would be nice to have for families.

We heard a couple trains while there, but the noise wasn't too loud. Never heard the fire siren that they warned us about. Overall, it was a good camping experience for a quick trip and would return!

Trains were noisy but everything else is great. Clean close and fun

This campground was a wonderful place to spend a night or two. Well maintained heated bathrooms, the staff we had the opportunity to meet were quite friendly, and for hiking the river loop (would definitely suggest purely for the view) was just a few minute walk from our campground.

There are only two negatives that I can see:

1. When purchasing wood, be aware that it may be a bit damp. Being that it was March when we visited, this likely impacted the moisture inside the shed they held the firewood.
2. This one is subjective as it comes with an upside. Some of the campsites can be a bit close to one another even if they aren’t the designated group sites. This, however, came as quite a helpful part of our visit as we, relatively new campers, were assisted by a wonderful group of people in the next site over when we struggled to light our fire or kindling. (view negative 1)

In summary: We would strongly suggest this site to any traveler with wonderful views, and consider sourcing dry firewood from a vendor in the wetter months!

This is a really nice campground. Super well cared for in a beautiful forest. The staff and volunteers do a great job!

We love this campground and camp here about once a month. The sites are large with lots of trees. One loop has electricity (no water or sewer hookups but has a dump station) and the other does not. It has 6 very clean individual (one person) bathrooms with a shower in each. The riverfront accessed from the campground tends to be a bit too raging for my taste with children. We usually take the kids to the lake at Nolte state park (approx. 3 miles away) for water play. This campground is heavily patrolled by the park rangers. I usually have contact with them in my campsite at least twice a day( not for any reason)I have had a fellow parent dropping their child off to camp with us and within 10 minutes the rangers were there checking that they had a park pass. I have been asked by the park rangers at 10:01 p.m. to be quite at as myself and three 9 year old girls were talking (no music etc) too loud. I have also seen the park rangers call in the King County Police. I have never felt unsafe or had any unpleasant experiences here but the park rangers mean business. My point with this is, if you are a large group, like to stay up late and listen to music and/or party it might not be the campground for you. At times I have felt slightly annoyed with all the patrolling. However ultimately as this campground is so close to town I know it’s these efforts that keep the campground safe and pleasant. Thank you!! park rangers I’m sure it is a tough job.

We found this campground to have good sized campsites with lots of tall trees. There is good system of trails, tons of picnic tables along the river, and good river access to the Green rivers.

Campground is well maintained, clean bathrooms and showers available. Although walking distance to bathrooms is a little far away. Sometimes this is a plus though.

This is one of the most beautiful parks we’ve ever stayed at. Huge sites, clean bathrooms, beautiful hikes, etc. All around great place and we’d definitely stay here again.

We went here for our test run of our RV. Nice quiet area in great forest. Lots of hiking around, if you can find the loop. Electrical only. No water or sewer at the site.

I've stayed here many times over the years. I love how quiet and woodsy it is here. Lots of fun spots along the river to enjoy. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked.

This is a great campground with 30 amp hookups in certain loops. No city water hookup, but just filled our fresh water tank. There is a sewer dump outside the campground. Very clean bathrooms and showers.

Loved Kanaskat Palmer. Stayed in spot 13 - each site seems to have a trail connecting to the outer trail that runs along the river. Big entertainment for three boys who explored the woods and played on the rocks and in the eddy pools at the public river take-out. Bathrooms are super nice - each is private with a shower. Camp staff were pleasant and helpful.

We went here in October and dry camped with our 30’ Motorhome so not the typical experience others would have in a true RV site. I only took away a star because it was advertised as ok for a Motorhome but the gravel pull through was so not level the jacks pushed the front tires 6 inches off the ground. But there was lots of private space and the trails were beautiful as they wrapped around the river. Lots of great fishing spots.

Quiet campground with decent privacy between sites. We stayed just one night at site 42, which was on a corner and offered a good amount of privacy and easy access to the clean bathrooms. It's a short walk to the river where we watched the kayakers and did a very easy hike. We could hear trains at night but that didn't bother us. It was a cold and rainy weekend but we still had an enjoyable time. We'll come back in the summer!

This is our second time going to Kanaskat Palmer Park and we decided to enjoy four nights in there yurts between the fall and winter transition season. I must say I was very impressed to see that the bathrooms and showers were still very clean ever since the pandemic and that it was quite a nice place to stay during the weekdays if you wanted a quietly stay in the woods with the sounds of the flowing river. We will definitely be back again next year!

Was a great camp ground to camp at. We were traveling through so we only stayed 1 night but it was pretty fun aside from the roaring train horn in middle of the night. Other than that, completely satisfied with the stay!

It has always been really clean. Everyone packs thier garbage out and i always see people picking up anything that was left behind.

Great spot not too far from thr city of Maple Valley. The showers and bathrooms and nice and updated. The river has some great trails to walk on and nice swimming spots! I definitley suggest venturing around the river to find other places to swim than the main one which can get crowded with multiple families.

The group site set apart from the rest of the camping, so you can really enjoy the space without feeling like you are bothering the other campers. There's lots of space for tents plus some wooden bunks in a wooden shelter, a nice option for people new to camping who don't have a tent, but I'd be afraid of spiders! :O Site is adjacent to a river access, which I did not get a chance to check out myself, but being near water is always a plus to me.

The campgrounds are about an our of of Seattle, so it's a really nice low-commitment option for those residing in the greater Seattle area. Despite being so close, it doesnt feel very populated or anything like that, nice and woodsy still! :)

The only drawback to the group site is occasionally you'll get a random person wandering through to access the water.

I wouldn't suggest going so late in the year unless you are prepared for rain, it poured on us most of the stay, but we still managed to have fun. Luckily there is a large covered dining area so it's survivable in rain

I love this campground I stayed here to complete a natural resource college assignment and I will return many times. Beautiful and has all the user rentals. Those are cool. I recommend this campground.

We love coming here. It's close proximity to our house allows us to hook up the trailer after work and include a Friday night in our camping weekend! The availability seems pretty good too, especially in Spring when some campgrounds are not quite open yet.

This campground has great clean and heated bathrooms. Sites and roads are paved. Hook ups are electric only, bring your water. The first time we went we did not know and our Basecamp's heat runs via the hot water heater. It was cold! The sites are large and pretty private. We have stayed in site 42 which is a back in spot with fire pit and table above the back of the pad. Also, we have enjoyed site 38, a pull through that gave us nice wooded views and privacy.

The campground loop is a nice walk or cruise on a bike. There is easy access to a beautiful stretch of the Green River, with picnicking areas and walking trails. You might catch a kayaker in the river, I hear this stretch take a lot of skill!

I've stayed here many times. It is a well laid out campground with lots of amenities. The sites are fairly private with a fair mix of hookup and tent sites plus several Yerts too. The restrooms are centrally located with showers and are cleaned often.

There are several hiking trails and the river is gorgeous. It has a huge day use area and a group site is available. A dump site is also available for RV's.

Its reasonably close to the city within an hour or two. 45 minutes for me so it is good for a weekend getaway but supplies are not far if you forget something.

Pros: lots of sites and lots to do. Good clean restrooms. Lots of wildlife.

Cons: the hookup sites have power only; no water so RV'ers fill your water tanks before you arrive. Children at play can be really loud but hey they're kids what do you expect. Some of the wildlife can be very bold do to people thinking it's ok to feed them. (Raccoons)

overall I recommend this campground and will be back myself many more times.