Staircase Campground
3Heads uppark alerts
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 4947 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Important information about booking windows: To better serve visitors, Staircase Campground will be releasing campsites in a series of three staggered block releases by loop. These block releases will be 6 months in advance, two weeks in advance, and 4 days in advance. Enormous trunks reach for the sky, lacy limbs stretch to the sun, grooved bark is sanctuary to tiny creatures in the vast cathedral of Douglas-firs that dominate the forests on this side of the Olympic Peninsula. Keep reading
Staircase is located in the southeastern corner of Olympic National Park, about a one-hour drive from Olympia, and two hours south of Port Angeles. Staircase Campground has 49 sites, with a number of the sites along the North Fork Skokomish River. The access road to the Staircase area is unpaved and periodically closes due to unfavorable weather conditions such as snow. This access road, NF-24 is often closed completely from Nov. - May. Make sure to check the status of the road before planning your trip.
Recreation
A variety of hiking trails navigate through the Staircase area along the Skokomish River and the nearby forests. There are several short day-hikes that explore the area. Shady Lane trail is flat, and less than a mile to Lake Cushman. The hike to Flapjack Lakes is for the stronger hikers, gaining over 3,000 feet in elevation. Longer hikes, like the North Fork Skokomish River trail, can be done in a couple of days. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (360) 877-5569.
Charges & Cancellations
A $10.00 service fee will apply if you modify your reservation or change your stay dates. Cancelling your reservation prior to 11:59 pm Eastern Time two nights before your stay will incur a $10 cancellation fee. Camping reservations cancelled the day before and day of arrival incur a $10 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee If you need to cancel or modify your reservation after 12:00 am Eastern Time on the day of arrival you must contact campground staff. 360-877-5569 Recreation.gov Rules and Reservation Policies
What the agency tells you
You must have a valid pass that covers the entrance fee to Olympic National Park in order to use the facilities at Staircase Campground. Entrance passes can be purchased at a park entrance stations upon arrival or in advance online at Recreation.gov. The pass will be accepted at all park entrance stations.
Staircase campground has a 7-day maximum stay limit during the reservation season. There is a 21-day maximum stay limit for all Olympic National Park campgrounds collectively in a calendar year.
Most campsites in Staircase cannot accommodate large RVs or trailers. Please read campsite details and warnings carefully before reserving a site. There is limited parking available in the campground. If your vehicle(s) do not fit in your campsite (see information below), vehicles will be required to park outside of the campground. Please park at designated space for the campsite you reserved. There will be a reserved recreation.gov placard for your assigned parking spot.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Help keep our wildlife wild by following proper food storage practices. All food and scented items must be stored in a vehicle or an animal resistant food container when not in use.
Pets are not allowed on hiking trails in Olympic National Park. Pets are allowed in developed areas such as campgrounds, picnic areas, roads, parking lots, and some paved trails. Pets must be leashed (up to 6 feet) and always attached to a human. Do not leave pets unattended or tied to an object in a way that will damage vegetation or park property.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 49
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 36 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal · Vault Toilets - seasonal
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 7 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Night sky · 344th darkest of 400 in WA
- Bortle 4
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 47 of the 49 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
“A $10.00 service fee will apply if you modify your reservation or change your stay dates. Cancelling your reservation prior to 11:59 pm Eastern Time two nights before your stay will incur a $10 cancellation fee.” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Oct 1, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
49 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 47 mapped sitesAll 49 sites
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| A | 1 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 54 ft | 134 ft |
| A | 10 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 71 ft | 20 ft |
| A | 11 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 71 ft | 73 ft |
| A | 12 | type not stated | 17 ft | 69 ft | |
| A | 13 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 115 ft | 63 ft |
| A | 14 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 38 ft | 89 ft |
| A | 15 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 38 ft | 122 ft |
| A | 16 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 48 ft | 135 ft |
| A | 17 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 59 ft | 162 ft |
| A | 18 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 59 ft | 205 ft |
| A | 19 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 60 ft | 249 ft |
| A | 2 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 54 ft | 127 ft |
| A | 20 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 56 ft | 232 ft |
| A | 21 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 56 ft | 283 ft |
| A | 22 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 56 ft | 336 ft |
| A | 23 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 62 ft | 327 ft |
| A | 24 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 76 ft | 408 ft |
| A | 25 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 73 ft | 421 ft |
| A | 26 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 48 ft | 360 ft |
| A | 27 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 67 ft | 421 ft |
| A | 28 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 83 ft | 407 ft |
| A | 29 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 42 ft | 315 ft |
| A | 3 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 77 ft | 213 ft |
| A | 30 | type not stated | 24 ft | 387 ft | |
| A | 31 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 81 ft | 411 ft |
| A | 32 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 61 ft | 331 ft |
| A | 33 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 96 ft | 416 ft |
| A | 34 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 61 ft | 322 ft |
| A | 35 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 77 ft | 343 ft |
| A | 36 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 77 ft | 267 ft |
| A | 37 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 38 ft | 169 ft |
| A | 38 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 38 ft | 199 ft |
| A | 39 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 30 ft | 175 ft |
| A | 4 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 75 ft | 134 ft |
| A | 40 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 69 ft | 243 ft |
| A | 41 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 30 ft | 172 ft |
| A | 42 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 75 ft | 246 ft |
| A | 43 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 56 ft | 174 ft |
| A | 44 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 56 ft | 191 ft |
| A | 45 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 42 ft | 273 ft |
| A | 46 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 39 ft | 209 ft |
| A | 47 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 57 ft | 291 ft |
| A | 48 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 39 ft | 217 ft |
| A | 49 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 48 ft | 313 ft |
| A | 5 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 69 ft | 117 ft |
| A | 6 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 69 ft | 75 ft |
| A | 7 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 41 ft | 116 ft |
| A | 8 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 41 ft | 101 ft |
| A | 9 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 76 ft | 87 ft |
25 of 49 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Lena Lake CampgroundOlympic National Forest · 11 miHamma Hamma CampgroundOlympic National Forest · 11 mi
Hamma Hamma CabinOlympic National Forest · 11 miStaircase Campground is accessed off Highway 101 at the city of Hoodsport, WA. You take North Lake Cushman Road for a number of twisting and turning miles. North Lake Cushman Road will end with the blacktop and become Forest Service Road, NP - 24. You will simply follow this road to the end.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hoodsport, WA
Typical weather
Typical October night 44°F, day 58°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 35°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Staircase Campground is in Washington’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, Emily Randall (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →