Seal Rock Campground

At high tide it’s nice water, not too cold. The camp toilet was filthy and stopped up. Thankfully there’s an outhouse down by the day use area. Also burn ban is in effect so don’t bother hauling wood. No fires allowed.

I can say with absolute certainty that if you leave Seattle at 8 AM, you can easily drive to Seal Rock AND BACK, TWICE, before 5 PM! Another pro tip: never forget your tent at home.
Even after getting back around 4:30 PM (after we forgot the tent, went home and got back), our awesome site was still there, as were 90 percent of the 41 other campsites. There were a few picnic-​ers on the beach, and the tide had just started to come in, but there were plenty of delicious oysters around!
This site is relatively close to the highway, so if you’re looking for the perfect «middle of nowhere», this isn’t it. You can also hear seals splashing around and making noises at night, although I sadly didn’t see any during the day.
Some other pointers that I had been wondering about but couldn’t find any information on anywhere else:
— This site is inside the Olympic National Forest, but not inside the Park itself, so you don’t have to pay the park entrance fee.
— The bathroom nearest the picnic area (and beach-​front campsites) is a tiny (and dirty) pit toilet, but there is a really nice (flush-​toilet) facility on the campground trail up the hill.
— The beach-​front campsites don’t have a view of the beach, they’re just closer to it; there’s a path that leads down to the beach access area.
— It’s $ 18 per night, per site, and you pay at a small pay area near the beach/​picnic area by putting your cash into an envelope and into the mail slot.
— NOAA says there are baby seals around (at some point?! summertime??) and to stay away from them!
— The fire pits do have attached grills with hinges that can be placed over the fire (but be careful when they’re down, they’re easy to trip on!).
— Most of the sites have a slightly raised platform to place your tent, but it’s covered in gravel and stones, so it *hurts* to kneel or lie on so bring sleeping pads!
Overall, this campground is awesome! I wish it was quieter and further from Highway 101, but otherwise it’s a great site for a short camping trip!

like the last woman said this is a typical northwest beach, you must learn to deal with the rocks and oyster shells (and the short hike to the waterfront, mind the poison ivy). but this beach is well known by locals for having the warmest water in the area, and if you’re not a-​scared then you can swim side by side with the curious seals and have quite an interesting evening with some of the local freaks aka peeps who live in the woods. if you’re tired of intellectual conversations and wanna chill in mother nature with some more simple folk then this is def the place for you.

The sites here are top notch, clean, private and many are just steps to the beach. I use the word beach loosely. This is a narrow, rocky, typically Northwest beach even at low tide, but if you love oysters this is the place to go. In fact, I can’t believe more oyster lovers don’t show up here. Do they love oysters but hate camping? Yes, you shuck them on the beach, but remember, your site is probably just steps away. We had fresh oysters for dinner around a campfire. Actually, I don’t like oysters, but the kids were happy. Don’t forget to buy a permit first. Lots of kayakers here, and lots of day hikes nearby up and down Highway 101. Not much else to do, but they do have a couple of accessible trails with interpretive signs. It’s a good weekend getaway on Hood Canal and less than a 2 hour ferry and drive from Seattle.