Sacajawea State Park and Interpretive Center

The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped near the park location on October 16, 1805 as they made their way down the Columbia River. While the site doesn't have any connection to Sacajawea's tribal heritage, it's an historic gathering spot for hundreds of members of the local Native American tribes. The museum was built in the 1930s as a Works Project Administration project and features exhibits on the Expedition and the Native Americans who lived in the area at the time.  

The museum is accessible. A paved path with interpretive signs goes from the parking lot to the museum.

The parking lot is large enough for any vehicle.   Park     46.20018, -119.0402

Dash Point State Park Campground

This reviews on this campground are very mixed. Some reviewers warn of unsafe conditions, unkempt campsites with long term campers, and noise; other reviewers loved the park. After camping for almost two weeks at the park with a break in the middle to spend time with our daughter and son-in-law. I can report that it's clean, safe, and we didn't notice an unusual noise level. The bad reviewers are mostly from five or six years ago and there have been changes since then, including raising the campsite fees, cutting the maximum length of stay to no more than 10 nights in one park within a thirty-day period. This applies to the summer season only so winter may be different. 

The campground has two loops with 111 standard campsites and 27 full hookup sites. The reservation form does not accept RVs in the standard sites but camping with an RV is permitted in those sites. You just have to apply for a tent site. However, I do not recommend reserving a site unless you need hookups. The standard sites vary greatly. Some are very sloped and many are really small. The campground is fully reserved on summer weekends but during the week there are enough empty sites that it's possible to find a suitable site. People with large RVs and trailers may find the bends in the roads too tight and the sites too narrow. We stayed in site 13 and were out every day exploring. Due to their reservation system we couldn't return until 2:30 to get a first come, first serve site. Doing this allowed us to avoid paying the high reservation fee - $23.00 for non-Washington residents. Site 13 is a little hard to get into, so it was always empty when we returned in the afternoon. 

Campground amenities include picnic tables, fire rings, restrooms, showers (pay), and a dump station (pay). 

There are two accessible sites, one in each loop. They're wide, have hookups, and the paving extends under the table and fire ring.

The beach is a big draw but it didn't look very appealing to us. A Discovery Pass is needed to park in the beach even for campers. There are trails from the campground to the beach. All are steep and have steps.

We walked/rolled a very short distance on the Thames Creek Beach Trail before we had to turn around due to steps. There are 15-20 miles of trails in the park but the terrain is hilly so we didn't attempt more of them. Park   47.31633, -122.40916

Round Lake WDFW

 Three small lakes are strung out along Aeneas Valley Road. All of them are operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. None are designated as camping locations on the WDFW website but as far as I know camping is permitted in all of them.  The first in line is Long Lake which has a very sloped parking area. We moved on to the next one, Round Lake, and camped on the hill overlooking the lake. It looks like there are some nice spots on the other side of the lake too but we did not check it out or go to Ell Lake, the last lake in the line.  

 All of the lakes have boat ramps and vault toilets but no other amenities. 

These camping spots may not be suitable for large RVs.  Lake  48.6085, -119.12775

 

Deception Pass State Park

 After we left the rain forest it was time to make our annual trip back to our unofficial home base. Our daughter and son-in-law had a few more days of vacation so they tagged along. We got the only available sites -113 and 114 - at Deception pass, probably because they are considered a double site. They must be reserved together and each has a separate reservation fee.

Site 113 and 114 are fairly short and slightly uphill.The tables have long overhangs and the ground is hard packed - not accessible but usable. 

We only stayed the night so we didn't check out the park or the accessible sites. The Dunes Interpretive Trail is designated as accessible.  Campground  48.40028, -122.66194

 

Federation Forest State Park

 Concern about the destruction of old growth forests led the General Federation of Woman's Clubs of Washington State to start a “Save a Tree” campaign. In 1929 they purchased 62 acres of forest to form Big Tree Park.  Unfortunately in the early 1930s  windstorms, fires, and nearby logging destroyed the forest and the club began looking for a new site. The current site was acquired by Washington State Parks, named Federation State Forest, and dedicated in 1949.  

The park has a campground, picnic shelters, a  small interpretive center and 12 miles of interconnecting trails that loop through stands of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce, and western red cedar trees. 

The interpretive center is accessible. We did not visit the campground. The Whispering Hemlocks Trail is accessible, surfaced with hard packed dirt. The other trails have roots and hills. We were confused by the signs because the sign at the start of  trail system did not indicated that the interpretive trail was the Whispering Hemlocks Trail. It also do not indicate that it was the accessible trail. At the first directional signs go to the left on the Whispering Hemlocks Trail as shown by the arrow. Trail Map

The parking lot is large enough for RVs. Park  47.15222, -121.68776

 

Coppermine Bottom Campground

 Although it's surrounded by extensive logging, this small campground is in a relatively untouched section of the state forest - pretty with big trees and lots of moss. It's tiny, only eleven sites and a parking area with access to the shallow river

I didn't notice an accessible site. Most of the site are usable with hard packed ground for easy rolling.

The sites are long enough to accommodate larger RVs. The gravel access road is 1.5 miles long, narrow and in good condition with one slightly steep grade. Campground  47.65573, -124.1879

Porter Creek Campground- DNR

Even though the DNR website lists this campground as popular with ATV riders we found it to be quiet in the middle of the week. Some sites have access to the creek and all are surrounded by lush greenery and old growth forest - very pretty.

The sites have tables with extended tops and the ground is hard packed. Some sites may not be suitable for wheelchair users because of uneven and sloping ground.

About 1 mile of the access road is one lane gravel. We were a little concerned about logging trucks since there was active logging along the road but we didn't encounter any traffic. There are two camping loops off of B Line Road, one on each side of the road. The western loop has smaller sites so continue on B Line if the sites in the first loop are too small. Campground  46.97759, -123.25558

Millersylvania State Park

Over 8 miles of intersecting trails wind through old growth forest, meadows, and lake shore allowing visitors to chose the length of their hike.

Most of the trails could be made accessible fairly easily however it seems this was not a consideration when planning. We found very narrow boardwalks without any edge guards. Ramps from the ground to the boardwalks are steep and most boardwalks ends do not meet the ground evenly. We walked/rolled about three miles along the route marked in green on the map. Aside from the narrow ramps we also encountered a very steep hill leading to the western most loop trails and a short hill near the park headquarters. For all of these reasons I don't recommend these trails for wheelchair users.

We parked at the small craft launch lot which has plenty of room for RVs. Park  46.90988, -122.91583

Steptoe Butte State Park

The rolling hills of the Palouse Prairie spread over 19,000 sq miles of southeastern Washington, western Idaho, and northeastern Oregon. The soil, which built up over thousands to tens of thousands of years, was created by wind-blown sediments that were originally deposited in central Washington during the Lake Missoula floods. In some places it's over 200' deep! The soil is very fertile and supports crops such wheat, barley, and legumes. Little of the native prairie is left.

Steptoe Butte, a 400 million years old mound of quartzite, is an anomaly in the surrounding sea of wheat fields. It's elevation, 1000' feet above the fields, gives visitors who drive the 4 mile road to the summit an expansive 360 degree view.

The are no barriers blocking the view at the top, just a short guardrail so it completely accessible. The view can also be seen without leaving your vehicle.

Buses are driven on the road so it's okay for large RVs but be aware that it's narrow, steep and does not have guardrails. The parking area is large. There's another lot on the actual summit that is much smaller. We walked/rolled up the very steep, short road to see the view from that lot.  Park  47.03166, -117.29673