Customer Reviews

The Best in Tent Camping: Washington: A Guide for Car Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The concept of this book is a great one: a resource to locate high quality camp sites for TENT campers, written by a seasoned local. However, as usual, the devil is in the details.

While this book appears to have been published in 2009, it contains out of date information. For example, the author's entry for WA State Park at Deception Pass / Bowman Bay is simply false. She writes that there are 16 tent sites numbered 236-251. A brief phone call with a park ranger on site confirms that these site numbers no longer exist, and more importantly, they've all been renovated ("some years ago") to accommodate, um, RVs (they now have large parking pads, hook ups, etc). Mind you, this is a book intended for TENT campers; it's supposed to be a book for people who "....hate RVs, concrete slabs..." (as written on the cover of the book).

If I had relied on this book, I would expect one thing only to find that the reality is something quite different. This makes this book a very questionable resource.

What's mind boggling is that the author (and the editor) clearly have not taken the time to verify the accuracy of the information that they've published. I learned the true status of the Deception Pass / Bowman Bay facility using the internet and a telephone; at the very least, the author should have done the same.

On the up side, the page layout is fairly clear, the descriptions are descent (though sometimes superfluous), the maps are OK.

Bottom line: if you choose to use this book, I suggest you VERIFY everything before you travel.

Just got this book today. Flipping through the book I see a write up on Beacon Rock State Park. The author tells the reader that there is a hike to Hamilton Mountain that is a more doable distance for most hikers and that Hamilton is 745 feet high and is the second highest point in the park, Beacon Rock being the first. Has the author even been to this park and walked the trails? Hamilton is closer to 2500 feet. Beacon Rock is only around 850 feet. The author also mentions Table Mountain just off of the Pacific Crest Trail as being 1042 feet high when it's actually about 3400 feet. A casual car camper that tries to hike these will end up on a death march if they actually make it to the top. Sure these are minor mistakes but what other mistakes are in the book that the author has included just to fill space? I feel like I have just wasted my money on this book and will definitely not rely on it. If the author and editor had done their research, maybe they would not have lost credibility with me and I would purchase more in the Best of Tent Camping series, such as Oregon.

I was looking for a book that my family (we have 2 young children)could use to find cool tent camping spots in WA. We've used the book a few times and have not been impressed.

Her ratings for "scenic", "privacy", spaciousness", etc. seem to be a bit blown out of proportion. I don't think there is a single CG listed that is less than 3 stars. We went to a State park in Eastern WA that was rated 4 stars for beauty, once we got there, I clearly did not agree with her. So I looked up a CG in her book that I have been to before that is obviously beautiful to most people, and she rated that CG a 4 star. Hmmm... it didn't make sense to me.

The organization of the book is not good for cross-referencing. If you are looking for a location of a CG from the map, it is nearly impossible to find that CG listed in the book without having to check in another spot first to find the page number.

Her descriptions are VERY lengthy, going into much detail about the history of the CG and area, but not much detail about the actual CG, it's characteristics, the amenities, bed surface for tents, views, flora/fauna, etc. Bullet points would be nice as well, especially when you are trying to just skim the book for your next adventure.

I have not found the book to be very good yet and am currently looking for a better reference book for WA.

As a backpacker who chooses the comforts of car camping when embarking on WA adventures with my family, this book has become one of my favorites.

This year and last, we used the book as a guide for finding out-of-the-way campsites which bar RVs and towed campers.

In all cases, the author was completely accurate in her descriptions of the campsites, the road conditions leading to the campsites, and the campsite's scenic beauty ratings.

Me and some friends just took off one weekend and looked up a few places on route. Instead of some RV filled gravel pit we ended up in a private site with an ocean view. Definitely worth it

I was so excited to receive the book from my wishlist. We were heading out to Portland from Seattle and I planned on checking out a couple of campgrounds along the way in preparation for the upcoming camping season. The first campground to visit from the book, the author stated, "this is what a campground is supposed to be." Ugh was she wrong. The place was like a prison with chainlink fencing all along the main exterior and the sites were stacked upon each other. The campground was off a very busy highway and appeared more to be a place for transients then serious campers/hikers. Also, the directions to the campground was horrible. To the recycler this one goes. So disappointed.

It's a nice reference book, however, since it's only "The Best in Tent Camping", it's missing a lot of other areas to camp.

I actually enjoyed reading this book. I liked her intake on camp sites and someday I would like to visit them.
However, if you pick up this book in summer to look for a place to go next weekend, it's too late. A tiny fraction of campgrounds she picked are all so small (up to 25 sites) and many reservable. Unless you can leave work during the weekday or early in the morning on Friday, your chance of getting a spot is very slim.
Also, her definition of "car camping" might differ from mine. I thought I was a car camper who enjoyed a big fluffy fleece-lined Therm-A-Rest for a good night sleep in the wild and cooking/eating groumet food with state of art cooking tools. I don't think I can get to some of the places with my load... She also included many campgrounds based on seclusion/beauty, but not necessarily friendly-ness to a family with a car full of kids. I can't imagine going to places with no piped water every time I get away! Maybe every once in a while to appreciate the convenience of modern technology?