Travelers Barista: Mossyrock Park Camping

Just an hour and twenty minutes South East of Olympia you can find four different camping grounds owned and maintained by Tacoma Power. These parks are reserved on the State park website, but in my opinion are far superior to state campgrounds. Maybe not so much privacy on the sites, but very well kept and full of activities.

We booked our second trip to Mossyrock Park (the last trip several years ago) and it was just as nice as I recalled. We arrived and easily found our space #161 on the upper camping level. This was by far the largest campsite we've ever reserved, although part of it was technically the "horse shoe" play area, but no one ever came to use it. It had a great peak-a-boo view of the lake and just a short walk away was a playground for the kids. My daughter noticed it the moment we pulled in and immediately dragged me over to play, which worked out well for letting my husband set up camp.

We were actually surprised by the warm weather we received and I was a little hot because I had packed for rain and cold. If your family has a boat or enjoys water activities, this is the place to be! Riffe Lake is vast and many people come with a boat or jet skies in tow.

Don't want to get in the water? Take a 15min drive East towards the City of Morton and stop at the Mossyrock Dam for an amazing site! This Dam is Washington State's tallest and very impressive to say the least. If you've got some time, continue on to the small but charming town of Morton to hit the local grocery store to stock up on camping supplies or anything you may have left from home. Although Mossyrock does have a small convienence store in town if there is anything you need to get right away while camping, as well as a small one inside the campground.

Overall this was a great camping trip for our family. I know camping is about hiking and activities and things you don't normally do at home, but the playground was the biggest entertainment for my kids, second to riding bikes.

Vist any one of the four Tacoma Power Campgrounds and I am sure you won't be disappointed. It's not the "nature lover's" campgrounds, but there's plenty to see and do in and around the lake.