Olympic National Park camping and RV campgrounds.

All 14 Olympic campgrounds, compared.

The short version: pick Kalaloch or South Beach for the ocean, Hoh Rain Forest for moss and old trees, and Deer Park, at 5,400 feet, for mountain views if you're tenting. Pick Log Cabin Resort if you need full hookups, or Sol Duc for water and electric at the hot springs resort. If you want a reservation in summer, your NPS options are Kalaloch, Mora, Fairholme, Hoh, and Staircase. Every figure below comes from the NPS camping page, last updated August 31, 2026, and checked September 10, 2026, which lists all 14 as open. Deer Park's and Log Cabin Resort's dates are our reading of "June - mid October" and "May - October". NPS lists Staircase only as open seasonally, so the chart shows its July 8 to September 29 reservation window, and Sol Duc's dates are its reservation window. Fees are per night.

Which campgrounds need a reservation.

Five NPS campgrounds need a reservation on Recreation.gov for part of 2026: Kalaloch and Mora from May 15 to September 20, Fairholme from May 15 to September 29, Hoh from June 12 to September 6, and Staircase from July 8 to September 29. Sites may be reserved 6 months, 2 weeks, or 4 days ahead, and any unreserved sites can be registered in person for one night only at the registration board. Outside those windows they're first-come, first-served, and you self-register.

First-come only. Deer Park, Graves Creek, Heart O' the Hills, North Fork, Ozette, Queets, and South Beach take no reservations. Find a site and self-register at the campground. Campgrounds can close on short notice for weather or unsafe conditions, so NPS says to call (360) 565-3131 for current status.

The resort campgrounds. Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort runs Sol Duc Hot Springs RV Park & Campground, which needs a Recreation.gov reservation from March 20 to November 1, 2026, up to 6 months ahead. Unreserved or cancelled sites are sold first-come, first-served at the resort. Log Cabin Resort, on Lake Crescent, takes reservations by phone at 866-405-2950.

Group sites. Kalaloch's group site books by phone only, at (360) 962-2271, for 10 to 30 people, $40 a night for up to 10 plus $2 per extra person, 7 nights at most. Sol Duc's group site is for organized groups of up to 24 people and 8 stock, about $43 a night. More group sites book online in peak season at Kalaloch, Mora, and Hoh.

Camping fees are on top of the entrance fee, and a campground reservation isn't a park entry reservation. See Olympic fees.

RVs, hookups, and the roads in.

Most RV sites fit 21 feet, with a few for 35 feet, at Fairholme, Heart O' the Hills, Hoh, Kalaloch, Mora, South Beach, and Staircase. Ozette's sites fit 21 feet. Deer Park is tents only, on a steep, winding gravel road. Graves Creek allows no RVs or trailers because of road conditions, and North Fork and Queets aren't recommended for them. Queets is reachable only from the Upper Queets Road after a past mudslide. Wherever there's pavement, keep your wheels on it.

Log Cabin Resort has the park's only full hookups, with electricity and sewer, on RV sites up to 35 feet, plus showers and laundry. Sol Duc's RV Park has 17 back-in sites in a gravel lot with water and electric hookups, for rigs from 26 to 36 feet, at $58 a night. Dump stations cost $10 a use at Fairholme, Kalaloch, Mora, and Sol Duc, and Heart O' the Hills and Hoh have none. Graves Creek, North Fork, and Queets have pit toilets and no running water, Deer Park has no potable water, and South Beach has flush toilets but no potable water.

Hoh River Bridge closures, fall 2026. WSDOT is closing the Highway 101 bridge overnight, 10:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., from September 14 to 22, then fully from 5 a.m. September 24 to 5 p.m. September 29, 5 a.m. October 1 to noon October 6, and 5 a.m. October 8 to noon October 13. There's no detour across the Hoh River. Kalaloch, South Beach, Queets, Graves Creek, and North Fork are south of the closure. Mora, Hoh, Ozette, Sol Duc, Fairholme, and Log Cabin Resort are north of it. Driving around the east side of the peninsula adds at least four hours. Details are on the NPS closure page and our Olympic road closures page.

Mora Road is also closed beyond Mora Campground, to cars, bikes, and walkers, from July 8 to October 15, 2026, so Rialto Beach can't be reached on Mora Road until then. The campground itself stays reachable.

Camp rules that change your trip.

Each site holds up to 8 people. You can camp 14 consecutive days in the park per year, but only 7 at Kalaloch, Mora, and Hoh during the reservation window through peak season. Quiet hours run 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and checkout is 11 a.m. Vehicle camping is allowed only in authorized campgrounds.

Store all food and scented items in your car trunk or an animal-proof food storage locker when you're not using them, and never leave food, dishes, or garbage unattended at your site.

No campfires for now. An NPS alert says all campfires have been banned since August 7, 2026, in developed and non-developed areas, the wilderness and backcountry, and on coastal beaches. Propane and gas stoves are allowed if you run them at least three feet from flammable vegetation and forest litter. The alert gives no end date, so check the park's alerts before you pack firewood. When fires are allowed, and where no one sells firewood, you can gather dead and downed wood under 6 inches across, within 100 feet of the campground, below 3,500 feet.

Pets stay on a leash up to 6 feet long, in campgrounds, picnic areas, and parking lots, and on Rialto Beach for half a mile to Ellen Creek, the Kalaloch beaches, and the Peabody Creek, Madison Falls, and Spruce Railroad trails. They aren't allowed on other trails or in the wilderness. Fireworks are prohibited, and so is all firearm use, including target shooting.

Backcountry camping. Every overnight trip into the backcountry needs a Wilderness Camping Permit. It costs $8 per person per night plus a $6 permit fee, with no charge for kids 15 and under, and most places cap groups at 12. The NPS fees page has the details.

Camping and the crowd calendar.

Olympic's busy season is short and peaks in August. March and April average 21% and 21% of August's visits; Sol Duc's season starts March 20 and Fairholme opens April 25. May runs 40%, as Log Cabin Resort opens, reservations start at Kalaloch, Mora, and Fairholme on May 15, and South Beach opens May 19. June is 48%, with Deer Park opening and Hoh reservations starting June 12. July runs 80%, and Staircase reservations start July 8. September drops to 67%: the Hoh window ends September 6, Kalaloch and Mora go first-come after September 20, and Fairholme closes after September 29. It's also when the Hoh River Bridge closures start. October runs 42%, and South Beach closes after October 10 and Deer Park in mid-October. Eight campgrounds stay open all winter. Our pick for 2026 is late September on the north side, at Mora, Hoh, or Sol Duc: visits are well below August's, first-come sites return at Mora, and the bridge closures don't cut those campgrounds off from Port Angeles or Forks. Nights average 48°F.

Month-by-month tradeoffs are on the best time to visit Olympic page.

When the campgrounds are full.

If the campgrounds you want are full, the first-come campgrounds are your best in-park bet, and NPS says to call (360) 565-3131 for status. There are campgrounds outside the park on the peninsula too, but we don't track them. Our Olympic in winter page covers the eight that stay open all year.

Common questions.

Can you camp anywhere in Olympic National Park?

No. Vehicle camping is allowed only in authorized campgrounds. Backcountry camping needs a Wilderness Camping Permit, at $8 per person per night plus a $6 permit fee.

Can I sleep in my car in Olympic National Park?

Only in a campground site. NPS allows vehicle camping only in authorized campgrounds, so a trailhead, pullout, or parking lot is off limits overnight. Seven NPS campgrounds are first-come, first-served all year, which is the easiest way to find a site without a reservation.

Is there free camping in Olympic National Park?

No campground in the park is free. NPS campgrounds cost $15 to $24 a night, Sol Duc's campground $33 and its RV Park $58, and Log Cabin Resort $25 to $44. Wilderness permits are $8 per person per night plus $6, though kids 15 and under are free.

Is Ozette Campground open?

The NPS camping page, updated August 31, 2026, lists Ozette as open all year and says it may close temporarily in severe weather, and some sites flood in winter. An older NPS campground record still says it's closed due to flooding. Go by the camping page, and call (360) 565-3131 before you drive out.

When is Staircase Campground open?

NPS lists Staircase only as open seasonally. Reservations are required from July 8 to September 29, and it's first-come, first-served outside that window when open. NPS doesn't publish its 2026 opening or closing date, so call (360) 565-3131. The Staircase developed area, including the campground, is open, but the other trails there remain closed.

What happened to the Altair, Elwha, and Dosewallips campgrounds?

None of the three is on the park's current list of 14 campgrounds, and NPS gives no reopening plan for them on its camping page. A guide that lists these as open is out of date. Dosewallips Road is closed to vehicles by a washout outside the park, 6.5 miles from the campground, and is open only to walkers and bikes.

Why does Recreation.gov show only 6 Olympic campgrounds?

Recreation.gov's Olympic page counts 6 campgrounds. That matches the six that NPS says book on Recreation.gov: Fairholme, Hoh, Kalaloch, Mora, Staircase, and Sol Duc. The seven first-come NPS campgrounds don't take reservations, and Log Cabin Resort books by phone, so none of those eight is on Recreation.gov's list.

Where these facts come from

Every campground's status, season, reservation window, sites, fees, RV limits, facilities, and hookups, plus the release windows, one-night registration, group sites, stay limits, occupancy, quiet hours, checkout, vehicle camping, pets, food storage, fireworks, and firearms, come from the NPS Olympic camping page, last updated August 31, 2026. The firewood rule, Ozette's older closure note, and campground coordinates come from the NPS API campground records, and the burn ban from the park's alerts (checked September 11, 2026). Nightly fee ranges, dump station fees, the separate entrance fee, and wilderness permits come from the NPS fees page. The Hoh River Bridge closures come from the NPS closure page; Mora Road, Staircase Road, and Dosewallips Road from the NPS road conditions page; the six-campground listing from Recreation.gov's park page. Visit shares are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from NPS Visitor Use Statistics, as a percentage of August, the park's busiest month. Temperatures are NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals. Crowd numbers are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package on NPS IRMA Stats. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.