Staircase Campground

Ro-bert

09/03/2024

A beautiful place to see and visit. The stars are visible at night. Park Rangers have event walks and education shows on the Olympics Mt. Which are great for visitors. But, No showers for campers. if you camp you will find the camp grounds are a bit rough, there are rocks and tree roots sticking outside our tent area, that are trip hazards. But it's ok, great little trails. Gravel road is a few miles long from the lake, which is super dusty. Wish they would pave this and add hot showers. Nice to try once. It was a positive to have no cell service, gave us a real vacation from our device, but the ranger station should have a small store that sells ice, and a few snacks, and wifi, for emergencies.

Nohemy Moreno

05/13/2024

My husband and I stayed here in the beginning of May 2024, at this time there was no reservation process it was first come first serve. The dirt road leading to the campsite in our opinion wasn't bad at all. Bumpy and we were in a Tacoma Pro so we didn't really have any concerns. We arrived Friday night around 10pm and at this time there was maybe 5-6 sites open for reserving. Since there was no attendant we paid our fees at the site entrance. As far as I am aware cash was not accepted at the self service station, we simply wrote down our card information. It was $24/night and we purchased the 7 day Olympic park pass for $30. Total of $78 for two nights. We do not have a discover pass so I am unsure if that would have satisfied the parking pass. The campground was very nice, the fire pit had a grill on it which is always nice. The bathrooms were not open since it was out of season but they looked nice from the outside, no showers as far as I am aware. They had single stall restrooms for use. We stayed on site #48 and didn't have any neighbors for our stay. If we were to return we would have chosen site #15 or #17 as those sites were right on the water but regardless the water was very accessible. We hiked stair case loop for about 3-4 miles and turned around, we loved every moment of it, we are definitely in good shape but I am recovering from a stress fracture so we didn't reach flap jack lake like we wanted. The trail was a little congested in the beginning mostly people just getting out and enjoying the nice weather. The further we went the less people we saw, we did chat with some people who came from the opposite direction I am unsure where the entrance would be traveling from the other direction, we also saw a few hikers who had stayed the night at flap jack lake. My husband and I are not hikers in this sense but it was cool to know if we ever wanted to hike somewhere and stay the night this may be a place we would consider. I've seen a few reviews about the rangers giving people a hard time and can attest that this is accurate. My husband and I did not have a single issue come up but we did witness a ranger driving through the camp sites and confiscating multiple unattended coolers. I truly believe they are just doing their job, I can only imagine how frightening it would be to have to put down a wild animal because people are careless or worse arriving to a campsite to find someone badly injured or dead. They do this because they've seen worst case scenarios and securing your food and beverages seems like an easy way to prevent this. Each time we cooked we cleaned everything and secured it in our vehicle. When we went hiking we put everything back in the truck besides tent and sleeping system. For a single camper I'm sure it maybe tough considering running to the bathroom or taking your dog for a walk and having to leave your site unattended-good luck they may have little more lee way in this situation. All in all, the rangers do not play. Check out was at 11 am and on our way out there was lots of places to stop to enjoy Cushman Lake, nice stair cases that lead to the water and plenty of picnic tables. I recommend stopping, if it was warmer we would have paddle boarded but it's the beginning of May. Maybe next time.

BeaterWRX

09/03/2024

$30 to enter public land for an hour or two is an extortion scam that makes skiing look cheap. $65 to pitch a tent on the dirt for one night would make corporate executives of a for profit publicly traded company uneasy about asking for such a high amount per night; yet the federal government does not even flinch at asking for this exorbitant fee. You will own nothing, you will have no right to access public land freely, and you will like it...or else.

Perry Roth

09/12/2024

Stayed in the campgrounds in September of 2024. Had a couple of good days there. Boondocking with our Casita which fit nicely in our spot. Mostly we saw folks in tents or camper vans. However the surprise was driving in, You will go from a black top driving about 40 mph then with a surprise you switch to dirt road without hardly a notice. Then, for a slap in the face as you transition to dirt, there is a hole big enough to swallow a 15 inch trailer wheel. Bang, then a foot further you hit the second major hole. This is just unbelievable, the dirt road seemed to have been graded not two long ago. After 4 miles or so you get back on blacktop. I was thankful that I haven't found any damage to my 2022 casita trailer.

Jon Fox

07/19/2024

This was one of my first stops at Olympic national forest. I was trying to get to Hoh Rain Forest, but my offline maps weren't working... and I thought I could just loop around the park (You can't, had to drive back down and take the south west entrance). haha Anyways, it was a lovely stop. Since I got there in the afternoon, I didn't really see any park rangers, and mostly took pictures before I left. There were some wild deer, that do not seem to be afraid... especially of things they should be afraid of. I'm not going to say more because I don't want to "self-incriminate" 🦌🤫 I personally felt that the road was really bumpy... if you don't have an off-road suspension, or a car that is made for off road, I can see your suspension getting damaged, especially in a sedan.... Not in a way that will leave you stranded but things that will show up later once you get home. I was in an old 4runner with stock tire sizes, all terrain tires, and a minor lift, with minor suspension upgrades. I still recommend going slow and taking your time or else you can swerve and bump into other drivers. If your tire size is pretty big, you should be okay, otherwise, drive slow.