Camping! Washington: The Complete Guide to Public Campgrounds for Rvs and Tents (Paperback)

by Ron C. Judd (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"Washington is the Disneyland of American camping," declares Ron C. Judd in Camping! Washington, a comprehensive, newly revised guide to the Evergreen State's more than 600 Forest Service, national park, and state park campsites. Written by a Washington native and the outdoor columnist for The Seattle Times, this evaluative guide -- the only one of its kind -- helps campers choose where to pitch their tent, park their VW bus, or hook up their RV according to a rating system. Similar to star ratings for hotels, Judd rates Washington's public campgrounds on a scale of one to five "trees." He then gives the lowdown on what facilities are available for RVs, trailers, and tents, with specific information on hookups, restroom facilities, showers, seasonal closures, reservations, directions, and more. This edition contains 30 percent new material including more photographs and descriptions of 15 additional campgrounds. Organized by highways for easy traveling, Camping! Washington features keyed maps for each region, quick reference icons, and special indexes. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570611696
• ISBN-13: 978-1570611698
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #804,678 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pretty accurate guide - with a few biases, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

My dad and I just recently returned from a camping trip to the Olympic Peninsula and used Camping! Washington as our main resource and guide. We stayed at quite a few of the 4 and 5 tree campgrounds and checked out others for future stays. Most of Mr. Judd's observations and ratings were pretty good, but othertimes we wondered what he was thinking.

Even though we already had a beautiful spot at the 4 tree Fairholm Campground near Lake Crescent, we just had to check out the 5 tree Salt Creek Recreation Area which the writer loves "so much that [he] hestitates to even write about it". This was the biggest waste of time. The campground had a beautiful view and that was it! The campground was comparable to a run-down KOA and the activities and hiking which made similar parks with ho-hum campgrounds - like Ft. Worden -more fun were missing! How disappointed we would have been if we had blindly picked Salt Creek strictly on the author's rating! (We decided that Mr. Judd gives an extra 2 trees or so for a waterside view...)

Don't get me wrong, Camping! Washington was mostly a great resource for us and we enjoyed our trip. If you buy this book, just make sure you check out the places before you make a commitment to stay. (And be wary if the author raves about the view!)

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very handy, June 4, 2002

By	Erin K. Darling "naive cynic" (olympia, wa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

_Camping! Washington_ is a great book for anyone looking to find the perfect spot for a camping getaway. Whether tenting or RV'ing, this is a truly useful book!

It's easy to see from the writing that the author truly loves camping and being outside, and that he really has spent a lifetime camping in the Evergreen State. His enthusiasm for great campsites comes shining through, and the entries for each campground are very easily read.

There are several useful maps which show campgrounds' locations, and the rating system is very straightforward - 1 tree (barely worth mentioning) through 5 trees (absolutely don't miss this.) Those campgrounds rating 1 tree generally only get mentioned in the backs of the chapters, with very little space devoted to them - the author wants to give us the best camping possible, so he doesn't waste a lot of time telling us what's awful, noting that he only puts them in so that people who hear of these grounds, or who see them on a map know what they may be in for.

The books gives a total number of sites within the grounds, and breaks them down by service: "32 full hook-ups, 35 water/electrical hook-ups, RV's to 65 feet." He also gives contact info for each site, whether or not they accept reservations, and what the open/close dates are (if any.) Very handy! His descriptions of the overall feel of the campgrounds and the surrounding areas are vivid and enjoyable in and of themselves - he's really reawakened the Camping Bug in me.

The book goes over the whys and wherefores of making reservations ahead of time, common pitfalls and downsides to certain areas, and what to expect in terms of general costs (though they don't list individual grounds' prices, as they frequently change.) They also do not mention privately-owned grounds, and go into why they don't. They give a few handy tips about each park that'll make everything easier, too.

Keep in mind that this is not a *how* to camp in Washington book (going over bear precautions, et cetera,) but a *where* to camp book - and it does its job really, really well. Highly recommended to anyone planning to camp in our beautiful state.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential gear for WA campers!, July 21, 2000

By A Customer

We've used it for two summers now, on both sides of the state. Thorough, helpful, very complete. Detailed campground descriptions, full info on utilities, etc. Best of all, nicely written, full of interesting history and local knowledge of nearby trails, wildlife, etc. Photos of most campgrounds are a big plus as are the ratings, which we've found to be quite accurate. It's an essential item in our RV.