Tahkenitch Campground

This is the second time I have stayed at this campground, but the first time I stayed alone. This visit I was with my brother's family, including my 2 year old nephew and 3 year old niece. Last time I stayed here I reviewed the site under the "Tahkenitch area" not realizing that this was a blanket listing covering the entire lake and surrounding day use areas. I have since added this campground with its exact GPS location on the map, as well as its direct link to recreation.gov.

I was more impressed the first time than I was this weekend. I was surprised at how much traffic noise there was. It is right on hwy 101, so that's understandable, but I guess it was easier to block out the motors and jake brakes last time. My niece and nephew were really bothered by it, the 2 year old has issues with loud noise and I hadn't remembered it being that bad.

Also, the women's bathroom was out of order, for at least a month, according to the cleaning log on the temporary porta potties. They also turned the flush men's restroom into a all gender for the time being. During our stay it wasn't fixed, and as it happens, the men's went down too. Hopefully they will get these fixed soon.

For the price you don't find many amenities other than the standard fire pits, picnic tables, garbage service, water bibs, dish water troughs, and an extra pit toilet.

As for activities; the beach is too far for a nice family hike or walk, although there is a nice little stroll to the dunes through a well wooded forest area. I don't suggest following it to the ocean as it is a harder hike not suitable for too young of kids. You can instead drive to the nearby Siltcoos beach area access or other access points along 101. There is also Elbow lake and Tahkenitch lake to fish, boat, or just relax by the water.

I'd say an okay campground all together, but not my favorite spot. We picked it this time as some of the sites are park and walk-in with lots of privacy. We thought this would be a good idea with kiddos just getting into camping. Gonna have to find a more adventurous spot as they get older.

If you are looking to avoid the crowds at Honeyman state park and are wanting a smaller more wooded campground with lots of privacy, this might be the place for you.

I liked how this campsite was set up, the sites along the inner hill have parking spaces down below, with a short walk into the pads and fire rings. This makes for a little more privacy and you don't hear people getting into their cars all the time. It wasn't overly populated either, so in the morning and at night, when the hwy traffic died down, it was very peaceful and you could hear just the slightest ocean sound in the distance. My main complaint was the 'nature trail' that was just off the campground, it was nice until it took you out on the dunes. The signage said there was beach access, but I never got close enough to get out on it. At one point the trail was washed out. Also the trail itself was not well marked, as I realized miles into a hunting trail that had obviously not been used a lot. I made it back to camp okay, after having to turn back. A 6 mile loop turned into a 9 mile adventure up and down the dunes. Very beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife to watch along the way though, overall a decent experience. No onsite sales of wood and no showers, but fairly clean flush toilet bathrooms.

PROS:

• walk-in sites
• Not busy
• Close to services

CONS:

• No beach access
• Poorly marked trail
• No wood sales