Washington's Olympic Peninsula Harbors A Secret $5 Per Night Campground With Dreamy Waterfront Sites

If you're going hiking in Washington state, you won't want to miss a trip to the breathtaking Olympic National Park and its ethereal, lush Hoh Rain Forest. The Hoh Rain Forest Campground is the standard way to spend the night amongst the moss-covered trees of Washington's overlooked rain forest, but it's not the only campground near Olympic that you should consider. Less than 40 minutes along the beautiful Upper Hoh Road, Allen's Bar Campground is a more affordable yet equally beautiful place to spend the night in the natural beauty of the incomparable Olympic Peninsula. Best of all, it's right on the banks of the gorgeous blue Hoh River.

Whether you're an RV or a tent camper (though self-contained is recommended), this breathtakingly beautiful spot provides a unique place to spend the night before hitting the trails in the national park. Standing on the rocky riverbank, you can see views of the Hoh River winding through the pine forest, tall, jagged rock formations rising up out of the water and along the beach, and the towering green Olympic mountains stretching into the sky beyond. While you might not wake up in the shade of the dense canopy of trees within Hoh Rain Forest, when the sky above Allen's Bar Campground is clear, it is one of the best places for stargazing around this national park. Best of all, you can fall asleep to the sound of the river rushing by just a few feet away.

If you're traveling to Olympic National Park from Forks, Washington, you're in luck. Allen's Bar Campground is right on the way. This campground is extremely large and there aren't specific designated sites that you have to compete for, so you can usually just move further down the beach if one area is too crowded. In addition to the gorgeous views and privacy, one of the big appeals of camping at Allen's Bar Campground is the extremely low price tag. At the time of writing, it only costs $5 (though this does mean there aren't amenities like toilets and running water). That's a third of the price of even the cheapest official national park campground at Olympic, and only 20% of the cost to camp at the nearby Hoh Rain Forest Campground.

Allen's Bar may also be a good fit if you are deciding to camp at the last minute, because the entire campground is first-come, first-served. This campground is not on national park land; it's actually private property, and the $5 payment that you make is technically to use the access road, which leads to the campsite. It may not be immediately obvious where to go as you head down the little private road, but if you enter the coordinates (47.7981, -124.2592) into your GPS, you will certainly find it. Luckily, there is usually cell service here, so you shouldn't have too much trouble navigating. Just be cautious if you're bringing a large truck or RV. While they are allowed, some campers on Campendium have noted that their heavier vehicles sink into the beach when they get too close to the water.