Seaquest State Park - July 30th, 2016

No, it is not by the sea.  Why would you think that?  It is by Silver Lake and Mt. St. Helens.

We stayed at site #34.  This is a back-in site, so we got to practice our maneuvering with the Huckleberry.  The site was very large and fairly private despite being close to the water source, trash and bathrooms.  The sites across from us, 32, 33 & 35 were also very nice and had direct access to the large play field, which would be nice with kids.  #32 & 33 are pull through, so would not much privacy for a trailer from the road, and site #35 was a "premium" site.

Speaking of premium, we got to experience the new pricing system at the WA State parks here.  There are several different prices depending on the level of hook-ups (none, limited, full) and the seemingly random rating of the particular site (economy, standard or premium).  All I can say is that for $40 per night for a patch of dirt and a parking spot, I think the State could offer much nicer facilities.  Many state parks have put in kids playgrounds, and this campground had soap in the bathrooms, so I guess that's something.  If you want to reserve ahead of time on-line there is also a reservation convenience fee.

Bathrooms here had soap and a single token fed shower of each gender.  Side note: some WA State park showers take special tokens, these are $0.50 each and give you 3 minutes of hot water.  Other state parks take actual quarters at the same $0.50 per 3 minute rate.
This campground had a large play field including a play structure.  Also a large day use area with a picnic shelter, horseshoes and fire pits.  Bathrooms were not quite up to speed while we were there, out of TP and soap occasionally.  Other sites were a mixed bag, some much more private than others.  Campground overall was quiet, lots of large tall trees all around, plenty of shade on a hot summer weekend.

Mt. St Helens was a 45 minute drive east.  We visited the forestry education center, which was worth 30 minutes but had no food or refreshments, surprisingly (missed opportunity Weyerhauser).  A small gift shop was on site and a 4 minute video of the mountain exploding for those of you from out of area or too young to have lived through it (still having nightmares!!).

On the way home we stopped for some grub and ran into what I'm fairly certain was a BigFoot hunter's RV.  Just about the total opposite of our set-up, but also totally awesome!